Personal Injury

In the state of Florida, if you own a vehicle with at least four wheels and are registering it, you must have Florida insurance. Any person who has a vehicle in Florida for more than 90 days during a 365-day period must purchase personal injury protection and property damage liability insurance coverage. Since it is required, if you’re a driver in Florida, it would be prudent to understand a few key elements of Florida’s auto insurance laws.

The most common question I am asked by friends and family is “What should I do following a car accident?” Such a time can be highly stressful, emotional, and scary. It is important to keep calm and remember that the steps you take directly following your accident can affect your potential insurance claim.

Get To A Safe Location

If at all possible, you want to get to a safe location by pulling your car off of the roadway. If not, you should turn your emergency flashing lights on. If you get out of your vehicle, be mindful of the traffic. Remember to stay at the scene of the accident until it is appropriate to leave.

Check On All Parties Involved

Check on all the other parties involved, including drivers, passengers, and pedestrians, to make sure no one is hurt. Get medical attention for anyone who needs it. If a person is unconscious or has neck or back pain, don’t move them until qualified medical help arrives.

Call The Police

If there’s significant property damage, physical injury, or death, you need to call the police. You need to have a trained police investigator assess the situation. Filing a police report with your account of what happened in the accident is vital in determining who will be held responsible for the crash. Furthermore, a police accident report can prove invaluable when dealing with your car insurance company and other drivers. Cooperate fully, but avoid admitting fault or blaming others while at the scene. Let the police objectively judge events and determine who, if anyone, is at fault in the crash. If the police can’t make it to the scene which is may occur if there are no injuries, you can file an accident report through the DMV.

Exchange Information

Try to write down as much info as possible in the accident aftermath, including:

• Driver and passenger names
• License plate numbers
• Insurance info
• Makes and models of all vehicles involved
• Contact info for any eyewitnesses
• Location of the accident
• The name and badge number of any responding police officers

In talking to all of the involved parties try to be cordial and cooperative. However, you SHOULD NOT apologize for anything at the scene. For example, if you say, “I’m so sorry I ran that red light! Is everyone okay?” you may be admitting legal liability for what happened. Try not to admit guilt unintentionally or unnecessarily.

Seek Medical Attention

This may be the most important step. See a doctor immediately. Although you may feel fine now or think your injuries aren’t very serious, symptoms such as the following can appear days after the accident:

• Pain
• Discomfort
• Dizziness
• Numbness

Hidden injuries such as whiplash, TMJ, and traumatic brain injury can be devastating. Getting medical attention quickly isn’t just the best thing for your health; it also strengthens your personal injury claim. If you wait several days or weeks after the accident to seek medical attention, it will be harder to prove that your injuries were the result of the car crash.

Inform Your Insurance Company

Promptly alert your insurance company of the accident. Tell them the truth and the full extent of your injuries. Explain the facts clearly. If the insurance company finds out that you’ve lied to them about anything, you can get into serious trouble, including possible denial of coverage for the accident. Obtain and review any police report filed. You may be inclined to admit fault to your car insurance agent, however, doing so can seriously jeopardize your claim. Even if you believe you might have been fully or partially at fault, don’t say to the other party, your passengers, witnesses, or your car insurance company that you were to blame. Instead, provide an honest report of what happened and let the insurance companies determine the details.

Track Your Medical Treatment

Keep a detailed account of the treatments or medications you receive, including any contact information from any doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors, or other medical professionals that you receive treatment from, and each medical provider that referred you to other caregivers. Also, request copies of all medical reports and bills as these help you prove your medical expenses later. It would also be prudent to document how your injuries have impacted your daily life and routine, such as how many days of work you have missed or leisure activities you cannot longer participate in.

Take Pictures

It is important to document the scene with as much detail as possible. Take photographs of any damage to your vehicle as soon as possible after the accident. Photos will also help your insurance adjuster determine how much you should be compensated for the damage to your car. Photos can also help your legal claim in court, should it get to that point. Pictures of your car before the accident can offer a great “compare and contrast” to show the true extent of the damage sustained in the accident.

Get A Damage Valuation

It is likely that your insurance company will employ an adjuster to evaluate the damage associated with the accident. If there is a report, request it from your insurance company. It may also prove useful to get one or more independent valuations of the damage.

Call An Experienced Attorney

This could be paramount. Call an experienced personal injury attorney to advise you in protecting your rights. Elysium Law is experienced in these matters and will always advise you of these and other steps you should take after an accident.

Other Things To Consider

We have touched on this in other headings, but what you say can be used against you. Avoid admitting fault and as best you can, do not talk to anyone about the accident other than your lawyer, your insurance company, and the police. If called by the other insurance company, be polite, but ask them to call your attorney or insurer to arrange an interview. Also, tell your lawyer or insurer about the call. Also be leery of early settlements. Confirm all your physical injuries have been treated as some injuries don’t show up or reach their greatest level of discomfort until many days, weeks, or months later. Don’t settle a claim until you know you’ll be compensated for all your injuries, and consult an attorney before signing any settlement documents.

For more information on Things To Do After An Accident, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (727) 827-7777 today.

Per Florida Statute 395.002(8), an EMC is a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity, which may include severe pain, such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in any of the following:

1. Serious jeopardy to patient health.
2. Serious impairment to bodily functions.
3. Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.

For more information on Emergency Medical Condition, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (727) 827-7777 today.

Florida is one of ten states that have personal injury protection (PIP) auto insurance. Also known as no fault insurance, the intention was to provide injured drivers up to $10,000 in immediate medical coverage in lieu of establishing fault through the court system. The $10,000 is designed to cover your own injuries and lost wages resulting from auto accidents, regardless of who is at fault in the accident.

Requirements Under the PIP Law:

1. Medical care for injuries resulting from an auto accident must be sought within 14 days of the accident. Failure to do so means that PIP benefits will not be paid.
2. Initial care and services can be provided by medical doctors, doctors of osteopathic medicine, chiropractors, dentists, hospitals, facilities owned by a hospital, and emergency medical personnel.
3. You must be diagnosed with an emergency medical condition (EMC) in order to receive the $10,000.00 of PIP benefits that you are required to carry.
4. Lack of an EMC diagnosis results in a PIP reduction to $2,500.
5. Emergency Medical Condition diagnosis can only be made by medical doctors, doctors of osteopathic medicine, advanced registered nurse practitioners.
6. Massage therapy and acupuncture are not covered by the Florida PIP law.

Limits and Exclusions of PIP:

PIP has limits ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. If your losses exceed the limits of your policy or involve non-economic damages, you will have to look outside of your PIP coverage for full and fair compensation. Non-economic damages include:

1. Pain and suffering
2. Emotional pain and distress
3. Loss of enjoyment of life
4. Permanent impairment and disability

For more information on Personal Injury Protection, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (727) 827-7777 today.

If you are injured in an automobile accident in Florida, the chances are about one in five that the driver at fault is uninsured. Florida has one of the highest uninsured driver populations in the nation, with 19% of its drivers without liability coverage. Although Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is mandatory and carries a $10,000 limit in Florida, this is often less than a single trip to the Emergency Room. And if the at-fault driver does not carry Bodily Injury Insurance, you could be left without any recovery for your losses. Motorists are not required to carry Bodily Injury Insurance under Florida law and about half of the cars on the road don’t carry Bodily Injury Insurance. Furthermore, while health insurance and disability insurance may cover your medical bills and lost wages, they will not cover any of your non-economic damages. This is why Uninsured Motorist (UM) Insurance is so important.

UM Insurance will pay for your damages if you are involved in an automobile accident with an at fault driver who either doesn’t have Bodily Injury Insurance at all (uninsured motorist), or who does not have enough Bodily Injury Insurance (underinsured motorist) to cover your losses. UM Insurance usually covers the following expenses: medical expenses and lost-wages not fully paid by PIP, future medical expenses and future wage losses, and non-economic damages such as disability, pain and suffering, and the loss of ability to enjoy life.

UM Requirements in Florida

Florida law requires that UM Insurance be offered and either accepted or properly rejected by a “named insured” when an insurance policy which provides liability coverage is issued or delivered. Properly rejected means that the insured is required to sign a form stating that they do not wish to purchase UM Insurance. If the insurer fails to have the insured properly rejected UM Insurance, then UM coverage is provided by the contract as through the required coverage had been offered and accepted by the named insured as a matter of law.

Generally speaking, insurance agents usually don’t explain the Uninsured Motorists Insurance very well, and may instead tell you that you are getting “Full Coverage.” Don’t let this fool you! Full coverage means that they are only selling you the Minimum Insurance that Florida law requires.