Coconut Creek, Florida Car Accident Lawyer
Palm Beach & Broward County Truck Accident Attorney
Even if you pride yourself on being a safe and defensive driver, car accidents sometimes cannot be avoided, particularly if the person causing the accident was negligent. If you have been injured as a result of a careless or distracted driver, contact one of our experienced personal injury lawyers at the Law Offices of Mark Abzug, P.A. in Coral Springs, Florida. We work to recover maximum compensation for your damages, including medical expenses, wage loss, pain and suffering, and mental anguish.
Determining Fault and Identifying Insurance Coverage
At your initial consultation at a discounted rate, we will gather the information on the accident. Your lawyer at the Law Offices of Mark Abzug, P.A. will determine who was liable for the accident and if it was the fault of someone else. We will identify what types of insurance are involved, including personal injury protection insurance and property damage insurance (as required by the state of Florida) and other non-required insurance coverage. The other driver may not have insurance, so we need to find out if you have Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage. If you have been injured due to the negligence of the other driver, we will immediately report the claim to the insurance company.
Investigating Your Case
From there, we will conduct a detailed investigation on the extent of the accident and the severity of your injuries. If indicated, we will send a private investigator to the site of the accident to take pictures, which is important especially if there is no property damage. Witnesses will be contacted and statements and affidavits will be collected.
Collecting the Evidence to Settle or Litigate
In addition to handling the legal aspects of your case, we want to ensure that your injuries are being properly treated by the right doctors. Your immediate out-of-pocket medical expenses need to be covered along with future medical needs. If your car has not been totaled, we will see that it is repaired. If you are unable to work because of your injuries, you are entitled to compensation to pay your pills. In addition, your pain and suffering needs to be taken into account.
At our firm, we will communicate any and all settlement offers to you and advise you if it is a reasonable offer or not. While most car accident cases do settle, we will not hesitate to litigate the matter if that provides us the best outcome on your behalf.
Florida insurance law as it relates to automobile accidents is complicated. Some basis information is provided below:
Required Insurance Coverage:
Florida's No Fault Statute requires all automobile owners to carry personal injury protection insurance (PIP) and property damage insurance (PD).
1. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Insurance: PIP Insurance pays 80% of your medical bills regardless of fault. PIP is sort of like health insurance for people that are injured in car accidents. In fact, your PIP follows you around; i.e., if you're a passenger in your neighbor's car and your neighbor runs a red light and causes an accident YOUR PIP pays 80% of your medical bills until your PIP benefits are exhausted and/or suspended. Thereafter the at-fault driver's (tortfeasor) is responsible for the rest. The at-fault driver is also responsible for the 20% that your PIP carrier did not pay. To summarize, the law in Florida says that if you're injured in a car accident and you own a car then your PIP pays 80% of your medical bills regardless of fault. In fact, you don't have to be driving. Furthermore, you don't even have to be in your own car. It doesn't matter. Your PIP pays 80% of your medical bills regardless of fault. It also pays 60% of your lost wages.
That's great for everyone who owns a car but what about those people that don't own a car? Well, someone else's PIP will cover them too. Everyone is supposed to be covered by PIP somehow, someway. If you don't own a car but live with a relative that owns a car then you are permitted to use your relative's PIP. If you don't own a car and don't live with someone that you're related to, then you are covered by the PIP insurance of the car you were in when the accident happens. If you don't own a car and don't live with a relative that owns a car, and if you're not in a car when the accident happens, then you can use the PIP insurance of the car that hit you. This scenario applies to pedestrians. Consequently, everyone is covered by PIP insurance. It's sort of like socialism. One last thought. No, your insurance rates won't go up if you make a claim against your PIP. Remember, it's No-Fault. In fact, you might not even be driving your car. It might not even be you that's using your own PIP benefits.
2. Property Damage (PD) Insurance: Property damage coverage is much simpler to understand. Unlike PIP insurance, property damage insurance is completely related to fault. If you're involved in an accident and it's your fault, your insurance company will pay the owner of the other car to fix their car. Of course if the car is totaled then your insurance company will pay the other owner the fair market value of the totaled vehicle instead. A car is deemed a total loss when the cost to repair it exceeds 80% of its fair market value. Unlike PIP, a claim against your PD will cause your premiums to increase.
B. Non Required Insurance Coverage:
There are many other types of insurance coverage available to consumers in Florida including: bodily injury insurance (BI), uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM), comprehensive (COMP), collision, and rental. A brief description of each coverage and its importance follows.
1. Bodily Injury Insurance (BI): As previously stated, BI coverage is optional and is not required under Florida's No Fault statute. In short, BI coverage is the type of insurance that will compensate you for your out-of-pocket medical expenses and pain and suffering. If the at-fault driver has BI insurance then you make a claim against the at-fault driver's carrier for out-of-pocket medical expenses and pain and suffering. The at-fault driver will evaluate the claim and more often than not will seek an amicable resolution, such as a settlement. Of course, the amount of a settlement depends largely upon fault and damages; i.e., a broken pinky isn't worth as much as broken leg. Again, please remember that this is an optional coverage so there's always a chance that the car that hits you is only covered by PIP and PD. If that's the case, then, you're up the creek without a paddle, unless you were wise enough to purchase Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UM).
2. Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Coverage:
Uninsured motorist coverage protects you from a situation in which you are injured in a car accident by an uninsured motorist; i.e., someone that only has PIP and PD. If someone only has PIP and PD then his insurance company will not entertain your claim for out-of-pocket medical expenses, pain and suffering, etc... Chances are that the uninsured motorist is judgment proof (without assets or money to pay any court judgment). If such is the case, it makes little sense to sue someone that isn't insured and that doesn't have any assets. You can't get water from a stone. However, if you purchased uninsured motorist coverage, then you can make a claim against your own insurance company for out-of-pocket medical expenses, loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, etc... Your company steps into the shoes of the wrongdoer and pretends as if they insure him. This is a good thing because now there's money to go after. Your company takes on an adversarial role and will treat you just as they would treat any other injured person making a claim against them. In other words, your company isn't going to mail you a blank check and ask you to fill it in.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage is similar. If the wrongdoer has BI insurance but not enough to fully cover your damages you can make a claim for underinsured coverage. After his insurance company tenders a policy limits offer, you are allowed to make a claim against your own company. Again, your own company takes on an adversarial role and evaluates your claim and will pay your damages that are above and beyond the settlement you received from the wrongdoer. In my view, uninsured motorist coverage is the most important type of insurance you can have. It protects you, (if it's not your fault), no matter what. However, there's a catch. You are not allowed to buy UM or UIM unless you also purchase BI. In other words, before Florida will allow you to protect yourself from an uninsured motorist (someone that doesn't have BI), you must purchase BI so that you're not an uninsured motorist to someone else. This makes sense. Otherwise, nobody would purchase BI insurance and everyone would only buy UM insurance.
In closing, our office serves clients who are in need of caring and supportive personal injury representation by providing clients with the information that they need to make informed decisions about the most important issues in their lives. Call our office at (954) 753-1003 to discuss your injuries and car accident. You may also fill out our online contact form to provide our attorney with more information about your case. Our Coral Springs law office serves clients in Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale as well as Broward County and Palm Beach County.
