When you are involved in a personal injury accident, you are hurt, confused and need guidance. Personal injury accidents include automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents. Many people do not know you must seek medical treatment within 14 days to be eligible for personal injury protection benefits.
They also don’t understand the different types of coverage: personal injury protection, comprehensive, collision, bodily injury and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. As a Florida resident, you are not required to carry bodily injury or uninsured motorist coverage. If you get hurt by a careless driver in a Florida car accident, you need a personal injury attorney to fight for your rights and direct your case through the legal process.
Steps of a Personal Injury Claim
- Many of these cases get resolved during the pre-litigation phase. This consists of sending demands to insurance companies with your medical records and bills which are a result of the accident. The insurance company will assign an adjuster to your case to evaluate your medical records and bills. The adjustor will then decide how much compensation they believe you are entitled to. This number is often very low, which is why having an experienced, aggressive attorney on your side is so important.
- Some of these cases do not get resolved pre-suit and must enter the litigation phase by filing a complaint.
- Once this case is filed, depositions are taken of all experts and witnesses involved.
- Discovery is obtained, which consists of both sides gathering information.
- The next step is typically a mediation. This consists of both parties trying to reach a settlement agreement by utilizing a neutral third party, the mediator.
- If the case is still at a standstill, the parties will go to trial and a jury will be the ultimate fact finder and decision maker.
The Power of Insurance Companies
Insurance companies are powerful. They have millions of dollars to defend their lawsuits and a large team of attorneys who fight hard for them. Regardless of the insurance company’s net worth, it does not want to pay you if you are hurt by a negligent driver. The funny thing is, that is exactly what insurance is for! Even though you are the innocent party who was injured as a result of another person’s negligence, the insurance companies continue to ignore and minimize your injuries in an attempt to pay you as little as possible.
They don’t care that you continuously try to get better by seeking chiropractic treatment or physical therapy. They also don’t care you need surgery or you have several outstanding medical bills. And they don’t care that you may have to live with this pain for the rest of your life.
The Defense’s Expert Witnesses
Insurance companies don’t believe you when you say you have pain. They overlook the fact that you can’t work, and your vehicle is now totaled. Attorneys who represent insurance companies operate by assuming you are lying or exaggerating your injuries just to get some money. Their well-paid experts often testify that you are not permanently injured. Most of these retained experts have testified in hundred of cases for the insurance companies. Let’s be frank; they get paid very well to give their biased opinions. It is the same doctors over and over saying the same thing in front of different juries.
This is why it is so important to hire an aggressive attorney that will show your jury the bias of these experts. Let our Florida accident attorneys fight your insurance company to get you what you deserve.
