Florida has no-fault insurance laws that can make it both easier and at the same time more difficult to bring an accident claim. Contact a personal injury attorney in Fort Myers, FL right away to learn more about your claim.
What’s “No Fault?”
The idea of “no-fault” is that it doesn’t matter who was responsible for an accident. Everyone’s own insurance is required to cover them, regardless of fault. This is known as “personal injury protection” insurance or PIP.
This also restricts your right to sue the at-fault driver for injuries, though it doesn’t apply to claims brought for property damage. The purpose of these laws is to help reduce the time and frustration that it can take to get the coverage you need for your medical bills.
Getting a Personal Injury Attorney
It’s always a good idea to contact a personal injury lawyer as quickly as possible after an accident just to get a review of the situation and where you stand. For one thing, these laws are constantly being amended by the government because they have not really had the effect that was intended (to reduce litigation and costs for insurance), and only an experienced attorney can help you make sense of them all.
A personal injury lawyer will also be able to help you evaluate whether your circumstances might allow you to bring a personal injury claim against the other driver. An attorney will also help you bring claims against whatever insurance company is appropriate, including your own because getting properly compensated after an accident is rarely a given.
Dealing With Medical Bills
Something that your lawyer can help you with is identifying all possible avenues for compensation. Most PIP policies only provide $10,000 of coverage, and even then, you must be diagnosed with an “emergency medical condition” within two weeks to be eligible. Otherwise, your compensation is capped at $2500.
Unfortunately, just one hospital visit can easily go far beyond these limits. If you have also bought Medpay, which extends PIP, it continues paying your bills. But if you don’t have that, you will need to bring a claim against the at-fault driver.
Damage to Vehicle and Property
PIP does not provide any coverage for property damage. You will need to talk to your lawyer about bringing a claim for this separately.
Non-Economic Damages
“Non-economic damages” are things like pain and suffering or loss of enjoyment of life. PIP insurance does not cover this. The only way to recover non-economic damages is with a lawsuit against the at-fault driver, and your damages must meet a certain threshold for you to do this.
In the end, a judge will make the final decision, but a lawyer can tell you if there’s a good chance your injuries meet this threshold. Generally you must have suffered significant or permanent injury or serious and permanent scarring or disfigurement.
Florida’s system makes bringing claims complicated, but a lawyer can help. Contact us now at the Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz (GBC) Law Office in Fort Myers, FL for help here in Southwest Florida.