AUTO INSURANCE AND PERSONAL INJURY LAW (PART 2)

In Florida, the required auto insurance coverage consists of Property Damage and Personal Injury Protection. Most people think they have “full coverage” on their insurance policy, but the term has created confusion as to what types of coverage are required in Florida. Many people also don’t know that Florida has some of the most lenient requirements for vehicle owners out of any state.

As a brief overview, Property Damage coverage will protect you by compensating the other driver for damage to his or her vehicle if you cause an accident. Here, however, we will discuss Personal Injury Protection. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage will cover your medical bills after a car accident no matter whether the accident was your fault or the other person’s. Most people have $10,000.00 in PIP coverage that you can elect to use for either of two purposes. PIP will either cover 80% of your medical expenses or 60% of your lost wages up to $10,000.00. Most PIP policies contain a deductible of $500.00 or $1,000.00.

In the last few years, our State Congress has made many changes to the PIP statute. The insurance policies can now differentiate the PIP Policy limits depending of the seriousness of the injuries. The insurance companies are required to pay up to $10,000.00 of your medical expenses if a medical doctor determines that you have sustained an Emergency Medical Condition (“EMC”). If a doctor does not make that you have an “EMC” then the insurance company is only required to pay up to $2,500.00 of your medical expenses. PIP is mandatory in Florida and you cannot purchase auto insurance in the state without it. You can elect to purchase more than $10,000.00 in PIP

Contact the Attorneys of The Noble Law Firm, P.A. to assist you with your personal injury and/or insurance coverage matter.

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Waiting too long to File your Claim can Jeopardize your Personal Injury Award

If you have been in an accident or suffered a personal injury, you do not have an infinite amount of time to file your claim against the person responsible for your pain and suffering. This time period is called the statute of limitations and is set by state law. In Florida, you have four years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit in Florida’s civil courts. That means, if you became injured and more than 4 years have passed since the injury, you may not be able to recover anything. Therefore, it is important to be proactive and retain an attorney immediately after you become injured.

Personal injury most often involves car accidents, however, can include: work place injuries, medical malpractice, slip and falls, trip and falls and certain property damage cases. There are four elements that must be met to recover under personal injury:

  1. person had a duty to act reasonably;
  2. the duty was breached;
  3. such breach caused damages; and
  4. the damages were directly caused by the breach.

With regard to apportioning fault, Florida follows the pure comparative negligence standard of recovery. Pure comparative negligence is a partial legal defense that reduces the amount of damages that a plaintiff can recover (in a personal injury claim) based upon their degree of fault. For example, if the jury finds that a plaintiff was 50% liable for their own injury, their damages award will be reduced by 50%. That means, if a plaintiff’s damages would amount to $1,000.00, the figure would be reduced by 50% or $500.00 – resulting in an award of only $500.00.

Contact the Attorneys of The Noble Law Firm, P.A. to assist you with your personal injury matter.

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