When it comes to car accidents, Florida is a no-fault state. This means that after a motor vehicle accident, each driver’s own car insurance policy will cover initial medical expenses and lost wages. These benefits are available to both drivers, regardless of who was at fault for the accident.
No-fault insurance is particularly helpful for minor car accidents, where losses are minimal. However, no-fault coverage does not pay for more extensive losses or non-monetary damages like pain and suffering. If you have a serious injury, you can file a lawsuit for compensation beyond PIP coverage with the help of our Vero Beach personal injury attorneys.
Gould Cooksey Fennell offers zealous legal representation to clients throughout Florida’s Treasure Coast region. If you have been in a car accident, we will fight to get you every dollar that you are entitled to under Florida law. To learn more or to schedule a free consultation with a dedicated Vero Beach car accident lawyer, contact our law offices today.
Getting Compensation Beyond PIP Coverage
PIP benefits are great. They provide immediate coverage for your medical bills and lost wages. Perhaps most importantly, you can get coverage even if you were at fault for a car accident.
Unfortunately, PIP coverage is fairly limited. If you only purchased the minimum $10,000 required by state law, they could be depleted pretty quickly. As anyone who has ever gotten a medical bill in the mail knows, even relatively basic medical treatment can be expensive.
Importantly, PIP also does not pay for things like property damage or other losses. It won’t cover your reduced earning capacity, future medical treatment, pain and suffering, or emotional distress. While you can file an insurance claim for the damage to your car, that won’t pay for things like reduced quality of life.
If your PIP coverage is exhausted by your medical bills and lost wages after a car accident, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit. If the other driver caused the accident, then they can be held liable for your losses. To win this type of lawsuit, you will have to get over two hurdles.
First, under Florida law, you must have a serious injury to be able to file a personal injury lawsuit for a car accident. A serious injury is one where an accident victim suffers one or more of the following:
- A significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
- A permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability
- Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Death
If your injury meets these standards, then you may get past the serious injury threshold to file a personal injury lawsuit. Examples of serious injuries include things like traumatic brain injury, broken bones, internal organ damage, spinal cord injuries, and burns.
Of course, insurance companies will rarely admit or agree that an accident victim’s injuries are serious. After all, if the injury isn’t serious, then they won’t have to pay for your losses. Our Vero Beach car accident lawyers will gather medical records, work with experts, and consult with your loved ones to prove that your injury is serious and has impacted your life.
The second hurdle that you will have to overcome is proving that the other driver caused the accident. Unlike PIP benefits, which are available regardless of fault, you have to demonstrate fault to recover financial compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. These cases are usually based on a theory of negligence (carelessness).
The accident victim (plaintiff) has the burden of proving that the other driver (defendant) was negligent in some way. To do so, the plaintiff will have to introduce evidence of the following:
- Duty: the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty to use reasonable care.
- Breach: the defendant violated that duty in some way, such as by running a stop sign or speeding.
- Causation: this violation caused the accident.
- Damages: the plaintiff suffered losses as a result.
If the plaintiff can introduce evidence to prove negligence, then they may be entitled to financial compensation for their losses after a Florida car accident.
Importantly, a car accident victim can also file a personal injury lawsuit for intentional or reckless behavior. For example, if you were hurt in a drunk driving accident or because someone was drag racing, you can still pursue a lawsuit against that driver. A civil lawsuit can be brought in addition to any criminal charges that the police may pursue.
If you find yourself in a situation where PIP benefits are simply not enough to pay for all of your losses after a car accident, you do have options. If you can prove that your injury is serious and that the other driver caused the accident, you can file a personal injury lawsuit to recover full compensation for your losses.
Our law firm is adept at helping car accident victims navigate these types of claims. We are familiar with the types of tricks that insurance companies often use to deny car accident claims. We employ proactive strategies that are designed to counter insurance company tactics so that you can get the compensation that you deserve for your injuries.
In addition to medical expenses and lost wages, we can help you pursue money for all of your other losses, including:
- Future medical treatment
- Property damages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Emotional distress
- Scarring
- Disfigurement
In cases where the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly, we can also request punitive damages. This is a special type of compensation that is designed to penalize a person who acts badly and hurts others in the process.
Our law firm offers free initial consultations and handles all cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that you’ll never pay a fee unless we recover money for you. Reach out today to schedule an appointment with a Vero Beach car accident attorney.
What Is PIP Coverage?
Personal injury protection, or PIP, is a special type of insurance that is required by the state of Florida. To register your vehicle in Florida, you must have two types of insurance:
- A minimum of $10,000 in PIP coverage; and
- A minimum of $10,000 in property damage liability (PDL) coverage, which pays for damage that you may cause to other vehicles or property.
PIP benefits cover the policyholder, their children, and household members regardless of who was at fault for an accident. It will pay up to 80% of reasonable and necessary medical expenses and 60% of lost income related to the accident (up to policy limits). It will also provide these benefits if you are in an accident where you aren’t the driver or if you aren’t even in a motor vehicle (such as a bicycle accident).
There are rules that govern PIP benefits in Florida. To start, you can only get the full amount of your policy benefits if a doctor or other qualified medical provider determines that you had an “emergency medical condition.” An emergency medical condition is one that has severe enough symptoms that failure to get medical attention could result in harm to your health or well-being. If your condition doesn’t meet this definition, then you will be limited to $2,500 in PIP benefits.
You also have to get medical treatment pretty soon after the accident to qualify for PIP coverage. The rule in Florida is that you must get medical treatment within 14 days of the accident to get PIP benefits. You could go see your primary care doctor, go to urgent care, go to the ER, or get any other type of valid medical care. If you don’t get medical attention in those first 2 weeks, then you will likely be barred from recovering compensation for your accident through your PIP policy.
The way that it works is relatively simple. Imagine that you are in a low-speed car accident after a driver changed lanes without looking, hitting the side of your car. You have a few bumps and bruises, and you go to the emergency room to get checked out. Your PIP coverage will pay for your medical bills from that emergency room visit. If the other driver goes to the hospital for their own injuries, their PIP benefits will cover those costs.
In this situation, you won’t have to hire a lawyer or go through a lengthy insurance claims process to get coverage for your medical bills or lost wages if you take a few days off work to recover. You can file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company for any damage to your case, but otherwise, you can get medical treatment for your minor injuries and move forward with your life.
However, if just a few facts change, then PIP coverage might not be enough. Imagine that the same driver slammed into your car at a high rate of speed when merging onto the highway without looking. You suffered multiple broken bones that required surgery to fix, and you will be out of work for several months. In this scenario, a $10,000 policy limit won’t go very far. In fact, it might not even pay for the emergency room visit, x-rays, and other tests.
It is possible to file a personal injury lawsuit against another driver in this type of case. As described below, Florida law allows injured drivers to step outside of PIP coverage if they have a serious injury. Our Vero Beach car accident lawyers can help you get full compensation for all of your losses if you have suffered a serious injury in a Florida car crash.
Help for Victims of Florida Car Accidents
Car accidents can be scary and traumatic. They can also result in life-changing injuries. The last thing that you want to deal with after a car crash is insurance bureaucracy and red tape. If you have been hurt in a car accident in the Treasure Coast area, our law firm will fight for your right to full compensation.
At Gould Cooksey Fennell, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality legal representation to victims of all types of accidents in Indian River County. We will take on the big insurance companies for you, working hard to help you get the money that you deserve for your injuries. To learn more or to schedule a free initial consultation with a Vero Beach car accident lawyer, give us a call at 772-742-4912 or fill out our online contact form.
