After experiencing a car accident, a person may be unsure what to do next. In Florida, accident victims may have to file a claim through Personal Injury Protection, but you don’t have to do this by yourself, and it may not be the best option in your case. Before you proceed, you may want to consult with a Florida Personal Injury lawyer from our firm.
Our lawyer can assist you with your claim, file it for you, or even file a lawsuit instead of the claim. We’ll go over your case and discuss your options with you during a free consultation.
How does Personal Injury Protection Work in Florida?
In Florida, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is insurance coverage used to help vehicle drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians recover personal injury damages after a car accident or another accident involving a driver. PIP is necessary for all drivers, and they must carry $10,000 in PIP coverage. The coverage pays for injury-related damages, but only up to a certain amount. For example, PIP pays 80% of a claimant’s medical bills (up to the policy limit).
The problems many claimants have with PIP are that it doesn’t cover losses that exceed the policy limit, and it doesn’t cover certain damages. This can be frustrating for these claimants because they may not be able to recover all of the compensation they believe they deserve. The claimants may choose to sue the other party in their case in order to recover more compensation.
Other claimants find the process of filing a PIP claim confusing, so they get assistance from a PIP lawyer, like one from our firm. One of our PIP lawyers can help you make sense of the process or simply file your claim for you.
What does Personal Injury Protection Cover?
Generally, PIP covers injury-related financial damages a car accident victim has. However, only a portion of these damages is covered, and certain injury-related non-financial damages aren’t covered. In your claim, you may be able to recover a portion of:
- The costs of any emergency transportation and care you needed
- The cost of any additional medical treatment you require(d)
- The cost of long-term therapy, like physical therapy
- The costs of medical testing, such as X-rays
- The costs of prescription drugs
- The wages you lost or may lose in the future
- Certain wrongful death costs if you lost a loved one in a car accident
Does Florida PIP Cover Pain and Suffering and Related Damages?
PIP generally covers only financial losses. It doesn’t cover pain and suffering, mental anguish, and some of the other damages car accident victims and the families of victims have. Many wrongful death damages aren’t covered by PIP, such as loss of companionship and loss of parental support.
Also, PIP doesn’t cover property damage, like the damage to your vehicle. However, Property Damage Liability (PDL) insurance does cover this damage. It’s also required in Florida, but there are limits to this coverage as well. For example, it won’t cover extensive damages to your vehicle.
PIP and PDL claims are great for minor accidents with minor damages, but not necessarily for accidents involving serious injuries or loss of life. The alternative to filing those claims is filing a lawsuit, which may be the best course of action in your case.
How Can a Florida Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Lawyer Help?
You could file a PIP claim and a PDL claim yourself, but there may be many reasons not to. You’ll have to consider how serious your case is, whether you want to manage your claim yourself, and the following:
A Lawyer May Be Able to Help You Obtain Your Due Coverage
There’s no guarantee your insurers will cover the damages or the amounts you expect or need them to. Non-financial damages won’t be covered, and only a percentage of your financial damages will be covered. This may not be enough for you.
A lawyer from our firm may be able to hold the insurers accountable and demand fair compensation from them. Alternatively, if your damages and damage amounts exceed your policy limits, the lawyer can file a lawsuit for additional damages and compensation.
A Lawyer Can Help You Meet Important Deadlines
Something else to consider about PIP in Florida is that its coverage can expire 14 days after an accident. One of our firm’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) lawyers in Florida can help you meet the 14-day deadline for filing your PIP claim.
In addition to that, our lawyer can help you meet the deadline for filing a lawsuit in Florida, should you choose to file one. According to Florida Statutes § 95.11, the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit is 4 years from the date of an accident, and the deadline for filing a wrongful death lawsuit is 2 years from the date of the deceased person’s loss of life.
Our Lawyer Can Hold Parties Accountable
PIP and PDL don’t really hold anyone accountable for your injuries; they just compensate you for your injuries. A lawsuit will compensate you too while holding the other party accountable for your mental and emotional injuries as well. A lawsuit may also help you get a sense of justice and closure after your incident.
Our lawyers can also hold to account parties other than the driver. For example, if a vehicle manufacturer or a government agency is partially liable in your case, our lawyers can hold them accountable and pursue compensation from them.
Contact GED Lawyers Today for a Florida Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Attorney
Before you proceed with filing a claim, consult with our firm. We’ll tell you how one of our PIP attorneys can help you with your claim, file it for you, or file a lawsuit for you instead. You may have a strong legal case, and an attorney can help you explore it and recover your due compensation.
During a free consultation, we’ll provide a case review and advise you on how to proceed. If you choose to hire one of our attorneys, you’ll get a dedicated personal injury lawyer, specifically, and our lawyer can work for you on a contingency basis if you like. This means you won’t pay our lawyer unless they recover compensation for you. For your free consultation, call GED Lawyers today at 844-4GEDLAW (844-443-35290.
