After a car accident that someone else caused, understanding the correct steps can feel nearly impossible — especially if you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries. Yes, filing a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company is a simple process, but going through the claims investigation and asserting yourself as you fight to get the money you rightfully deserve is a difficult process entirely, and one best left to a Homestead car accident lawyer while you focus on your recovery and getting your life back on track.
When it comes to car accidents, Florida is known as a “no-fault” state, and drivers are required to carry a policy known as PIP — personal injury protection — that will cover $10,000 of damages to the policyholder without concern for who caused the accident. However, after a Homestead car accident that causes damages in excess of what a victim’s PIP policy will pay, they will need to take the next step by filing a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurer or filing a civil lawsuit in the Florida courts.
Source: https://www.flhsmv.gov/pdf/crashreports/crash_facts_2020.pdf
Many people believe that hiring an experienced car accident attorney may be unnecessary to file an insurance claim in Miami-Dade County, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Insurance companies rely on inexperienced car accident victims to manage their own case so they can work aggressively to settle quickly and inexpensively, often using aggressive and even intimidating tactics to achieve this goal. When a claim is initiated by a Homestead car accident attorney or law firm representing the victim, the insurer knows from the start that they will not be able to avoid being held financially liable, and your chances of a successful claim are greatly improved from the start.
Contact 1-800-Injured To Connect With a Homestead Car Accident Attorney Today
1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service. After a car accident in South Florida, it can be challenging to take the time to find a law firm and reach out to request a consultation with a car accident lawyer, especially when you will not be sure whether or not you will even hear back from each law firm, let alone book a free consultation with experienced attorneys. Instead of going through this process on your own, simply fill out our contact form, and we will schedule you for a consultation with an attorney who has a proven track record of personal injury cases.
Read more below to learn more about essential aspects of a personal injury case, such as how fault is proven, damages are determined, and how Homestead car accident lawyers determine whether to make a settlement with the insurers or move forward with a lawsuit to recover costs like medical bills, lost wages, and more.
Contact us right away so we can schedule a free case evaluation on your behalf.
Proving Fault After a Homestead Car Accident
Although Florida is technically a “no-fault” state, this does not mean that victims cannot seek compensation from the responsible party for their personal injuries. Instead, this means that victims will first file against their personal injury protection policy for up to $10,000. If their damages exceed this amount, the next step will be to seek compensation from the other driver’s insurance. Before even discussing how much compensation they are owed, they must first assign fault.
Pure Comparative Fault and How It Factors Into Car Accidents
The concept of “pure comparative fault” is not unique to Florida but is a critical aspect of all personal injury cases. According to the Florida Statutes 768.81(2), “In a negligence action, contributory fault chargeable to the claimant diminishes proportionately the amount awarded as economic and non-economic damages for an injury attributable to the claimant’s contributory fault, but does not bar recovery.”
Simply put, a victim can accept partial fault for their motor vehicle accident while still pursuing compensation from a negligent motorist. The final award is reduced by the percentage of fault that the claimant accepts. The alternative to this law would bar a victim from any damages if they were found responsible for any negligent driving at all, but thankfully this is not the case; however, insurance companies will attempt to use this statute to their advantage by pinning as much blame as possible on a claimant to reduce their financial obligation.
Personal injury lawyers will work in their client’s best interest to reach an agreement about a fair proportion of fault before moving forward with damage calculations.
How Car Accident Attorneys Calculate Personal Injury Damages
Once fault is established for your motor vehicle accident, attorneys will move forward with documenting, quantifying, and calculating damages before submitting a demand letter to the insurance company in the hopes of reaching a settlement agreement. Even the best attorneys do not expect this initial demand to be accepted. They will then move into a series of negotiations to reach a final agreement for compensation, whether through an out-of-court settlement or a trial.
Compensatory damages are divided into two distinct categories: economic and non-economic. Each is equally important but drastically different.
Economic Damages
These damages are the basis of most claims and seek compensation for impacts that have set or measurable monetary values associated with them. The most common economic damages are the total medical expenses that a victim accrues, as well as any lost wages or other employment-related losses or impacts. There are many different economic damages that an experienced car accident lawyer in Miami-Dade County can identify, many of which are overlooked by inexperienced claimants and will typically not be volunteered by the claims adjuster assigned to your case.
Many individuals may overlook low-cost damages such as prescription copayments or transportation costs to and from medical appointments, but each of these losses are rightfully recoverable, and you should not be responsible for the impacts of someone else’s dangerous or reckless behavior that caused traffic accidents or severe injuries. Each dollar accounted for in your economic damages may ultimately result in between $1.50 and $5 in non-economic damages under the multiplier method, which will be explained in the next section.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are more complicated to calculate than economic damages because they apply to abstract or intangible impacts such as the actual pain and suffering a victim endures from their injuries, as well as the emotional effects of such a terrifying experience. Insurance companies know how difficult it can be to assign a dollar amount to something as subjective as “depression” and are quick to shut down any conversations about these damages when they are not working with personal injury lawyers.
The Multiplier Method For Calculating Non-Economic Damages
One method of calculating these damages is using a “multiplier” method, which picks a number along a scale from 1.5 – 5 to indicate the severity. Details like whether or not a client will need to deal with impacts of their accident for their entire life will affect this number, as will countless other factors that your accident attorney will consider. Once they determine this number, it is multiplied against the total economic damages. For example, a non-economic multiplier of 3 and economic damages of $100,000 will result in $300,000 of non-economic damages.
Frequently Asked Questions About Car Accidents in Miami-Dade County
The following are just a few of the many questions that are commonly asked to a Homestead car accident lawyer during a free consultation, as well as into the claims process as additional details become clear.
Whether or not you see your questions addressed below, keep in mind that the answers provided are meant to give you a general sense of how Florida law pertains to your unique situation.
Where Do You Serve Clients?
1-800-Injured connects Florida victims with nearby law firms and attorneys. Whether you are in Homestead, Key West, Hallandale Beach, Cutler Bay, Pembroke Pines, Coral Gables, Key Largo, Lehigh Acres, Fort Myers, Broward County, Palm Beach County or West Palm Beach, Florida’s oldest City St. Augustine, Miami Lakes, Fort Lauderdale, North Miami Beach, the Florida Keys, or any of the surrounding areas, we will connect you with a proven and experienced professional who is ready to build a solid attorney-client relationship and fight to get you the money you deserve.
How much is my case worth?
As you may have already recognized due to the subjective and variable nature of compensatory damages, your case worth is highly dependent on a substantial amount of confidential or sensitive information that will help your attorney both quantify and calculate these matters.
If these damages were simple to calculate, the insurance claims process would be much more expedient than it is — connected with an accident attorney is one of the best steps you can take to find a clear answer to this important question.
Should I accept a settlement from the insurance company?
Many people ultimately settle with the insurance company after a Florida accident. It is important to note that you should not accept any offers without first discussing your situation with an experienced personal injury attorney.
Many people shy away from legal representation because of things like attorneys’ fees. During your initial consultation about your accident, you may discover that your case could be worth much more — even after your lawyer has been paid for their work.
Will I need to take my case to trial?
While there are no exact calculations due to the opaque nature of out-of-court settlements, some studies estimate that nearly 95% of all injury cases are resolved before going to trial, and nearly 50% of all injury claims are settled before a lawsuit is even filed. While these statistics are no guarantee of a similar outcome for you, they may give you a better sense of what you might be able to expect while working with an accident attorney.
Many lawyers (and insurers) prefer to circumvent litigation to save time, court fees, and the need to disclose potentially damaging information that would be added to the court records. That said, the best way to understand is by clicking the sidebar “free consultation” option. Our simple message contact form sends information about your accident, and we will connect you with an attorney who is ready to take your case.
How much does it cost to hire a car accident lawyer?
Commonly, an injury attorney operates on a contingency fee basis, which is a percentage of the final amount their client is awarded or settles for. Under this arrangement, a victim will not pay anything if they do not win, and even if they do win, costs do not come out of pocket but instead out of the sum they receive.