| Personal Injury
A Good Personal Injury Recovery is No Accident. Our 30 Years of Experience Can Help You Obtain the Maximum Recovery In Your Personal Injury Case.
The number of car accidents in the State of Florida is beyond a reasonable person’s comprehension. State records reflect that the Sunshine State typically averages a quarter-million car crashes every year, many of them serious or fatal, and those numbers are on the rise.
The overwhelming majority of these accidents could have been prevented if other drivers acted more carefully. Driver negligence is the leading cause of automobile accidents in Florida. Speeding, behind-the-wheel fatigue, drunk driving, and distracted driving (texting while driving) are all enormous problems that safety experts have yet to solve.
As an injured person in a car accident caused by another driver, you are entitled to monetary compensation for your damages, and those damages most often far exceed any physical damage sustained to the vehicles involved.
Under Florida law, injured persons are allowed to pursue, and obtain damages for their past medical expenses, future medical expenses, hospital bills, time away from work (lost wages or income) past pain and suffering, future pain and suffering, the cost of any ongoing care, the loss of a loved one’s life, and other damages that may be reasonably demonstrated as a result of accident.
Stephen Willis has more than 30 years of experience in helping accident victims throughout the State of Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. Based upon his experience, and historically effective strategies, he is able to maximize the recovery of damages in your personal injury case.
If you’ve recently been involved in an auto accident in Florida, don’t be surprised if an insurance representative gives you a call. Often, they will ask you questions in the hopes that you will inadvertently say something against your interest. They may even offer you a minimal monetary settlement, with the anticipation that you will accept the offer before you consult with a lawyer.
Do not talk with them! Never accept a settlement offer without consulting an experienced attorney first. Insurance companies are not on your side (even if it’s your own insurance company). The primary goal of every insurance company is to settle your claim for the least amount of money possible. Keep that in mind always. The primary goal of every insurance company is to pay as little as they can.
Explanation of PIP Benefits in an Accident
If you are involved in a car accident in Florida, you will almost certainly have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. It’s required as part of the Florida No-Fault Law. Your PIP insurance is almost always limited to a maximum of $10,000.00. The basic premise relating to Florida’s No-Fault Law, when it was first enacted in the 1970s, was to ensure that every Florida driver involved in a car accident had immediate access to $10,000.00 of benefits to pay for medical bills, lost wages, and household services, without having to wait for the “at fault” driver’s insurance company to agree to pay for your personal injury damages.
Your PIP policy pays 80% of reasonable and necessary medical bills, 60% of lost wages, and 100% of replacement household services, up to the statutory $10,000.00 policy limits. The at fault driver’s bodily injury liability insurance policy remains responsible for paying all of the damages that your PIP doesn’t pay for, i.e., all otherwise unpaid damages for past medical expenses, future medical expenses, hospital bills, time away from work (lost wages or income) past pain, anguish, emotional suffering, future pain, anguish, emotional suffering.
Based upon his 30 years of experience as a practicing attorney in the Florida Panhandle, Stephen Willis understands that the full value of your claim may extend well beyond the policy limits and lowball estimates that insurers typically insist on paying you. Insurance companies may not care about the long-term effects of your accident or the impact that it may have on your quality of life, but we do.
Studies show that, on average, insurance companies pay out almost triple the amount of money in cases where the victim is represented by an experienced auto accident attorney. You may have many options for compensation above and beyond your PIP policy. We can aggressively pursue your claim to obtain the maximum damages or settlement for which you may be entitled.
For an initial Personal Injury consultation, call our office for an appointment.
Stephen Clinton Willis
Attorney at Law
(850) 835-7083