If you’ve been in an Orlando car accident, you already know how wild the drivers in Orlando can be. Orlando drivers are intense. They drive fast, and they drive aggressively. Also, they’re not very forgiving to the out-of-towners who find themselves stuck with their emergency flashers on in medians and shoulders because the tourists waited too long to make a decision about whether or not to turn.
It's not just Orlando. The world is full of careless drivers, and regardless of how you got into your Orlando car accident, there are some things you should know about car accidents. We’ve talked about what you should do at the scene of the accident right after it happens. Now, let’s talk about the next phase of what you should do after your Orlando car accident. That way, you can be ready for what comes next.
1. You should seek medical treatment if you have suffered injuries as a result of your Orlando car accident.
If you’re not injured, this does not apply to you. However, after a car accident on a busy and scary Orlando highway or interstate, your adrenaline will skyrocket. That’s your fight or flight response; it’s how we survive crazy situations. However, that adrenaline keeps you from feeling pain, and when that adrenaline wears off, people often realize that they have suffered serious injuries. Sometimes, it’s days or even weeks before this realization occurs.
Also, people are often suffering from brain injuries after an Orlando car accident, and they don’t even know it. That’s why we ask our clients to go over a brain injury checklist if they’ve suffered a hit to the head or whiplash. Brain injuries are tricky, and it’s important to get help as soon as possible to make sure the injury doesn’t get any worse.
Overall, you should view your medical needs realistically and apart from your car accident. What I mean by that is that you shouldn’t seek medical help or avoid medical help just because you’re involved in some sort of litigation. There’s no need to base your healthcare decisions on your case strategy. If you’re faking your injuries, the doctors will know. Similarly, if you’re hiding your injuries, you’re only hurting yourself and causing more damage. Be honest with your medical providers. That way, they can help you to make a full recovery as soon as possible. We will handle the legal side. All you need to do is focus on making a recovery and getting your rest.
2. You can seek just compensation for what you’ve been through as a result of your Orlando car accident.
If you’ve been injured in an Orlando car accident, you may be entitled to compensation for a variety of damages you have suffered. Some of the more common types of compensable losses, which are the things you have a right to be compensated for after an Orlando car accident, are the following:
- Past and future medical bills;
- Lost past and future wages;
- Decreased ability to earn money in the future;
- Mental anguish;
- Post traumatic stress disorder;
- Pain and suffering from physical injuries; and
- Other losses resulting from the Orlando car accident.
Each Orlando car accident is different, and there is no way we can guarantee that you’ll be compensated. In fact, we’re not allowed to guarantee recovery. However, if you’ve suffered injuries and if you have medical bills or had to seek medical treatment, you probably have other types of damages that you should be compensated for. You’re not supposed to suffer when someone else is careless. The purpose of the civil law system is to help you get back to where you were before someone hurt you. This is where your Orlando car accident attorneys can step in and help you get the compensation you deserve for what the careless driver took from you.
3. You can file a claim with the insurance company before filing a lawsuit.
Many of our clients do not want to get involved in litigation. It’s stressful, and it takes a lot of time. However, the reality is that only a tiny percentage of cases actually go to trial, and many cases don’t require an actual lawsuit. This means that your case may settle, you may get just compensation, before we have to file a lawsuit. This is called settling a case pre-suit.
Money doesn’t always make someone whole after an accident, but it can certainly help when a careless driver has created a tremendous amount of pain and financial stress for you and your family. Our job is to make sure you get compensation for all the different ways you’ve suffered as a result of your car accident. The better job we do together, working to determine how you’ve suffered and accounting for all the dollars you’ve lost, the better chance we have of maximizing your claim and getting the insurance company to pay you what you deserve.
Although litigation is sometimes necessary, we can often get our clients their money faster by avoiding filing a lawsuit and by doing a thorough job pre-suit. That way, our clients can move on with their lives and forget about the car accident. For that reason, we will work hard to put together a thorough and well-researched demand letter that is convincing that the insurance company will pay you what you deserve. Sometimes, however, they won’t do the right thing and pay what’s fair. In those situations where the insurance company is unreasonable, we will absolutely file a lawsuit and take them to court.
4. You can get a significant amount of medical treatment for your injuries resulting from the Orlando car accident, regardless of whether the other driver has coverage.
Florida is a “no-fault” car insurance state. In Florida, drivers must carry $10,000 of personal injury protection, sometimes called “PIP,” as well as $10,000 in property damage liability benefits. PIP insurance is the insurance that each driver carries, and it pays for medical bills and other financial losses for those covered under the policy, regardless of whether you or another driver caused the accident. This coverage, of course, is capped at the policy limits, and typically drivers carry the minimum $10,000 of PIP coverage. Importantly, PIP is meant to cover only certain types of losses, which does not include pain and suffering.
5. The auto insurance companies make money by not paying out claims.
The goal of an auto insurance company is simple: Collect money and don’t pay out claims. They are for-profit companies that seek to maximize profits for their shareholders and executives. This means that they want to keep as much of the money they collect through premiums as possible, and they will fight to keep that money. They will start negotiations low, far lower than what they are ultimately willing to pay. They will do everything they can to minimize the value of your claims. Additionally, they will sometimes delay paying just compensation so that they can hold onto the money a little longer and use that money to make more money. For these reasons, you should get a personal injury attorney to fight on your side and help you get just compensation for your claim.
Get Legal Help After a Car Accident in Orlando
You face an uphill battle if you fight the insurance companies alone. More often than not, they are not going to take you seriously until you get an attorney to take them on. Additionally, the sooner you get an attorney fighting for you, the better chance you have of getting the compensation you deserve.
