Do I Need a Car Crash Attorney if I Was Rear-Ended in Florida?
Rear-end collisions don’t always look as dramatic as front-end accidents but can cause just as severe, if not greater, injuries. Understanding your rights and what legal recourse may be available is critical if you hope to recover compensation for the full extent of your medical bills and other losses.
An experienced Florida car accident attorney can explain your options and help you navigate Florida’s legal system. Legal representation can strengthen your case.
Guiding You Through the Insurance Claims Process
If you’ve been injured in a rear-end accident, you should seek immediate medical treatment. In Florida, you only have 14 days to tap into your personal injury protection (PIP) insurance, which will cover up to $10,000 of your medical expenses.
This can be easier said than done. A common issue with rear-end accidents is that they cause injuries that, while serious, can be hard to detect within the 14-day period.
Whiplash is a typical example. The motion of a rear-end car crash causes the neck to violently snap back and forth. This movement often leads to nerve and other soft tissue damage in the neck and spine. Unfortunately, soft tissue injuries can be hard to spot with standard diagnostic tests and can lead to more serious problems if you don’t treat them promptly.
An experienced Florida car accident attorney can guide you through the insurance claims process by:
- Investigating the case to understand the facts and build a solid claim
- Gathering supporting evidence, such as the police report, witness statements, testimony from accident reconstruction experts, and more
- Preparing and filing all necessary paperwork
- Communicating with the insurance company and the other driver
- Counteracting attempts to undervalue, underpay, stall, or deny your legitimate claim
- Negotiating a favorable settlement
- If necessary, take your claim to court
Convincing Medical Providers To Defer Collection
Car accident claims can take weeks or months to settle. The process can drag on even longer if you need to initiate a lawsuit to collect compensation.
Because your health comes first, you can’t (and shouldn’t) pause or postpone medical treatment until the claim is resolved. Typically, your attorney will be able to convince medical providers to defer collection and possibly billing until the case settles. This can buy you invaluable peace of mind and allow you to focus on your recovery instead of worrying about the mounting medical bills.
Your attorney can also help find you doctors who will take your PIP and handle personal injuries, which can be difficult in some cities.
Preserving Physical Evidence
Many car accident victims are unaware that sometimes you must act quickly to preserve physical evidence. Otherwise, you risk the party who was at-fault “accidentally” losing, deleting, or destroying records such as cell phone or black box data logs.
This is especially important in accidents involving commercial vehicles, which are equipped with black box-type devices that record the movement of the vehicle, the driver’s actions, road conditions, and other potentially incriminating information.
A good lawyer will know this and will take swift measures to preserve and access physical evidence — usually, by sending a spoliation letter to the other side.
We have recovered millions of dollars on cases, where liability was initially denied, as a result of the information recovered from the black box.
Were You Involved in a Rear-End Collision? Contact an Experienced Car Accident Attorney
At Florida Keys Injury Lawyers, we have over 15 years of experience representing victims in car accident cases. Our legal team can help you seek compensation for your injuries and other losses. Call 786-605-8500 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Florida car accident attorney.
