10 Facts Most People Don’t Know About Filing a Personal Injury Claim in Florida

If you have been seriously injured in an accident, filing a personal injury claim could be critical for your recovery and your financial stability. Traumatic injuries can impact victims’ lives in many ways, and recovering can be a long, difficult and expensive process. As experienced Florida personal injury lawyers, we know these facts all too well.

What Accident Victims Should Know About Filing a Personal Injury Claim in Florida

While filing a personal injury claim can be extremely important, many people do not have a clear understanding of what is involved in asserting their legal rights. For example, here are 10 facts most people don’t know about filing a personal injury claim in Florida:

1. Filing a Personal Injury Claim Requires Proof of Liability

When you have a personal injury claim, it isn’t enough to know that someone else is to blame for your injuries. You need to be able to prove it. If you don’t have proof, it doesn’t matter what happened—you won’t be able to recover the financial compensation you deserve.

2. The Insurance Companies Investigate With Their Best Interests in Mind

You might think that if you file an insurance claim, the insurance companies will investigate and gather proof of liability for you. However, this is not true—or at least not entirely.

When the insurance companies investigate personal injury claims, they do so with their own best interests in mind. The insurance companies are not required to help you prove your legal rights. While they are generally required to investigate and make liability determinations in good faith, acting in good faith and acting in your best interests are not the same. Additionally, while the insurance companies are supposed to act in good faith, they don’t always do so.

3. The Insurance Companies Don’t Know How Much You Deserve to Recover

Another common mistake accident victims make is relying on the insurance companies to tell them how much they deserve to recover. But, the reality is that until you provide clear and comprehensive documentation of your losses, the insurance companies won’t know the value of your claim.

4. If You Accept a Settlement Check, Your Case is Over

When you have a personal injury claim, you only get one chance to settle. As a result, once you accept a settlement check, your case is over. Even if you didn’t realize that you were waiving your legal rights, if you signed away your right to seek additional compensation, you won’t be able to go back and ask for more if you eventually realize you settled for less than you deserved.

5. Filing an Insurance Claim Does Not Preserve Your Legal Rights

In Florida (as in other states), personal injury claims are subject to a statute of limitations. If the statute of limitations for your claim expires, this will also prevent you from seeking the financial compensation you deserve.

While many people are familiar with the concept of a statute of limitations, a key fact many people don’t know is that filing an insurance claim does not prevent the statute of limitations from expiring. Instead, to avoid losing your legal rights, you must file a lawsuit in court. If you are still trying to obtain insurance coverage when the statute of limitations for your claim expires, this could bring your claim to an abrupt end.

6. Personal Injury Claims Cover Past, Present and Future Losses

If you have a personal injury claim in Florida, you are entitled to compensation for your past, present and future losses resulting from the accident. While your past and present losses may be among your most pressing concerns, your future losses could account for the substantial majority of the value of your claim.

7. It Is Up to You to Prove Your Damages

As we said above, the insurance companies won’t know how much you deserve to recover unless and until you provide comprehensive documentation. In other words, it is up to you to prove your damages. If you don’t have comprehensive documentation of your medical bills, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and other losses, you won’t have any way of seeking the full compensation you are rightfully owed.

8. The Insurance Companies Use Medical Releases to Dispute Claims

In some cases, the insurance companies will say that they need a medical release in order to assess the value of a personal injury claim. While this may partially be true, this is also a tactic to try to avoid paying accident victims the full amount they are rightfully owed. By gaining access to accident victims’ medical records, insurance companies can open up the door to alleging pre-existing injuries and accusing victims of failing to adequately prioritize their medical care.

9. You May Be Entitled to Compensation Even if You Were Partially at Fault

Another common insurance tactic involves blaming accident victims for their own injuries. If the insurance companies try to blame you for your injuries, you should not take them at their word. You should also know that even if you were partially at fault, you may still be entitled to compensation under Florida law.

10. Hiring a Lawyer Can Help Maximize Your Take-Home Recovery

Finally, while there are no guarantees, hiring a lawyer can help maximize your take-home recovery.

How is this the case when you need to pay for your legal representation (if your case is successful)? Even taking your lawyer’s contingency fees into account, by helping you seek full compensation for your past, present and future financial and non-financial losses, your lawyer may be able to help you take home significantly more than you would be able to recover on your own.

Contact the Florida Personal Injury Lawyers at Searcy Denney

Do you need to know more about filing a personal injury claim in Florida? If so, we encourage you to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our Florida personal injury lawyers. Call 800-780-8607 or contact us online to schedule an appointment today.