- KEEP CALM. Call 911 to report the accident and be sure to advise the 911 operator if anyone is injured. In Florida, you are required to have a Traffic Crash Report completed if the crash results in death, bodily injury, or at least $500 in property damage. Even if the other driver begs you not to call 911 to report the accident, you still need to.
- MOVE YOUR VEHICLE. If your vehicle is a hazard for other vehicles, move it out of the way if it is safe to do so.
- AVOID FURTHER INJURY. Turn off the missions of all vehicles involved. Do not move an injured person unless he or she is in immediate danger. Try to keep the injured person warm until paramedic assistance arrives. Stand away from the vehicles in case they are hit again.
- AVOID CONFRONTATION AT THE SCENE. The scene of an automobile crash is no place to get into an argument with the other driver over who is at fault. It is best not to discuss how the accident happened. Just wait for the police and cooperate fully with the police. Make sure the responding officer or traffic aide fully hears and understands your side of the story. Speak firmly and commonly without being belligerent or argumentative.
- EXCHANGE INFORMATION. Although you should not discuss responsibility for the accident with the other drivers, you should exchange contact information. In particular, you will need to exchange drivers license information, vehicle registration information, and insurance information.
- SECURE WITNESS INFORMATION. Even if the other driver admits fault, it is still important to obtain the names, home addresses, work addresses, and all the telephone numbers of as many witnesses as possible.
- SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION. Even if you experience what you consider to be minor pain, you should still seek medical attention. Sometimes what it might first appear to be a minor injury can develop into something more serious. If you wait to see you tension, your condition may worsen because you failed to obtain medical treatments sooner. Moreover, it is important that your injuries be documented by a healthcare provider. Without such proof, you may unwittingly hurt your own personally personal injury claim. Insurance companies always scrutinize the amount of time that you waited to obtain medical care after you were injured. If you wait too long, the insurance company almost certainly will seek to use that information against you.
- TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS. Take photographs of any injuries to your body. Also, before your vehicle is repaired be sure to take photographs of all areas of your vehicle that are damaged.
- PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS. Although you generally must provide reasonable cooperation with your own insurance company’s investigation, you do not have to provide the same walk ration to the insurance company for the at fault party. Before you talk to an insurance company representative on the telephone, make sure you fully understand what insurance Company it is, and who they ensure. Often, shortly after an automobile accident, and insurance company will contact you, ask you a number of questions on the telephone, and will ask your permission to record the conversation. You should understand that you are under no duty to give the other driver’s insurance Company any sort of statement concerning the automobile accident. You should call Andrea McMillan before giving a statement to anyone – – even your own insurance company.
- CALL US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Andrea McMillan has extensive experience handling automobile accident cases. She cares, and will help you take all the appropriate steps to protect your rights and interests. Contact her now.
Filing a claim is usually the first step in trying to resolve a personal injury matter. Filing a claim means that your lawyer notifies the responsible party/parties, along with their respective insurance company/-ies, that you will be asserting a claim seeking damages (compensation) for your injuries.
Your lawyer will gather and present the insurance company/-ies with the documentation and other evidence showing why the party/-ies are at fault for causing your injuries. Further, your lawyer will gather and present the insurance company/-ies with all the evidence proving the losses you have suffered, such as:
- your physical and emotional injuries;
- the damage to your vehicle; and
- loss of income
The insurance company/-ies will assign an adjuster to handle your claim. As you receive medical care for your injuries, the adjuster will be reviewing your:
- medical records
- medical bills;
- employment records regarding any lost wages; and
- all other items relevant to your claim for compensation.
When your treating physician determines that you have reached the point of getting as good as you can get (“maximum medical improvement”), your lawyer will send a letter to the insurance company demanding a certain sum of money to settle your claim. If the insurance company is unwilling to settle the claim, or refuses to reasonably compensate you for your injuries and losses, then you and your lawyer will decide together whether it’s appropriate to take the next step, which is filing a lawsuit in a court of law.
A lawsuit is an official legal event where you sue the person and/or business responsible for your injuries. When a lawsuit is filed, the insurance company will hire a lawyer to represent the party/-ies that caused your injuries. Typically, that lawyer will try to:
- prove that you were not injured at all; or
- attempt to minimize the effect of your injuries on your life.
One way insurance company lawyers attempt to do that is by hiring doctors to examine you– with the hope of establishing that:
- you are not injured at all; or
- you are not as injured as your lawyer claims you are.
Lawsuits involve:
- both sides exchanging relevant information about the case, as well as information that may lead to relevant evidence (“discovery”);
- witnesses giving depositions (witness testimony, given under oath, usually somewhere other than a courtroom);
- court hearings.
Other than giving relevant information to your lawyer, and giving testimony at a deposition or trial, you—the injured person—will not have to do very much during a lawsuit. Your lawyer will be doing mostly all of the work.
Sometimes during a lawsuit, both sides will reach an agreement that resolves the entire case for a certain sum of money. Sometimes this settlement will occur at a mediation, which is an official settlement conference using a neutral third-party called a “mediator.” Judges typically require that the parties to the lawsuit, their lawyers, and any insurance representatives, attend mediation, prior to going to trial. The mediator’s job at the mediation conference is to try to get all parties to the lawsuit to reach a settlement.
If there is no settlement, and the case is set for trial, then both sides must prepare to try the case in front of a fact-finder, which is most usually a jury (although, sometimes it is the judge). Sometimes, right before trial (when it’s time to “put up or shut up”)—both sides will reach an agreement to settle. However, if the case does not settle, then a jury will decide the issues of:
- who is at fault for your injuries;
- what injuries were caused and/or aggravated by the accident/incident;
- an appropriate amount to compensate you for your injuries and other losses.
If you have been injured in an auto accident, shortly thereafter, you will likely receive a telephone call from an insurance adjuster assigned to handle the claim. The adjuster will ask if you’re willing to give a recorded statement, over the telephone, to the company. Should you give the statement? Well, it depends. You may be required to give the statement, depending upon which insurance company is requesting it.
When Someone Else’s Insurance Company Requests Your Recorded Statement
If the insurance company requesting the statement is not your own insurance company – maybe it’s the insurer of another vehicle involved in the accident – then you are not legally obligated to give your statement to that insurer. Instead, your lawyer can give the insurer the appropriate information needed to investigate the accident and properly adjust your claim. The Law Offices of Andrea D McMillan, PA does this for its clients in its auto accident and personal injury cases all the time.
When Your Own Insurance Company Requests Your Recorded Statement
However, if your own insurance company is requesting your recorded statement, then you are legally obliged to give this statement, as part of your duty to cooperate with the company. If you don’t, your insurance company may legally deny your claim for your accident-related losses, or even void or cancel your insurance policy. Why can your insurance company do that? Well, your insurance policy is actually a contract that you have with your insurance company, regardless of whether you purchased the policy through an insurance agent, online, or over the phone. That insurance contract specifies that you have a duty to cooperate with your insurer investigating a claim, including, but not limited to, providing a statement regarding the accident. However, you should understand a few critical things before giving your recorded statement.
Know This Before You Give A Recorded Statement To An Insurance Company
Before you give a recorded statement to an insurance company – even your own – you must know what to expect and be properly prepared. Why? Well, what you say–or don’t say– during the statement can be used against you.
Insurance companies, including your own company, are in the business of saving money- not paying it out– unless they absolutely have to. In order to save money, insurance companies employ different tactics, including various techniques to weed out fraud. Weeding out fraud is fine. However, insurance companies sometimes cast too wide a net and target legitimate claims as fraudulent. When that happens, it can create a host of problems in successfully resolving your claim or case.
During your recorded statement, the adjuster will ask a series of questions about the accident itself. The adjuster will also ask you what injuries the accident caused, and the specific body parts you injured. The adjuster will also likely ask you whether or not you have ever injured the same body parts prior to the accident.
Now, few of us, if any, have perfect memories. Realistically, you may not even remember what you ate for breakfast that morning– much less whether or not you have ever injured that same body part. Accordingly, during the recorded statement, you may deny any prior injuries to that same body part. In reality, though, when giving the statement, you simply forgot that you had briefly consulted a doctor six years prior about relatively minor pain in that same body part. Upon learning about that prior medical consultation, for example, the insurance company may label you as a fraudster, suggesting that you were trying to deceive the company, when, in actuality, you have a legitimate claim.
Andrea McMillan strongly believes that it is better to prevent such problems, rather than trying to cure them later. That’s why she guides her clients from the moment they contact the Law offices of Andrea D McMillan PA, regarding their car accident or personal injury case.
Florida law sets a specific amount of time in which you are required to file a lawsuit after an incident giving rise to a lawsuit. That amount of time is called a “statute of limitations.” The statute of limitations will vary according to the wrongful act that is at issue. Typically in Florida, and injured person must bring a lawsuit within four years from the date of injury or loss, or be forever barred from bringing such a lawsuit. However, that amount of time can vary, depending on the circumstances of the injury or loss. It is extremely important that you contact a lawyer immediately to preserve your rights after you or your loved one suffered injury. Andrea McMillan will analyze all factors affecting your statute of limitations. Don’t wait; contact her today.
Florida law often gives an insurance company the right to hire a doctor of its choosing to examine and injured person and render an opinion regarding the nature and extent of that person’s injuries. The public is generally not aware that many of these doctors are paid enormous sums of money by the insurance company on an annual basis to conduct these examinations, in order to generate a medical opinion that favors the insurance company. Often times, the doctor will render an opinion that an injured person is truly not injured, or is not as severely injured as claimed, or that the injury was caused by something other than the accident or injury that is the subject of the claim or lawsuit.
Andrea McMillan has dealt with many such doctors who have rendered these types of opinions that are unfair to injured people. Andrea believes that it is important to fight fire with fire when it comes on to these doctors and their examinations. She has cross-examined many of these doctors in the courtroom and has exposed the truth behind their opinions. First, she will go to court to ask the judge to narrow the scope of any such examination, so that you do not have to undergo any unnecessary testing or answer any unnecessary questions that are asked by the insurance company doctor. Second, Andrea McMillan will actually go to the examination with each client to ensure that nothing improper occurs. She will also hire a videographer to videotape the entire examination, in an attempt to proceeding “honest.” If necessary down the road, the videotape can be shown to a jury deciding the issue of the value of the injuries. Third, Andrea will use the legal process to gather the necessary proof of the bias that these doctors have against injured people, including their financial motivation to render unfair opinions against injured people. These are some of the ways that Andrea
How is the value for a personal injury case determined? Every injury claim must be considered on its own merits. In assessing the value of your claim or case, there are many factors that this law firm will investigate and consider. These factors include the following:
What is the extent and nature of your injuries?
Did the actions of someone else contribute to your accident or injuries?
Did you in some way contribute to the accident or injuries?
Is evidence available to prove your case?
Do medical reports state that your injuries are permanent?
Are there witnesses, or is the testimony of witnesses available?
Will you be permanently disfigured?
How severely will your injuries affect you for the rest of your life?
What is the probability of pain or discomfort in the near future and later in your life?
Do you have insurance that will cover this accident or your types of injuries?
Does the party that caused your injuries have insurance, and if so, how much and what kind?
What type of medical treatments do you need?
How much do the treatments cost?
How much income did you lose during treatment and rehabilitation?
Are you disabled? Can you still at work and earn an income?
If you cannot work, when will you be able to return to work, if at all?
Will you have long-term medical bills?
How would a jury most likely perceive you?
How would a jury most likely perceive the person or entity that caused your injuries?
You can discuss your case with us at an initial consultation that will last as long as it takes to fully discuss and analyze your case. Our law firm will never require you to pay us a consultation fee. We will represent you under the contingency fee contract approved by the Florida Supreme Court. Under that contract, you will only pay us attorneys fees if we recover compensation for you. No recovery, no fee, guaranteed.
If you have any further questions or if you or a loved one has suffered injury in an accident, contact us now.
There is no set time for the duration of a case. Each case has its own set of circumstances and facts that will determine how long the case will take. The typical claim for injuries caused by negligence will resolve within 12 to 18 months from the time that we accept the case. However, If the insurance company refuses to pay you a fair settlement, then it may be necessary to file a lawsuit in order to obtain the compensation you deserve. If a lawsuit becomes necessary, your case will take longer.
The complexity of the facts of the case is one factor affecting the length of a case. Another factor affecting the duration of the case is how long it will take you to reach “Maximum Medical Improvement” (“MMI”). Your treating doctor will determine when you reach the point of maximum medical improvement, which is, essentially, when you have reached the point where you are as good as you’re going to get.
It would be unwise to attempt to resolve your case before you have reached maximum improvement, because you may still be healing, and we may lack a good understanding of what your medical condition will be like going forward. When you resolve your case, in exchange for the compensation you will receive, you will most likely be required to sign a release in which you will give up all future rights to make any claim for your injuries. You can never come back and demand more money. For that reason, it is prudent to wait and see how your injuries develop.
Our law firm is committed to bringing your case to a conclusion at the time that legally and ethically is in your best interest. If you have any further questions or if you or your loved one have suffered injury in an accident and would like to speak to us, please contact us now.