Car Accident Attorney in Winter Park
Have you been in a car accident recently, and are wondering if you are entitled to collecting damages in a personal injury case? If you have suffered injuries that have caused financial burdens to you, you may be able to work with a car accident attorney to collect damages for your medical bills, lost wages, and other factors. Contact us today to discuss your options for a settlement or a lawsuit to pursue these damages, and read more below about how a car accident claims process or personal injury lawsuit works.
WHAT TO DO AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT
If you were in a car accident and the other driver was at fault, you may be able to file a claim that covers more than your property damage against their insurance company. Before you contact their insurance company, speak with a personal injury lawyer who is familiar with car accidents in Florida. When you are dealing with an insurance company, they will make you an initial offer that will not cover nearly everything that you are entitled to follow your personal injuries but will additionally try to get you to sign an agreement that you will not file any additional claims against their client.
They will make it seem as if it is the best offer you will get, but do not be tricked! We have a history of experience with personal injuries and a professional understanding of how insurance companies do business. We will deal directly with the insurance company, negotiate on your behalf to recover what we truly believe you deserve and will work on a court case if we are unable to reach an agreement.
It is also important that you file a police report, collect any eyewitness accounts, and seek medical attention as soon as possible. If you wait to get medical attention, the insurance company may try to claim that your injuries were not a result of the car accident, but that they were pre-existing or unrelated. In addition, you must be aware of the statute of limitations for personal injury claims — if you wait longer than two years, you will be unable to file a claim at all.
Common Injuries in Car Accidents
We understand that your car accident is unique, and your injuries are specific to your own circumstances, but there are many common injuries that occur in car accidents. Take a look below to get an idea of some common injuries that may or may not resemble your own situation, but contact us immediately to discuss the specific impacts of your injuries on your own life. Even in situations where two people experience the exact same injury, the repercussions depend on a variety of things in their lives.
Whiplash
Whiplash is one of the most common injuries in a car accident, because it is caused by the head being quickly jerked forward, down, and then back. When this happens, the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and spinal disks are compressed, stretched, and torn in a variety of places. Whiplash sometimes takes a day or two to truly impact the victim, so even if you feel as if you have not been injured at the moment of the accident, you may be surprised to find that you have serious difficulty moving your neck without significant pain in the next 72 hours.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is any type of injury that the brain sustains as a result of a trauma such as an impact from a car accident. This type of injury includes things like hemorrhaging, concussions, contusions, or anoxic brain injuries. A concussion is essentially caused by the brain experiencing whiplash, where it is rattled around inside the skull. Brain contusions are bruises to the brain tissue, and can seriously impact brain function and may have longterm impacts. An anoxic brain injury is a situation where the brain does not get adequate oxygen supply and can cause permanent brain damage or even death.
Any TBI must be treated immediately to avoid any future complications.
Bone Fractures
Bones fracture when they are bent beyond their capacity to flex, either quickly or slowly. These types of injuries occur most commonly in a car accident due to impact against the frame or interior of the vehicle, or in many cases can happen in the form of a seatbelt injury. A seatbelt is one of the most effective ways to protect a passenger from death during a car accident, but they can cause injuries such as fractured ribs or separated collarbones as they keep the passenger from being ejected from their seat.
HOW MUCH CAN I COLLECT IN DAMAGES FROM MY CAR ACCIDENT?
There are a lot of different factors that we will consider when determining the full amount of what we think you are owed. Since each car accident is different, there are a greater number of factors than the ones listed below, but here is a basic idea of some general things we will consider:
MEDICAL BILLS
Medical bills are a primary factor in the amount we will seek from either the insurance company or the other driver. If you have medical insurance, then most (if not all) of the damages collected for this portion will go back to your insurance company, up until the amount that fully repays them. After they are paid, you will be able to potentially pay yourself back for copays, deductibles, or other incidentals from your medical treatments.
LOST WAGES
After an accident, you may have medical procedures and recovery time that will keep you from being able to work and earn income as you normally would. We will factor this into the amount that we will seek, in order to compensate you for the disruption to your normal life and expected income.
RECOVERY COSTS
In addition to medical bills like procedures, surgeries, and physical therapy, there may be additional expenses that you pay out of pocket that go towards your recovery. This could be things like over-the-counter pain medicine or other tools to aid in your recovery, which we will compile the receipts for and include in the amount we are seeking.
DIMINISHED EARNING CAPACITY
If, unfortunately, your injuries from the accident are such that you are unable to return to work in the same capacity as before your crash, then we will work to determine if your lifetime earning capacity was affected, and if so, will work to quantify these future losses. You should not need to shoulder the burdens following an accident that you were not at fault for.
PAIN AND SUFFERING
Pain and suffering is harder to quantify than lost wages or medical bills, which generally requires just tabulating the amounts on your bills and determining the wages you have missed based on your earning history. However, just because it is not a purely economic issue, your pain and suffering is very real, and deserving of compensation. Quantifying these non-economic factors are one important reason for working with an experienced personal injury attorney in Florida.
LOSS OF ENJOYMENT
In addition to pain and suffering, there are many other non-economic factors that can, and should, be included in the amount you seek for compensation. Loss of enjoyment is another noneconomic expense and refers to the overall loss of your ability to enjoy your life and leisure activities like you once could. This is just one more example of the factors we will consider when fighting for what you are truly owed following your car crash.
There are no damage caps in Florida for non-economic damages, but we will need to work to be sure that the requested amounts are fair and reasonable. No damage caps do not mean we can simply sue for any amount of money, only that you will not be stuck paying for any overages or stuck with unnecessary burdens because of arbitrary limits. When you are represented by an experienced attorney, you can be sure that we are working on your behalf to maximize your compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions about Car Accident Law
Should I Accept the Insurance Company’s Offer?
One of the most common initial questions that a personal injury attorney in Winter Park gets during an initial consultation is about the offer from an insurance company. Under no circumstances should a car accident victim EVER accept the initial offer from the insurance company, because it will not be anywhere near the amount that they truly deserve as a result of their injuries and suffering. Consult with an attorney before you make any decisions regarding this settlement proposal.
Do I Need a Personal Injury Attorney To Get the Money I Deserve?
There is no law saying that you need to be represented by a personal injury attorney during a car accident lawsuit, but by working with a professional you can be certain that you are maximizing your chances of a positive outcome. An attorney understands the complex legal processes surrounding these types of cases and will be able to identify all possible options available to increase your chances of a significant settlement amount, either during negotiations or a complete lawsuit.
Will We Be Able To Settle Out of Court?
There is no guarantee that you and your attorney will be able to reach a settlement agreement without needing to file an official lawsuit in a civil court, but when your attorney is working aggressively to negotiation with the insurance company’s attorneys, you can be confident that they are doing everything possible to reach a settlement without needing to engage in a long, complicated, and time-consuming legal case.
Why Choose Us?
The team at Abercrombie, P.A. is available now to schedule a free initial consultation, where you will have the opportunity to speak directly with our team about your accident and the impacts that have had to deal with as a result. We will be happy to give you suggestions about how to proceed, as well as how we can help. This is a great opportunity for you to make a final decision about why you should work with us through your car accident lawsuit.
Most importantly, you will want to choose us to represent you because of our experience in the Florida court system, and our history of successes for car accident victims. We understand the struggles that you are enduring, and we want to use our experience in order to maximize your chances of a positive outcome and to get you the money that you need to move forward with your life after this terrible experience.
CONTACT US TODAY
Contact us today to schedule an initial consultation regarding your accident, injuries, and the possibility of filing a claim for compensation. We will work with the insurance companies, and the Florida courts if necessary, to fight for the amount you are truly owed for your situation. When you are working with Abercrombie, P.A., you can be confident that we are focusing on your financial recovery while you are focusing on getting your life back on track