When you get injured in an auto accident in Florida, recovering the costs of your injuries is essential for protecting your health and your finances. You need to make sure you get the treatment you need, and you also need to make sure that you do not bear the costs of your treatment (along with your other injury-related costs) unnecessarily. Hiring an experienced Florida car accident lawyer is the first step in this process.
When you hire a Florida car accident lawyer, your lawyer will carefully calculate the compensation you are entitled to recover, and your lawyer will gather the evidence needed to prove your legal rights. Several factors can influence the value of your auto accident claim, so it is critical to ensure that you have all of the evidence you need.
7 Factors that Determine How Much You Can Recover After an Auto Accident
What are the factors that will influence the value of your auto accident claim? Here are seven key factors for determining how much you can recover:
1. Your Diagnosis
Your diagnosis is a key factor for determining the value of your auto accident claim. The nature and severity of your accident-related injuries will play a direct role in determining not only the financial costs of the accident, but the non-financial costs as well. While the law does not assign specific dollar values to broken bones, concussions and other types of injuries; generally speaking, the more serious your injuries, the more you are entitled to recover.
Another important factor in auto accident cases is Florida’s “no fault” auto insurance law. To file a claim outside of personal injury protection (PIP), you need to be diagnosed with a “significant” or “permanent” injury. If none of your injuries qualify as “significant” or “permanent,” then you will be limited to seeking coverage under your PIP policy—and most PIP policies have coverage limits of $10,000. But, if you have a “significant” or “permanent” injury, you can seek to recover all of your costs from the accident.
2. Your Medical Treatment Needs
The nature and severity of your injuries will determine your medical treatment needs. Medical care can be incredibly expensive; and, even if you have health insurance, you could still find yourself paying thousands of dollars (if not more) out of pocket. No matter what, your PIP policy should apply, and you should be able to use this to help cover your treatment costs.
If you have a claim outside of PIP, you can seek full coverage for your medical treatment needs—both now and in the future. Your emergency room bills, surgery costs, medications, and other treatment costs should all be covered.
3. Your Psychological or Psychiatric Treatment Needs
If you are struggling with chronic pain, post-traumatic stress or any other effects of the accident that impact your mental health, your claim should include coverage for your psychological or psychiatric treatment needs. Many accident victims face mental health struggles during (and after) the recovery process, and it is important to make your mental health a priority.
4. Your Income and Benefits
Auto accident victims in Florida who are unable to work due to their “significant” or “permanent” injuries are also entitled to just compensation for their lost earnings. Here, too, the amount you are entitled to recover is unique to you. You are entitled to just compensation for your lost income and benefits. So, the more you earn, the more you are entitled to recover for each day, week or month you are off the job.
5. How Long You Will Be Unable to Work
The number of days, weeks or months you are unable to work also plays a key role in determining how much you are entitled to recover. If you miss a few days of work, then you will be entitled to a few days of lost income and benefits. If you are never able to return to work, then you will be entitled to just compensation for your lost income and benefits through your projected date of retirement.
6. How Else Your Injuries Impact Your Life
Along with the financial costs of your auto accident, if you suffered “significant” or “permanent” injuries, you are entitled to just compensation for your non-financial costs as well. These include things like:
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Loss of companionship and consortium
- Loss of enjoyment of life
There are formulas for calculating just compensation for these types of losses that take into account the severity of your injuries, your long-term treatment needs and other relevant factors. When you hire an experienced Florida car accident lawyer to represent you, your lawyer will use his or her experience to build a strong claim for maximum compensation based on your personal circumstances.
7. Whether You Were Partially at Fault in the Accident
The final key factor that will influence the value of your auto accident claim in Florida is whether you were partially at fault in the accident. Under Florida law, being partially at fault reduces the amount you are entitled to recover, and in some cases it prevents you from recovering just compensation entirely.
If you are deemed 50 percent or less at fault in your auto accident, the value of your claim will be reduced based on your percentage of fault (i.e., if you are deemed 25 percent at fault, you will be entitled to recover 75 percent of your losses). However, if you are deemed more than 50 percent at fault, you will not be entitled to any financial compensation. The insurance companies routinely try to blame auto accident victims for their own injuries, and this is yet another important reason to have an experienced Florida car accident lawyer on your side.
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