Orlando Car Accident Questions
FAQs & Answers
Between drivers, pedestrians, and other road users, car incidents occur daily throughout Orlando. In 2018, the Florida DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) estimated that there were about 17 million licensed drivers in the state, with more than 250,000 car incidents during that period. In the midst of Orlando car incident legal issues, road users can assert their rights against insurance companies and the perpetrators of car incidents.
With our legal company, you can get professional help following an incident, including achieving compensation, getting your driver’s license back, and reducing the amount of penalties.
We have compiled some useful information for you and suggest that you read these Orlando Car Accident FAQs. If you don’t find the answer to your question, our lawyer will advise you free of charge.
This information contains the most common Orlando Car Accident FAQs, including:
- What should I do after a car accident?
- Will I have to go to court if I file a claim?
- Do I have to notify my insurance company about the incident?
- The other driver’s insurance company denied liability. What should I do?
- What will I be able to recover compensation for?
- How do I pay my medical bills after a car incident?
- If I was in a single-car crash in Orlando, can I still sue?
- How long will it take for my case to be settled?
- What are comparative fault rules in Florida?
- How long do I have to file a claim in Florida?
- What should I do if I’ve been hit by an uninsured driver?
If you have been in an incident, get a free initial consultation with our attorney about your next steps.
What should I do after a car accident?
Whether you were the driver, the passenger, or a pedestrian, you need to call 911 immediately. If someone involved in the car crash is injured, ask the 911 operator to call an ambulance to the scene of the incident. Wait for the police officer to arrive and do not interfere with their investigation.
- Gather as much information as you can about witnesses to the incident.
- If possible, exchange information about your insurance policies and companies. Our lawyer in Orlando will begin the process of interacting with insurers to prepare claims.
- Gather information about the vehicles that were involved in the car accident.
- If possible, draw a diagram of the incident scene. You can also take pictures or make a video recording.
Next, see a doctor within 14 days to document your medical condition at the time of the incident. If you are undergoing medical treatment, you will need to collect medical bills. On this basis, a lawyer will draw up a compensation claim.
Will I have to go to court if I file a claim?
The answer to this question will depend on the circumstances of the Orlando car crash. If your insurance company, and the insurance company of the other party to the car crash, allow you to settle out of court, all compensation costs can be recovered provided that both parties agree on the amounts. However, our attorneys have found that very rarely are such issues resolved right away. Insurance companies may mislead car crash participants in Orlando and knowingly pay low compensation. We recommend that you contact a lawyer and get detailed information on why it is necessary to thoroughly investigate the causes of the accident. This will be especially important if you have been injured.
Do I have to notify my insurance company about the accident?
Generally, all insurance contracts have a clause that requires you to notify your insurance company about a force majeure event. Call your insurance company and inform them about the car crash. Most likely, the insurer will come to the scene of the incident. The insurance company’s task is to reduce its financial risks. Therefore, you may be asked to sign a pre-trial agreement to settle the car crash. Under no circumstances should you sign documents with the insurer. If you do, you may risk getting low compensation or nothing at all. If the insurer insists that you sign the document, call our lawyer and get detailed instructions on your further actions.
The other driver's insurance company denied liability. What should I do?
In this case, you need to determine the guilty party. You can report the problem to your insurer, but in this situation, compensation might not be correctly assessed. The State of Florida has a comparative negligence rule. Under said law, compensation payments will be calculated based on your degree of fault. For example, if you expect to receive $68,000 in compensation, and your fault is 35%, while the other party’s fault is 65%, you can expect to receive $44,200 in compensation. We recommend that you ask our Orlando attorney for more information about getting compensation from the insurance company of the other driver involved in the incident.
What will I be able to recover compensation for?
This question comes up a lot, as the consequences of car incidents vary. The victims need to get medical treatment, support their family members, etc. Under current law in Orlando, compensation and indemnification can be obtained for the following circumstances:
- Loss of wages if you are forced to take a leave of absence from work;
- loss of future income if you cannot return to work because of a car crash;
- costs of care if you are incapacitated and another person needs to care for you;
- transportation costs associated with rehabilitation and continued treatment;
- current and future costs of purchasing medications and technical means of rehabilitation.
Compensation payments may also be available for damages to your vehicle or for expenses related to the funeral of a deceased Orlando car accident participant. We recommend contacting our lawyer, who can help you calculate the amount of compensation to which you are entitled.
How do I pay my medical bills after a car accident?
An important prerequisite for medical bills is that you see a doctor within 14 days. If you don’t visit your doctor within this time frame, and then you develop health complications as a result of the car crash, it will be difficult to obtain reimbursement. Keep all the medical bills you receive; later, our lawyer will draw up a claim for reimbursement against the insurance companies. If your insurance offers insufficient financial coverage, the insurance of the other party to the crash will be involved in the reimbursement, if the other party is at fault. Therefore, medical bills will be paid based on both your insurance and the other party’s insurance, if they are at fault.
If I was in a single-car accident in Orlando, can I still sue?
Yes, of course you can. Most insurance companies prefer to handle the compensation issue pretrial. Only a small number of insurers refuse to pay compensation, as they believe that the amount of claims is too high or that there is no proof pertaining to any of the participants in the accident in Orlando. An important condition is that you must file a lawsuit within 4 years of the date of the incident. Otherwise, you may never be able to make a claim for damages. For situations involving deteriorating health, our lawyers remind you that you must see a doctor within 14 days. Otherwise, it will be almost impossible to claim medical bills.
How long will it take for my case to be settled?
It is difficult to give an exact time frame for resolving a car incident, as it all depends on the circumstances. Our lawyers’ practice shows that, on average, all issues related to the consequences of the incident take from 3 to 6 months to resolve. This is provided that you contact a lawyer in the first days or weeks after the accident. During this time, you can check the expert opinions of specialists with regard to the details of the accident. In addition, you can order a police report describing the details of the car crash. If you wait a year to contact a lawyer, the claim may take much longer to process. This is because the results of the examination are kept for about 1 year, after which all the results are transferred to the archive. Here, it will be necessary to make a new request to clarify the details of the expert evaluation. In this case, to conduct additional studies, you will need permission from the supervisory authorities.
What are comparative fault rules in Florida?
Florida has comparative fault laws that assess the degree of fault of each person involved in a car incident. The examiner conducts his or her investigation, taking into account the police officer’s report as well as the investigators’ testimony. Many factors influence the degree of fault:
- The technical condition of the car;
- how the driver was operating the vehicle at the time of the crash;
- the condition of the roadway;
- the actions of other road users;
- other factors.
The degree of fault of the party involved in the accident is calculated under the provisions of F.S.768.81(3). So, if your fault is 40%, you will receive only 60% of the compensation payments on the claim. The assessor and police officer file a report with the jury, which determines the degree of fault of each party involved in the incident.
How long do I have to file a claim in Florida?
You have exactly 4 years from the date of the car crash to file a claim for damages or a retrial. However, there are some exceptions to this time limit. This applies if one of the people involved in the incident died, as well as if the injured party was a pregnant woman, a child, or an incapacitated person. In any case, we recommend that you not delay the issue of the claim to the insurance companies or the perpetrators of the incident. Otherwise, you will not get compensation.
What should I do if I’ve been hit by an uninsured driver?
The state has several rules about car insurance, including what to do if you have been hit by an uninsured or underinsured party. In this case, you can file a claim against the uninsured person and receive the minimum compensation payments required by Florida law. The minimum compensation payments will depend on the nature of the incident, the injuries sustained, and whether any of the parties died. An important condition for an uninsured driver to receive compensation is full identification. Sometimes, the uninsured person leaves the scene of the accident, which makes it very difficult to identify him or her. In this case, try to record a video or take a photo of the perpetrator of the car crash. If you cannot identify the person who caused the accident, you may be able to rely only on your insurance for compensation.
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