Getting into any form of an accident can result in many financial, physical, and psychological problems. It may be challenging to proceed with your daily life since you have to recover from the injuries the accident caused you. The good news is that if the crash happened because of the negligence of another party, you have the right to seek compensation. You should talk to a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to know how to proceed with your case. If you’re in Palatka, Florida, seek help from the attorneys at the Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney, who will evaluate your case and advise you on the appropriate course of action. This article looks at the various personal injury cases that our attorneys handle.
Wrongful Death
If the person you love has died due to another person’s negligence, you can file a wrongful death claim. If you are not sure whether you’ve got a claim, you can consult your Palatka personal injury attorney, who may help you assess your case and determine what damages you can recover. If you have a claim to file, you need first to understand Florida’s wrongful death claim settlements.
Even though you may want to know the exact amount to expect in your wrongful death case, it is not easy. Settlements for wrongful death vary depending on the circumstances of the specific case. The facts surrounding the death of your loved one may be extremely different from another person’s, which makes it challenging to determine an average settlement for your wrongful death case. Therefore, it’s critical to share your situation with a skilled lawyer as soon as possible.
The surviving members of the family of the deceased victim can file a wrongful death suit. Under the law, the dead victim is known as the decedent. The deceased’s family members have to be related to him/her in a particular way, or they should have had specific dependency relations with him/her to be allowed to recover damages.
The following surviving members of the family can file a wrongful death claim under the law:
- The children of the deceased
- Spouse
- Parents
- Adoptive brothers/sisters who depended on the deceased
- Blood relatives that depended on the deceased
- An out-of-wedlock child if it’s their mother that died
- An out-of-wedlock child if it’s their father that died, only if it can be proven that the father had assumed responsibility to support the child
Compensation in a wrongful death claim aims to transfer the loss the family experienced to the party that led to the death. Before the law, surviving members of the family shouldn’t bear the losses brought about by the victim’s death. The negligent party has to be financially liable.
Car Accidents
No one drives around expecting to get into a car crash. Unluckily, hundreds of car-related collisions happen in Palatka daily. Most accidents cause costly injuries and damages to victims. While you are struggling to heal from the injuries, the strain of fighting to get your deserved compensation may be overwhelming. For you to help ease this situation, you need to understand the process of filing a car accident claim and work with a skilled Palatka personal injury attorney.
Claiming Compensation from Your Insurance Company
The moment you register that you have bought a car in Palatka, you have the duty of purchasing a minimally-acceptable insurance policy. The current law requires that you buy a policy covering of, at the minimum,
- $10000 of property damage liability (PDL)
- $10000 of personal injury protection (PIP)
When you’re hurt as a result of a car collision, the law provides that you turn to your insurance provider for compensation. This is the case whether you are to blame for causing the crash or not. Turning to your insurer does not imply that you cannot bring a personal injury suit for damages. The law merely wants you to try recovering compensation from your insurer first.
If you suffered property damage due to a car collision, you do not have to first turn to your insurance company. You can directly sue the party that was responsible for the accident. Ensure you have the damage inflicted to your car or other property assessed as soon as possible. Delaying the assessment could hurt your chances to recover damages ultimately.
As a car accident victim, you are entitled to bring a personal injury suit against the party responsible for the collision. However, as we mentioned, you have first to try recovering damages from your insurance company. If the company declines to compensate you or the damages go beyond what your policy allows, you may decide to proceed with pursuing compensation from the other at-fault parties.
Bus Accidents
Florida statute holds buses to a responsibility known as the duty of care, meaning a bus company ought to exercise a given amount of effort in ensuring passenger safety. Buses have varying liability standards based on whether they are categorized as private carriers or common carriers.
A common carrier refers to a transportation method available for public use. Carriers must exercise the utmost care to make sure their passengers are safe. This is quite a strict obligation. It implies that a common carrier must act with the level of care that a competent and prudent person would act with under the same conditions. This involves making sure that they train their drivers adequately and carry out regular inspections & maintenance of their automobiles.
Private carriers may decline to provide services to members of the public and only carry goods and individuals under specific circumstances. Corporate shuttles, school buses, charter buses, and those buses that carry passengers to & from cruise ships and theme parks are classified as private carriers. These kinds of carriers have to exercise only a reasonable degree of care to avoid accidents and injuries. Usually, this is the degree of care with which an ordinary individual would act under the same conditions.
Failure to exercise the right duty of care may qualify as negligence on the carrier and driver’s part. Negligence victims can file an injury claim against the bus company for the injuries they sustained and the suffering they went through due to negligence.
Truck Accidents
In Palatka, if you get hurt in an accident involving a truck and your personal auto, you can choose to turn to your insurer for damages since Florida is one of the no-fault insurance states. Your insurer will cover your lost wages, medical bills, and any out-of-pocket amount you paid relating to the wreck
In case you suffered severe injuries like disfigurement/scarring, loss of bodily function, or any permanent injury, you can bring a claim against the at-fault party. You must have a competent Palatka personal injury attorney by your side when bringing the claim because when it comes to truck-related accidents, several parties could be to blame. For instance, the fault could lie on the truck driver, Truck Company, manufacturing company, etc. Determining who was negligent will provide you with the info you need to file the lawsuit, and there could be multiple involved parties.
After knowing who to sue, you should work with your lawyer to receive the highest compensation possible. Luckily, you could be majorly to blame for the crash and still get compensated. This works in a way that your compensation amount is lowered by the percentage with which you’re liable. You should hire a lawyer that will defend your rights, so you get the full & fair compensation.
Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrian-related accidents can be confusing. Unlike vehicle collisions, you may fail to know what steps to take or where to go and recover damages. In Palatka, a walker knocked down by a vehicle has similar rights as the vehicles involved in a crash with each other. By this, it means that you can get compensation from your PIP insurance coverage through your car insurance. You can also bring a personal injury claim against the negligent driver that knocked you down and recover damages from their insurance.
As we mentioned earlier, Florida law requires that all motorists purchase at least $10000 of PIP insurance. Most people do not know it, but in case you’re hit while you’re on foot and you have vehicle insurance, you can use the PIP coverage to cover any medical expenses that arose due to the accident.
It’s worth noting that you have to see a health professional within fourteen days of your accident to be able to use your PIP insurance coverage. For you to qualify to utilize the entire amount of your PIP insurance coverage, you have to be diagnosed with a qualifying emergency health condition.
Motorcycle Accidents
Cases arising from motorcycle crashes can be completely different from the ones stemming from other vehicle accidents. Injuries from a motorcycle accident tend to be severer, and as a result, settlement offers might be higher. For instance, different legal issues to do with negligence and fault may also come into question, including whether or not the hurt party was putting on protective gear.
These legal issues may lead to the need to reach out to an experienced Palatka personal injury attorney who specializes in motorcycle accidents. If you consult with a skilled lawyer that is conversant with how motorcycle accident cases work, it may increase your chances of obtaining fair compensation significantly. Also, a dedicated attorney could solve any complication with your claim while you concentrate on recovering from your injuries.
The Effect of Putting on Protective Gear on Motorcycle Accident Cases
Most complainants mistakenly believe that they’re automatically to blame for their injuries and can’t recover damages if they weren’t putting on a helmet or any other protective gear when the accident took place. In reality, failing to put on a helmet or other protective clothing is only a single element of the case.
The jury or civil court isn’t permitted to consider the complainant’s liability except if the defendant introduces it. As per the law requirements (statute §768.81), in case the court establishes that the claimant had a given degree of liability, it generally assigns this plaintiff a percentage of guilt and lowers his/her compensation proportionately. An experienced motorcycle wreck lawyer could disprove these kinds of arguments and fight to maximize your recoverable damages.
Types of Compensable Injuries
Any form of an unexpected crash can lead to painful injuries that will affect you for several weeks and even years into the future. When you are injured in any kind of road crash in Palatka, you have to work with a skilled Palatka personal injury attorney to bring a claim for recovery. The compensation you will be awarded is to recompense you for the injuries you sustained and return your life to normal. Certain types of injuries are common across different types of collisions. Here are the most common kinds of injuries you can sustain in a road crash in Palatka, for which you can be compensated:
- Internal organ damage
- Concussion
- Broken bones
- Traumatic brain injury
- Fractures
- Paralysis
- Spinal cord injury
- Whiplash
- Herniated discs
- broken ribs
- Shoulder injuries
- Knee injuries
- Psychological injuries
- Separated joints
- Road rash
Medical Malpractice
The law allows you to bring a claim against a doctor, hospital, nurse, or any other medical professional who injures you. However, you must prove that you are entitled to recover damages, and you have a restricted period to file the lawsuit. That is, you have only a two-year timeframe from the time you got injured or the date you knew or should’ve known you got injured to bring a medical malpractice suit.
Proving that you’re entitled to damages means you must show that the medical expert you’re suing violated the standard of care. This means that he/she did not act in the manner that an ordinary sensible medical professional would act under similar conditions. If, depending on the information at hand, a reasonable professional would have acted similarly, it does not qualify as medical malpractice.
Also, you must show that the medical practitioner’s malpractice led to your injuries in reality. If your injuries are something that would’ve or could’ve occurred anyway, it may not qualify as malpractice.
The party you may bring your claim against is based on who was involved in committing the mistake. For instance, whereas the physician might be liable for the injuries, you may be incapable of suing the hospital. But, you may sue the hospital for errors committed by nurses, technicians, and other workers.
Medical malpractice can take different forms. For instance, the doctor may make a surgical mistake, like doing surgery on an incorrect organ or prescribe the wrong medication. Other situations may include administering anesthesia improperly and misdiagnosing an illness. Speak with an expert Palatka personal injury attorney if you feel you have been injured through medical malpractice. The lawyer may help to determine whether or not you have a valid malpractice claim.
Consult a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me
If you have been injured in any type of accident in Palatka, Florida, you should first seek to understand your legal rights and duties. From here, you will know how to proceed with your case to recover damages. An attorney is in a better place to explain what you should do in a situation like this. Call Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney at 904-800-7557 to have a free consultation with our experienced legal team. After reviewing your case and determining the ideal strategy, we will proceed to fight for you till the end to ensure you get your rightful compensation.
