You have been involved in an auto accident in which you are not at fault. You have sustained injuries and monetary damages due to the negligence of someone else. How do you get compensated? When you hire Markwood Law to pursue your case, we leave no stone unturned regarding how you will be compensated. I will explain more below.

In Florida, unfortunately there is no requirement that drivers carry bodily injury coverage (which would compensate you in the event of their negligence). Hopefully, the at-fault party does have bodily injury coverage. Many people only carry a 10/20k bodily injury policy however, which in many cases is not sufficient to compensate the injured party.

Sometimes, the driver of the vehicle that hit you is not the owner of the vehicle. That can be good news if the driver has his or her own insurance policy. Next, we will find out whether the owner of the vehicle also has an insurance policy that applies. In this scenario, both the driver and owner are on the hook for your injuries. In Florida, this is called the “Dangerous Instrumentality Doctrine.” The owner of the vehicle who allows someone else to drive that vehicle can be liable for the driver’s negligence.

We do not stop there. Next, we will check to see if there is UM(uninsured/underinsured motorist) coverage that can apply. As I have stated in a previous blog, UM insurance is vital in Florida due to the lack of requirement to carry bodily injury coverage. As stated, many people who do elect for bodily injury coverage get the bare minimum. If your case involves very little bodily injury coverage but your injuries exceed that limit, we can look to see if you are entitled to UM benefits.

Depending on the case and the injuries involved, we can do an asset check on the at-fault party to make a determination on whether it would better off to pursue them individually in litigation as opposed to settling your case pre-litigation. This is exceedingly rare and typically it will not benefit you financially or mentally to elect this option, but we at Markwood Law want you to know all of your options before making a life long decision. Once your case is settled, it is over.

There are other means of receiving compensation in your case, but these are the basic ones. If you have any questions about other potential coverages that may apply to your case, give us a call at (561) 722-7710 or email us at Jsnyder@Markwoodlaw.com.