PIN

101 Century 21 Drive, Suite 114, Jacksonville, FL 32216, United States

PIN

101 Century 21 Drive, Suite 114, Jacksonville, FL 32216, United States

Call

Call Us: (561) 722-7710

Call Us: (561) 722-7710

Texting and Driving

 

Did you know texting and driving in Florida is illegal? Not only that, distracted driving accounts for over 25 percent of all fatal accidents. Trust me, your texting can wait until you arrive at your destination. If you are involved in an accident and suspect the driver was distracted that changes your case drastically. Call Markwood Law at 561-722-7710.

 

Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is the most important coverage in my opinion. You see, Florida is one of only two remaining states that does not require drivers to purchase what is called bodily injury coverage. This coverage will pay for the injuries caused by the insured driver.

I can not tell you how many times I do an investigation into the coverage of an at-fault driver only to find out that they have no bodily injury coverage nor any attachable assets worth pursuing. Then comes the unfortunately discussion with my client that there is nothing I can do. UNLESS they have purchased uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

There are entirely too many drivers in Florida either driving around without bodily injury coverage or driving around uninsured altogether to not purchase UM. I strongly urge everyone to call their insurance companies immediately and request a copy of their policy and make sure that you have UM coverage on your auto insurance policy. Purchase as much as you think is necessary and you can afford. Luckily, UM coverage is not that expensive to add to your existing policy.

As a bonus, if you own more than one vehicle, you can elect for “stacking” UM coverage. That means that if you are in an accident and previously purchased a 10k UM policy per person, and you own two vehicles, you are now entitled to pursue 20k of your own UM.

The Florida Legislature has been discussing changing the law to require all drivers in Florida to have bodily injury coverage. Whether you agree with this or not, for the time being you need to have UM coverage. Even if the bill to require everyone to purchase bodily injury coverage passes, I still urge you to have UM on your policy.

Imagine getting into an accident and you suffer life changing injuries. If the at-fault driver has no bodily injury coverage and you either have no UM coverage or a 10k UM policy, is that going to be enough to cover your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering etc.? Think about the “what if” before making a decision on what amount of UM coverage to add to your auto policy.

Give me a call if you have any other questions regarding UM coverage.

 

I am injured, now what?

Unfortunately, you have been involved in some type of accident resulting in injuries. What do you need to do now?

First, you need to get to a doctor who can give you a specific diagnosis. Most people do not realize doctors tend to have specialties. For instance, if you are having neck pain after an accident you may want to start getting treatment from a chiropractor or a physical therapist and get MRIs of your neck ASAP. Do not let the doctors dictate on when you get these vital diagnostic exams. They will typically conduct X-rays when you become their patient. However, X-rays can only do so much and further diagnostic testing is needed.

This is where Markwood Law Firm’s expertise will come into play. While we are not medical doctors, we have been doing this long enough to know what type of doctor you need to treat with. Learning of our client’s specific symptoms is extremely important and that will guide us on where the treatment must go.

One of the major issues I have run into is when someone goes to the emergency room after the accident complaining of headaches, loss of vision, or other neurological issues. The emergency room is typically going to conduct minimal investigation into those symptoms and send you on your way. That is NOT good enough. These can be symptoms of a traumatic brain injury which must be known prior to your case completion. Getting you to a good neurologist and further diagnostic testing under those circumstances is important.

There are many examples of how your symptoms will guide which doctors you will need to treat with. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are confused about what doctor you should be treating with and we will be happy to discuss this major issue with you.

 

PIP 14 Day Rule

On every Florida automobile insurance policies is a benefit called PIP or personal injury protection. Your own insurance company will pay 80% up to $10,000.00 of your medical treatment, which is related to your accident. To be eligible for these benefits however, you MUST receive medical treatment within 14 days of your accident. Otherwise, your insurance company could deny you these vital PIP benefits.

Some insurance companies will require you to provide a medical record indicating you suffered an “emergency medical condition” as a result of the accident. Your treating doctor can provide this documentation upon request. If this cannot be provided, your insurance company will only provide you with $2,500.00 in PIP benefits. Luckily, there is currently no time frame in which you must provide an emergency medical condition record to your insurance company. It could be a year after your accident when this is provided and you will then be eligible for the full $10,000.00 in PIP benefits.

Even if you do not seek an attorney in your case, please make sure that you get treatment within the 14 day window to preserve your PIP benefits.

If you have any questions about Florida PIP benefits, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

How long before my case is settled?

 

Everyone asks this question. It is a great one to ask in the beginning of your personal injury case, but a hard one to answer. Every case is different. Different facts, different injuries, different required medical treatment. So many factors come into play which will determine how long your case may last.

I always say that a general time frame for a personal injury case from start to finish is around the 10 to 12 month range. That does not include the amount of time involved in a case where a lawsuit must be filed for whatever reason. You can expect that time frame to double, or more. Unfortunately, these cases don’t resolve as quickly as I or my clients would like. I wish they did. However, depending on what is happening specifically in your case, the time frame could be less or more than 10-12 months.

As an example, lets take 2 cases that are drastically different for a better explanation. Let’s say one client had a minor fender bender and only suffered a sprained neck and no cervical disc herniations or other significant injuries. This client goes to physical therapy for a month and feels as they did prior to being involved in the accident. The therapist will release them at what is called MMI or maximum medical improvement. At this point, if the client does not need any further medical treatment, then their case is ripe for settlement and can be resolve pretty quickly if there is no need for litigation.

On the other side of the spectrum, let’s say another client is rear-ended by a semi-truck and sustains severe neck and back injuries that will necessitate surgical intervention to repair the damage. This is a case that may very well take longer than 10-12 months to resolve, even without litigation due to what is involved. Again, there will be a ton of factors which come into play with regards to whether or not the case will be settle prior to surgical intervention, which is where Markwood Law’s experience in these types of matters will drastically help you receive the most compensation for your case as possible. Please contact us for further information or if you have any questions about this matter.

 

How a LOP (letter of protection) can hurt your case

When you are involved in an accident, sometimes you may need to agree to a be treated with a  doctor under what is called a LOP or letter of protection. This is an agreement between the patient and the doctor that once their case is settled, the doctor will be paid from the proceeds of the patient’s settlement.

Do not misunderstand, there are times when an LOP is needed. Sometimes clients do not have health insurance. That can drastically reduce the amount of medical providers you will be able to treat with. Signing an LOP with some doctors can get you in the door.

There are huge downsides to signing an LOP. It can potentially harm your personal injury case. Mostly, that is applicable to a case where a lawsuit must be filed. The good news is very few cases actually go to litigation. As a brief explanation, an LOP will become evidence in your case if a lawsuit needs to be filed. A good defense attorney will use any LOP you have against you and the credibility of the doctor.

Lets say for instance, your case goes all the way to trial. Well, the defense attorney is going to get the doctors who you have signed an LOP with and they will try to discredit the doctor. Imaging this interaction between the defense attorney and the doctor and you will see how it will play out to a jury:

Defense attorney: “Is it true, Doctor X, that you and the plaintiff have a LOP agreement and that you will only get paid for your treatment of the plaintiff if this jury awards the plaintiff money?

Doctor: “yes that is correct.”

As you can see, simply having a LOP on file in your case can be an issue, but as stated previously, a vast majority of cases never go to litigation, and the ones that do are even more unlikely to go to trial. Most cases that have to go to litigation will settle before it gets to a jury.

Make sure to discuss with your personal injury attorney these issues before signing an LOP with your doctor and decide if it is in your best interest to do so.

 

Privacy Policy

Markwood Law treats your right to privacy very seriously. When you communicate with our office, you may be asked to provide us with your identification information and facts relating to your case. Markwood Law will not sell or reveal any of this personal information to third parties, except to the extent necessary to comply with applicable laws, investigations, or in legal proceedings where such information is relevant. We will employ reasonable measures to protect the personal information you do provide at this site from unauthorized disclosure.

Disclaimer

Not all results are provided and not all clients have provided testimonials, the results are not necessarily representative of results obtained by the lawyer, and a prospective client’s individual facts and circumstances may differ from the matter in which the results and the testimonials are provided. Every case is different which can create different results.