How To Dispute Fault After a Car Accident
PROTECTING YOUR RIGHTS SINCE 1983
Miami car accident attorneys at Bernstein & Maryanoff Injury Attorneys have the knowledge and experience necessary to get you maximum compensation for your car accident injuries.
In Florida, many car accidents are cut-and-dry incidents where liability belongs to one party. Other times, however, car accident liability is often shared between two or more parties.
You may wonder what you can do if you are the party blamed for a car accident. If someone claims you are partially or wholly responsible after a car crash in Florida, here are the steps you can take to refute the claim.
Florida’s No-Fault Laws
Florida is a no-fault insurance state, which means that initial car accident compensation is paid out regardless of who is at fault in most instances. Drivers must purchase personal injury protection (PIP) insurance and file claims with their policies after an accident.
PIP insurance is similar to workers’ comp in that it pays far less in compensation than a personal injury claim. Whereas a personal injury claim pays full economic and non-economic compensable damages, PIP claims only pay limited economic damages.
However, certain grounds allow injury victims the right to pursue full damages compensation outside of PIP coverage, including:
- You suffered a serious debilitating or disfiguring injury
- You have medical expenses over $10,000
- You were injured by an out-of-state driver
Benefits payable in a PIP claim include medical bills, limited lost wages, and certain household expenses. However, you can opt out of lost-wages benefits and pay less for your policy. Death benefits are also available.
Comparative Negligence
When you file a claim outside of PIP, the issue of fault involves negligence. Negligence occurs when a driver or other party fails to drive with reasonable care and injures others.
Florida follows comparative negligence law. Comparative negligence limits a plaintiff’s damages to the extent that they were comparatively negligent for their injuries.
For example, if you have $100,000 in economic and non-economic losses, you will only receive $70,000 if you are found to be 30% at fault for the accident. Additionally, if you are found to be over 50% at fault, you are barred from receiving any compensation whatsoever.
Insurance Company Tactics To Pay Less
Whether you file a PIP or liability claim, you can expect the insurance company involved to fight to pay less or perhaps nothing at all. Profit is the goal of these businesses. They do not have your best interests in mind. Instead, they engage in tactics to decrease what they owe you.
Accuse You of Fault
The more blame you share for an accident, the more money an insurance company can cut out of your settlement offer. If they can get your percentage of fault past 50%, they will pay nothing. Tactics they use in increasing your fault include getting you to:
- Apologize or admit fault
- Make a lengthy statement
- Sit for an interview without a lawyer present
In every case, accident victims are better off having an experienced car accident attorney communicate with insurance companies on their behalf. Once an insurance company knows an experienced lawyer is involved, they know certain tactics will no longer work.
Minimize the Severity of Your Injuries
If accusing you of fault doesn’t reduce the amount of money it must pay, an insurance company may dispute the seriousness of your injuries. For example, if you claim lost wages due to a back injury, the company will do whatever it can to dispute the injury or the number of days it has kept you from work.
Delay Your Claim
Delaying tactics during claims is disruptive and unlawful and could result in an insurer being sued for civil damages. However, it can still happen in Florida insurance claims. When encountering delays at different stages of the process, an injury victim often becomes more desperate for resources and, consequently, more amenable to a lowball settlement offer.
Offer Low Settlements
Sadly, many injury victims without lawyers accept low settlement offers instead of what they truly deserve. They are often unaware of what they are entitled to and put their faith in insurance adjusters.
How To Dispute a Car Accident Fault Accusation
You have the right to dispute any determination of fault against you but must do so according to established procedure. You must also be meticulous and use well-developed strategies.
For these reasons, having a seasoned personal injury attorney representing you is essential. However, you can take certain steps to help your attorney with your case.
Gather Evidence
If you want to dispute fault, you need evidence that proves the other driver was negligent to the degree you say. Try to gather any evidence you can at the accident scene, such as:
- Photography evidence
- Video evidence
- Witness statements
- Driver statements
Any evidence you gather should always be obtained safely. It is also important to remember that your statements may be used against you at the accident scene and in communications with insurance adjusters.
Notify Insurance Company
Insurance companies’ reporting time frames vary. In any case, accident victims should notify their insurance company as soon as possible after a crash — within 24 hours, if possible.
You are not required to make a claim at the time of notification. Avoid making any statements that can be used to devalue your claim.
Contest Citations or Police Report Errors
If you received a citation for your role in the accident, it may be used against you, but not automatically. If the citation was written by an officer who was present and witnessed the accident, their testimony is first-hand evidence and admissible.
However, if the officer wrote the citation based on witness testimony, the courts will likely afford that citation little weight in questions of comparative negligence.
In either case, you can dispute a citation’s validity. You can also dispute any errors you perceive in the police report of the accident.
Why Contacting an Attorney Early On Is Crucial
A car accident personal injury case can grow stale even after a few months. What may have been easy to prove a few days or weeks after an accident can become virtually unprovable with time. Loss and destruction of evidence are real concerns when you wait too long to take action.
Acting early, on the other hand, allows your injury Miami car accident lawyer to get to work promptly on getting you compensated.
How an Attorney Can Help
An injury attorney can handle all of the complex details of your case while you focus on recovery. Your attorney can also call expert witnesses to support your case — including accident reconstructionists — and accurately calculate your damages. As your advocate, an attorney works to negotiate the fair settlement you deserve. But if negotiations fail, an attorney can take your case to court.
If you’ve been injured in an accident, let Bernstein & Maryanoff Injury Attorneys fight for you.
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