Florida law requires all drivers to obtain sufficient insurance in the form of Property Damage Liability Insurance (PDL) and Personal Injury Protection. There are cases, however, where a driver you are involved in an accident with does not have these insurances, leading to a confusing a frustrating process. Filing a claim or receiving compensation for your injuries and bills is much more complex when one party does not have insurance. You have potential recourse, especially if you contact a local attorney specializing in personal injury and auto accident lawsuits.
Potential Next Steps
When you are involved in an accident in Florida, your own personal insurance plan is how you receive compensation for any medical bills or costs associated with the accident. Your insurance plan might also include uninsured motorist coverage, which will supplement you with even more money to cover expenses due to the crash. However, if these amounts are insufficient to cover your bills, you might be interested in suing the other party. Due to their lack of insurance, many assume that a judge or jury will assign more blame and be more willing to impose a large settlement on the defendant. Many factors might make a personal injury lawsuit worthwhile, all of which should be discussed with a local attorney.
Suing An Uninsured Driver
All lawsuits are a balance between risk and reward. Suing an uninsured driver might seem straightforward, but the potential upside might not be enough to overcome the financial barriers of filing and winning a lawsuit. Uninsured drivers are more likely than insured drivers to be in financial trouble, meaning a monetary judgment against them has a high likelihood of being unenforceable or too low in amount to make a significant difference in your life. Your attorney, too, has to receive compensation for their work, and the settlement received from these cases does not generally leave enough for all parties involved.
There are different reasons that a driver might not have auto insurance. Suppose financial woes are not the cause of the other party’s lapse of insurance, and it instead stems from previous driving infractions or convictions. In that case, the defendant you sue might have sufficient assets to pay you out in a settlement. Furthermore, your attorney might discover hidden assets through credit and asset checks. In auto or bankruptcy cases, many people with settlements against them attempt to move some of their assets into the names of friends and family to obscure how much money they have access to.
Receiving Money Through Your Insurance
The simplest way to receive compensation will be through your own insurance. We have previously written about some tricks insurance companies employ to keep their payouts as low as possible. Furthermore, there are many restrictions in place that severely limit the time span that you have available to you for reporting your accident. If you are involved in an auto accident with an uninsured driver, contact your insurance immediately to begin the process and get your claim on the record. It is also recommended to contact an attorney at the beginning of this process. Should the payout step of the process reach arbitrage after failing to come to an agreement, having an attorney by your side will improve your chances of receiving a total and just amount of compensation.
If you have been involved in an accident and wonder about your rights, call Probinsky & Cole. We are experienced personal injury attorneys who will work hard to get you the compensation you deserve.
