No-Fault Car Accident Cases And The Serious Injury Threshold
Michael Babboni
Car Accidents
The state of Florida is one that observes no-fault car accident laws. What this means is that, whether a driver is negligent in causing the accident or not, they will first go to their own insurance provider in order to obtain a settlement to cover their car accident damages. However, if an accident passes the serious injury threshold, a person may be able to bypass the no-fault system and instead pursue a lawsuit against a negligent driver.What Is No-Fault?
Before delving into the serious injury threshold, one must first understand the no-fault system and what that system means. In a typical car accident with some injuries and some damage, a person will file a claim with their own insurance policy regardless of their fault in the accident. This means that even if a person was injured in an accident not caused by them, they will still need to pursue damages through the insurance policy they hold.
Through a negotiations process, the injured party will typically receive a settlement through their insurance provider, but in some cases the insurance company may still need to be brought to court if they refuse to provide adequate compensation. With an experienced St. Pete lawyer by your side, you provide yourself the best chance at a successful settlement outcome.
The Serious Injury Threshold
In Florida, personal injury protection, or PIP, coverage kicks in automatically to pay for your losses. However, this mandatory coverage will only cover $10,000 of your losses with certain limitations. Your insurance PIP coverage will typically cover 80% of medical costs and 60% of lost work wages, but if this amount exceeds $10,000, it could mean reaching the serious injury threshold, which allows an injured person to pursue a lawsuit against a negligent driver.
If injuries are deemed serious, causing permanent disability or disfigurement, or leading to death, they will also automatically cross the serious injury threshold, and leave a person eligible to pursue a personal injury lawsuit. In a personal injury lawsuit, you may be able to collect for certain other damages not allowed in a typical car accident case. For instance, those filing a lawsuit for an accident resulting in a serious injury may collect for non-economic losses such as pain and suffering, where a person filing a claim for an insurance settlement cannot.
What Is Serious Injury?
In St. Petersburg, serious injury refers to injuries causing significant or permanent loss of an important bodily function, permanent injury leading to the need for continued medical care, significant scarring or disfigurement, and death. Aside from death, many of these injuries leave quite a bit of room for grey area, and this is where your St. Petersburg car accident attorney really comes in handy.
While pursuing your case in court, your St. Petersburg car accident attorney will be able to represent your case and your injuries, explaining why they fall beyond the serious injury threshold and why you are entitled to compensation from a lawsuit against a negligent driver. The attorney representing the at-fault driver will be ready to argue the opposite, so you’ll want experience on your side in order to give yourself the best chance of a successful result.
No St. Petersburg driver wants to find themselves in the position of pursuing a lawsuit because their injuries surpassed the serious injury threshold, but it does happen. If it does, call your St. Pete’s lawyer at TheStPeteLawyer.com as soon as possible to rest assured you’re represented by years of experience in Florida personal injury law.