Learn About Florida Personal Injury Law
Injuries caused by another person or company’s negligence can be devastating. Understanding Florida personal injury law can help you recover damages and make your life better. There are many different types of damages you can seek, such as pain and suffering, medical bills and lost wages. Your attorney can help you identify the impact your injuries have had on your life and how much you deserve compensation.
A statute of limitations is a legal rule that limits the time you have to file a lawsuit against a person or entity for negligence. It ensures that you have plenty of time to gather evidence and preserve memories about the incident. In Florida, the Statute of Limitations for personal injury claims generally runs four years from the date of an accident. However, some exceptions exist for certain types of injuries, including wrongful death or medical malpractice cases.
The majority of personal injury claims fall under this four-year statute. These include car accidents, defective products, contract breaches, assault and battery, and more. Even if you are confident that your claim will be successful, it is important to file your lawsuit before the deadline expires. Failure to do so could lead to your case being dismissed and you losing any chance of recovering any damages.
Another reason that a specific time-frame is so important is that the longer the case is dragging on, the less reliable the evidence becomes. This is because people can forget important details, and evidence can get lost or destroyed. If you miss the deadline, the defendant’s insurance company will likely dismiss your case before it even begins. They may also try to settle your claim for less than its worth.
Some injuries, such as broken bones or a back injury, take some time to manifest. In these cases, the discovery of harm exception may apply. This means that you may have a bit more time to file your claim if your injury takes some time to develop. If your injuries progress slowly over several months, you might be able to convince the judge that you did not know about the damage until much later.
When an accident victim suffers an injury, they have a legal right to be compensated for their losses. The legal system cannot undo the harm done to a person, but it can hold an at-fault party financially responsible for the pain, suffering, financial losses from things like lost wages and medical expenses, and other damages that are unique to the case.
Economic damages are one of the most common types of compensatory damages that a victim can receive. These are monetary awards that compensate for medical bills, property damage, and lost income from missed work, among other damages.
These damages can be calculated with the help of expert witnesses who can provide evidence regarding future medical expenses, household services, vocational rehabilitation costs, and income loss. In Florida, there is no cap on these types of damages. However, some of these expenses will be covered under the victim’s own insurance policy. For example, if you are injured in an auto accident, Florida law requires you to purchase Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance.
A PIP policy will cover your economic damages, including your medical bills and lost wages. Your PIP insurance may also cover any property damage that occurred as a result of the accident. When calculating the value of your damages, you should be sure to keep track of all of your expenses. This will allow you to prove your losses in court.
You should also be aware that Florida is a comparative-fault state, meaning that your damages could be reduced to account for your share of fault. An experienced attorney can help you challenge this claim and preserve your rights to all of the damages you are entitled to.
