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HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF IN A FLORIDA ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT AS AN INTERNATIONAL TOURIST
Serving Orlando and Throughout Florida
Before You Rent the Car
You must get the proper insurance. Even if you purchased travel insurance, it may not provide the protection you need. The travel insurance does not protect you when you are hurt from the fault of others. National Health Service (NHS) does not protect you either. Finally, the insurance you get from your credit card when you rent a car does not protect you. The only way to ensure your protection is to purchase uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) insurance coverage from the car rental company. You will also need to purchase liability insurance from the rental car company. This protects you if you harm others and is a prerequisite to the purchase of uninsured motorist coverage in the even of a road traffic accident.
Currently according to Florida law, you will automatically be provided with Personal Injury Protection insurance. This is minimal health and disability insurance and really offers nothing more than the travel insurance. It is the UM coverage that needs to be purchased. You should purchase one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) in coverage. This is not expensive (a few dollars per day) and is the only way to protect you and your family from other bad drivers in the U.S. who are not insured. Believe us when we say, there are lots of them out there and there are more every day. If you do not protect yourself from them, no one else will. The laws in the United States require very little, and in some states like Florida, no bodily injury liability insurance to drive a car!!
The law for Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage varies from state to state for United States road traffic car accident claims. In Florida UM coverage is not required. You may make a UM claim for the uninsured motorists/ underinsured motorists coverage of your own insurance policy when -
- The at-fault parties for the accident are uninsured or underinsured;
- You were injured in a hit and run road traffic car accident;
- You were hurt by an entity that is legally limited in liability, for example you are hurt by a City or State truck; or
- The at fault parties have inadequate liability insurance to pay your injuries.
If you make a UM claim your own insurance company will "stand in the shoes" of the other driver and insurance company and use all of their defenses. In effect you will then be against your own insurance company in making the claim. Your insurance company will not be on your side.
At the Scene of the Florida Road Traffic Accident
Move the car. If safe to do so, move your vehicle out of the road. Florida law requires this in road traffic car accidents.
Get medical attention for yourself and for others. You can offer aide without it being used against you as an admission of fault. It is best to get medical attention immediately but if you decline it initially or start to feel worse later, get medical care then. The longer you wait, the more the insurance company will try to claim you were not hurt.
Call the Police. Do not just get the other drivers name, license info etc. Insist that the police are called or you call them using the local 911 phone service.
Get witness names and numbers. A witness is not a witness we can use unless you get the names and addresses and write them down. Do not expect the police to get all the names; rather you should get their names while waiting for the police in case they leave before the police arrive.
Take pictures. Take pictures of all vehicles involved and of the scene of the accident. Pictures of the scene of the Florida road traffic car accident scene are very important. The police will not do this except in very severe accidents involving death or risk of death.
After Your Road Traffic Accident
Call your travel insurer, rental car company and rental car insurance. Get claim numbers, contact names, numbers and addresses. Do not make a recorded statement unless and until you talk to a lawyer first. Even your insurance company has an incentive to use a statement against you that you made to them in the later event of a claim. This is very important so that the insurer cannot claim you gave late notice or failed to cooperate in the U.S. or Florida road traffic car accident claim.
Take pictures of your injuries.
Beware of unsolicited calls. You may get calls from investigators from insurance companies and even from unscrupulous lawyers or physicians. Do not take these calls until you get proper legal advice. This is a big problem in Florida car accident road traffic claims.
Beware of TV lawyers or doctors. Many lawyers and doctors will advertise on TV seeking your case. While some of them may be very good at what they do, many are not. Remember someone has to pay for those TV advertisements by handling lots of cases. Most of the lawyers that advertise for road traffic car accidents in Florida are forbidden from even calling themselves a specialist.
Instead, look for a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer who specializes in civil cases like road traffic accidents and who can tell you he does so with the blessing of the Florida or other State Bar association that governs lawyers. The State Bar Association will give you the names of Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyers in the area of the car road traffic accident.
Get a Lawyer. Studies show that claimants who hire lawyers receive more compensation in US road traffic car accident claims than those who do not. Your lawyer can help get compensation for:
- Medical Bills.
- Loss of Earnings
- Pain and suffering
- Vehicle Damage
- Non vehicle property damage
- Ruined holiday damages (or the portion of the holiday that was ruined)
Make sure the US lawyer has experience in handling UK or other foreign injury claims. Most US lawyers have never handled a road traffic accident car claim for a foreign visitor to the US. It is important to know how to handle the medical issues, travel insurance reimbursement, NHS reimbursement and proof of loss of earnings issues that must be dealt with in road traffic accident claims for our foreign visitors, especially those in the UK. Our firm has the experience, expertise and the contacts in the UK to handle these claims efficiently.
We have worked with doctors and solicitors to help our foreign clients all over the United Kingdom including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We have taken depositions in the UK from Portsmouth to Manchester, to London to Cardiff.
Be Aware of Statute of Limitations and Other Deadlines. In general, Florida road traffic accident victims have four (4) years to bring a claim. Please be aware, however that there are other shorter and longer limitations periods that can apply depending on who was at fault and what claim is being made. Determining the appropriate limitations period depends on the application of facts to law and requires sound legal advice.
Auto Accidents: Frequently Asked Questions
Florida Accident Statistics: Orlando and Throughout Florida
Florida Road Traffic Accident Lawyers
(800) 235-7060
Wooten, Honeywell, Kimbrough, Gibson,
Doherty & Normand
Professional Association
236 S. Lucerne Circle at Delaney
Orlando, FL 32801