Dealing with the Insurance Company After a Car Accident
Florida Car Accident Lawyer Armando Edmiston discusses what to expect
After you’re involved in a Florida car accident, you are required to report it to your insurance company – but you need to be careful.
When communicating with the insurance company, it’s critical that you stick to the facts of what happened and avoid going into too much detail. This is an important step in the process of filing an insurance claim. Anything else you say could be misinterpreted and used against you to challenge or deny your claim. If the insurance company presses you for additional information or wants you to give a recorded statement, you are under no obligation to do so before you consult with an attorney.
The insurance company will review the car accident report and other pieces of evidence to determine who is at fault.
If someone else’s insurance company or lawyer contacts you to talk about the crash, do not respond without first talking to an attorney. Insurance adjusters have a reputation for being friendly over the phone to get the information they want from you. Many of them are just looking for you to say something that might reduce the insurance company’s liability and weaken your claim.
Don’t take the first settlement offer without talking to a lawyer
Even if an insurance company makes you an offer to settle your claim, you should use caution. That’s because insurance companies are infamous for making lowball settlement offers masked as quick cash. While accepting a fast payout may be tempting, keep in mind that the insurance company’s offer may not pay for all your accident-related expenses once you uncover the true cost of your crash. You also have the right to request more money when it comes time for settlement negotiations.
Whether you need help with a PIP claim or you’re having trouble getting appropriate compensation from the insurance company, hiring a lawyer to advocate for you and protect your legal rights is something you may want to consider.
At Armando Personal Injury Law, we can take control of your claim right from the start. Don’t settle for a lowball offer. Founding attorney Armando Edmiston isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with the insurance company to fight for the compensation you deserve. Whether you were injured in a crash in Tampa, St. Petersburg, or anywhere in Florida, our law firm can protect your rights and aggressively advocate for your best interests.
What does it mean for Florida to be a no-fault insurance state?
Since Florida follows a no-fault car insurance system, you use your own insurance policy to pay for any losses you sustain in a car accident – regardless of who’s at fault. So, your insurance company will pay for your medical bills after a car accident, up to the applicable policy limit. In Florida, you are required to carry a minimum of $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage to pay for any injuries you sustain in a crash.
However, if you have a serious injury, you may be able to pursue compensation from the at-fault driver’s insurance company as well. If you have a severe injury that exceeds the value of your PIP policy, you may want to consider filing a personal injury lawsuit with help from an experienced car accident lawyer to get full compensation for your damages.
It is also possible that the insurance company denies your insurance claim. This usually occurs if there is an issue proving who was liable for the accident or the extent of the damages. Florida is a modified comparative negligence state, so if you are more than 50 percent at fault, you cannot recover compensation.
Filing a lawsuit puts pressure on the insurance company to pay up and keeps your options open if they won’t negotiate.
Let our Florida Law firm handle your Car Accident insurance claim
Your expenses may exceed the limits of your car insurance and PIP policy. How are you supposed to pay for all these expenses and still make ends meet? Let our law firm maximize the value of your claim. Attorney Armando Edmiston has the knowledge and experience to handle the insurance company and will fight to secure the highest possible payout for you. Contact us today to schedule your free case evaluation and see what our law firm can do for you.
Client Testimonial
"Excellent service 👏 They were very attentive and, above all, very professional. They are definitely the lawyers who can truly help with your problems 😉. Thank you so much for your assistance."
– E.S. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Actual client. Results may vary; each case is different.
About the Author
Attorney Armando Edmiston is the founding attorney of Armando Personal Injury Law in Tampa, Florida, a law firm dedicated to helping people harmed in car, truck, motorcycle, nursing home, and other serious injury cases. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran and personal injury lawyer, Armando draws on his real-world courtroom experience and years of representing injured Floridians to write and carefully review the legal content on this website. Every guide is written in clear, straightforward language so injured people and their families can better understand their rights, and is reviewed for legal accuracy before publication.