(When) Do you have to call the police after a minor car accident?

The process following an automobile collision can become frustrating, drawn out and confusing. Not taking the proper steps when involved in an accident could leave you exposed to complications and delays in the different processes following the crash. Contacting the police after any collision is one of those very important and necessary steps. Think of it this way, if you were involved in a fight but nobody was around to witness the fight, the explanation of this fight would end up being a “he said” “she said” argument. With no independent witnesses around to confirm the accounts fight, the two parties could essentially endlessly argue that the other side was at fault.

What To Do After A Personal Injury Accident?

Being in an auto accident can be a scary situation for most people. There are many things that go through your mind such as does the person that just hit me have adequate insurance, do I have adequate insurance, what do I do about my vehicle, should I call the police? It is always best to call the police immediately after an auto accident. Even if the other party tells you that they want to work out the damages with you directly and do not want the police involved, you should always call the police to protect yourself and your interests. If you do not have a crash report documenting your accident, it is hard for the insurance companies to determine liability, especially if the other party who hit you does not accept fault or changes their story when speaking with the insurance adjusters. This could result in time-consuming and costly lawsuits later down the road. Usually, a police officer can determine who is at fault from interviewing all parties involved in the accident and any independent witnesses that saw the accident happen. Police officers can also sometimes determine liability based on where the damage is to each vehicle.

How do I choose a car accident lawyer?

After an auto accident or a slip and fall, you may have several questions and find yourself searching the internet for answers. The internet is full of answers, some not as accurate as others. You may also find yourself discussing your claim with a friend or family member who may have their own input, which again may not be accurate information. Each personal injury claim is unique and some are more complicated than others. This is the number one reason why you should never rely on the information from someone who is not an expert in the personal injury field. Family members and friends like to help but their situation may have been greatly different than yours so what happened with their claim may not be applicable for yours. The only way to really know how to move forward with your claim is to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney who can discuss your claim and your situation to see what the best plan of action would be.

Altamonte Springs Workers Compensation Attorney

After experiencing an accident in Orlando, the last thing you want is to have an attorney at hand that doesn't know how to represent you adequately. You want a reputable Orlando law firm that will fearlessly fight to acquire maximum compensation on your behalf. That is precisely what Trial Pro, P.A. does. Our Orlando lawyers hold a strong reputation for winning cases, and we do everything in our power to deliver the results you're expecting.

Trial Pro P.A. is proud to advocate for workers compensation victims all over the state of Florida, including our office in Altamonte Springs. Our dedicated experienced personal injury attorneys handle a range of legal matters, from employment disputes to auto accidents claims. We can use our knowledge and legal skills to help you not only achieve a favorable outcome, but relieve the legal burden from your shoulders as well. Our entire team understands how challenging and confusing litigation can be, which is why we are here for you through every step of the process. Serving all areas of Florida including Orlando, Mims, Citrus Ridge, Poinciana, Sebastian, Manasota and more!

Frequently Asked Questions About Workers Compensation in Altamonte Springs, Florida

Florida law requires most employers to buy workers' compensation insurance coverage. Under Florida workers compensation laws, employees are compensated for occupationally sustained injuries, despite fault. This insurance coverage makes companies immune from some injury suits by workers.

knowledgeable Altamonte Springs Work Comp Lawyers Who Know How to Win Tough Lawsuits

Are you trying to find a Work Comp Attorneys near you? If you are hurt, we recognize you may not have the ability to visit our offices. If you're unable to come to us, we can come to you!

Trial Pro, P.A. works with Floridians in a range of personal injury legal matters. Our practice areas include all kinds of personal injuries; motor vehicle collisions, motorcycle collisions, wrongful death claims, slip-and-fall accidents, semi collisions, construction injuries and workers compensation accidents. With offices in Orlando, Tampa, Naples, Brevard County, Melbourne and Fort Myers. Trial Pro, P.A. provides strategic advice and counsel to clients in areas such as Tangerine, Bay Lake, Winter Park, Whiskey Creek, Goodland, Palmdale and across Florida. Contact our firm for an absolutely free and confidential assessment of your case.

Workers' compensation in Florida is a legally required system of benefits that are readily available to most people who are injured at work. It is a no-fault system, meaning that for the most part negligence in the cause of an accident is a non-issue. You can be totally to blame or negligent in leading to an injury, and this does not disqualify people from getting benefits. In contrast your workplace or colleague may possibly be negligent in causing the accident, and this specific does not entitle you to additional benefits. Worker's Comp is said to be equally a shield and a sword as for providing for benefits. It is a "sword" because your employer simply cannot defend against your claim by saying you were negligent in triggering the injury. It is a "shield" that gives protection to Companies from having to pay staff members a lot of the damages that are available to non-employees who are injured or hurt due to the accident.

Need to file a Workers' Comp Claim? Talk with our Expert Altamonte Springs Workers' Comp Attorneys Call our office Today for a totally free case evaluation - 800-874-2577

This scenario portrays the "sword and shield" factor of workers' compensation. Let's suppose Evan is a remarkably reckless cook. He hardly focuses on what he's doing. He's going out the back entrance at work, hands full of trash, to throw in the dumpster. As he races down the unobscured stairs, he slips and falls down hurting his patella. His manager comes to his aid, and notices that Evan as is the custom was transporting excessive amounts of garbage to be safe and his shoelaces were undone. You might actually expect that Evan may not have a claim due to the fact that his negligence triggered the injury. But you'd be mistaken.

Altamonte Springs businesses and home owners are legally accountable for looking after their properties and must keep it in a within reason safe condition and inform occupants of any hazardous conditions of which they are aware or need to be aware.

Now let's alter the facts just a bit. Evan as opposed to being sloppy is extremely vigilant. He consistently ties his no slip shoes in repeated knots, never races down the stairways, and under no circumstances brings a lot more than he can. Nevertheless his supervisor has been relatively slack recently. The light bulb on the stairs blown out, and he knows that one of the steps is broken and is a tripping risk. However he's too hectic to deal with that issue now. Consequently, Evan trips on the busted dark stairway that his manager knew about, yet didn't even try to inform Evan about. If you suppose that Evan is able to now take legal action against his boss or Workplace for negligence due to his boss's careless actions, you would likely also be wrong. Reckless Evan possesses the very same rights as a hurt person as meticulous Evan does. That may appear unjustifiable, but that is a consequence of fault of negligence being a non-issue in work comp.

So let's examine who is entitled to these types of benefits in The Sunshine State. To start with, you need to be an employee. Independent contractors (or 1099 workers) are not qualified to workers' compensation benefits. Additionally, the organization that you work with needs to be large enough to be required to hold workers' comp benefits. Assuming that there aren't a minimum of four workers, then the Business isn't expected to carry worker's compensation coverage unless it is a building and construction employment As well, there are various jobs that aren't covered in The Sunshine State under work comp. Some examples of jobs that are not covered are many real estate agents, owner-operators of semis, the majority of volunteers, and taxi cab drivers.

So let's claim that you qualify as an employee under the workers' comp program, does that mean that you're entitled to benefits if you sustain a personal injury or have an accident at the office? Like many legal questions, the answer is that it depends. To start with, the calamity or personal injury needs to "arise out of" and be "in the course and scope" of employment. Arising out of work basically implies that some element of the task caused the accident. An example of a reasonably common injury instance at work that is not commonly a work-related injury is a heart attack or stroke. If you're sitting at your desk and you suffer a heart attack during the course of work hours, this particular is not going to count as a workers compensation injury. It may have taken place at work, but the work did not trigger the heart attack. Whether or not you have a very arduous job and you're supervisor has been harassing you relentlessly and you have a stroke due in part to the other emotional toll work takes on you, this is not going to be covered. The cardiovascular disease, stroke, or other "internal failures " are contemplated to be personal in nature and unrelated to your work responsibilities. For that reason the simple fact that the misfortune developed on the job is not sufficiently. Exceptions to these exemptions arise if: (a) you are involved in an unusual strain or effort at work, or (b) you are involved in a line of work where there is a presumption that such an event is work-related - like a law enforcement officer or fire fighter.

"In the course and scope of employment" is in addition required for an injury to be protected under Workers Compensation. In order to be in the course of employment, you genuinely have to be at your job. If you have a automobile traffic collision either on your way to work or on your way home, a large number of times those injuries are not going to be regarded as work-related injuries. There are exceptions. To remain in the range of employment, you have to be engaging in a task related to work or even at the very least engaged in some type of reasonable activity the Employer could possibly have foreseen. If your job is to perform desk work in an office but you hurt yourself when you and your colleague choose to have a race down the stairs to see who's in the best shape that personal injury is not going to be considered work-related. You have unreasonably drifted from your work duties to the point that what you're doing at the moment of trauma is no more sufficiently connected to work to get regarded as work-related.

Therefore, let's say you've cleared the hurdles of being a worker that's hurt in the course and scope of your job by an accident that arose out of work, what do you obtain? To be entitled to lost wages, you must miss out a certain amount of workdays and the disability has to last a specific period of time. If you miss out barely a week or so from your job, you're not going to receive lost wages. At the same time if you have an injury that heals within just three full weeks, you're not qualified to short-term benefits. If you do suffer a trauma that manages to keep you out of work for a lengthy period of time, then you will receive compensation. However, this remuneration is not your entire wage. Rather you collect approx two-thirds of what you were making at the time of the injury. If the health care provider says no work at all, then you get 66.67% of what you were making at the time of the accident. If the health professional claims you can work with restrictions AND the Employer is unable to accommodate those limitations, you may obtain 64% of your pay. But if your employer is able to accommodate those restrictions and you are making 80% of your pre-injury earnings, you receive no reimbursement. So bottom line is that if you are missing work because of a work-related injury, you will lose earnings. The greater your impairment, the more earnings you can forfeit. Unless you settle your case at some point, those lost wages are gone for good and will not be recovered.

Therefore, let's say you've cleared the hurdles of being a worker that's injured in the course and scope of your job by an injury that arose out of work, what do you receive? To remain entitled to lost wages, you will have to miss out a certain amount of workdays and the incapacity has to last a particular period of time. If you miss out barely a few days from your job, you're not going to get lost earnings. Also if you have a trauma that heals in less than three full weeks, you're not qualified to temporary benefits. If you do suffer a trauma that manages to keep you out of job for an extended time, then you will get compensation. Nevertheless, this compensation is not your full paycheck. Instead you receive approx two-thirds of what you were earning at the time of the injury. If the medical professional says no work at all, at that point you receive 66.67% of what you were making at the time of the injury. If the doctor claims you can work with restrictions AND the Business is unable to accommodate those limitations, you may obtain 64% of your income. But if your Boss is able to accommodate those restrictions and you are making 80% of your pre-injury earnings, you receive no reimbursement. So bottom line is that if you are missing work because of a work-related accident, you will lose wages. The longer your impairment, the more paychecks you can lose. Unless you settle your case eventually, those lost earnings are gone for good and will definitely not be recovered.

A further restriction on your chance to receive lost wages is that those benefits are just paid for a certain period of time. Once you have attained maximum medical improvement, which is the health professionals way of suggesting you're as good as you're going to get, you do not get anymore temporary benefits. Even if you have not gone back to work or your position is no more available, your temporary benefits end. If you get an impairment rating caused by a permanent injury, you will receive permanent impairment benefits, however those benefits are less than the temporary and they are very short lived. They usually just last a matter of a few weeks or calendar months. Just very few injured workers, the most seriously hurt, have a chance of receiving long term permanent benefits called permanent total disability.

If it pertains to medical care, your rights or benefits also have significant constraints. If you have injuries that requires critical care, then you can get that care without first acquiring Workplace or workers' compensation service provider authorization. Shortly after that early medical care, who you see for health care is not your selection. Your Employer or more frequently its workers compensation insurance company are going to tell you who exactly you can treat with. If you don't like the physician they select, then you might receive a one time change but that's it. Plus, you don't get to pick that next medical professional either. Once again the work comp insurance carrier picks the doctor. You can get what is called an IME, or "independent medical doctor", but you have to pay for that health care provider expense. Your health insurance will not cover it.

One of the few beneficial aspects of the health care is that you do not pay for it at all, other than a $10 copayment once you reach maximum medical improvement. The insurance provider is responsible for all other expenses of treatment including prescribed medication and physical therapy. Still as you can probably see already, workers' comp is not an ideal program. It's also a complex system.

If you find yourself in the work comp system, you're better off getting advice and perhaps a lawyer sooner rather than later. Errors made in the workers' comp system can be challenging if not impossible to unwind. And a number of errors can guarantee the end of your case completely. Therefore if you have a workers' comp injury, consult us right away. The consultation is free, and you are under no obligation to retain us. In case you do retain us, you won't be out of pocket for any charges or costs. Our firm only gets paid when we get benefits for you!

No Fees Unless We Win

At Trial Pro, P.A., our traffic collision attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. This means our firm covers the costs of researching, building, negotiating and litigating your insurance claim. We do not charge you a thing unless our legal professionals recover compensation on your behalf. If we don't win your insurance claim, you will owe us nothing at all.

Our Altamonte Springs personal injury attorneys also offer complimentary consultations to review the particulars of your insurance claim and establish if you have a lawsuit. Arrange a Free Examination

If you or somebody else you love has been hurt because of someone else's negligence or neglectfulness, you need a proven attorney by your side who is knowledgeable with the laws and laws in The Sunshine State.

Our Altamonte Springs personal injury lawyers are skilled in personal injury lawsuits and have been acknowledged by our peers for our success. Several of our attorneys have been named as Super Lawyers and notable litigators for their accomplishments on behalf of our clients.

We have recovered desirable judgments and compensations that were instrumental in assisting our clients recoup from their personal injuries or the loss of a loved one. Let us help you recover the max amount of compensation you deserve for your traumas.

Acquiring Compensation for Your Workplace Injury in Orange County Florida

Because workers' compensation is a form of insurance policy, Florida workers compensation insurance typically covers what you would expect your vehicle insurance policy to encompass if you were hurt in an car crash. This workers compensation benefits consists of, yet might not be limited to:

Medical Bills
Lost Income
Prescription Medications
Clinical Equipment
Earnings Replacement
Particular Job Substitute Benefits

The nature as well as degree of your benefits rely on whether your injuries developed no disability, a partial disability, long-term disability or permanent disability.

Altamonte Springs Workers Compensation Attorney

Frequently Asked Questions About Workers Compensation in Altamonte Springs, Florida

knowledgeable Altamonte Springs Work Comp Lawyers Who Know How to Win Tough Lawsuits

No Fees Unless We Win

Acquiring Compensation for Your Workplace Injury in Orange County Florida

Workers' Compensation Cases Frequently Asked Questions

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