(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.

Apopka 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 Apopka. 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, Fort Myers, Orlovista, Alafaya, South Apopka, Sanibel and more!

Frequently Asked Questions About Workers Compensation in Apopka, 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.

Experienced Apopka Workers' Comp Lawyers Who Know How to Succeed In Tough Lawsuits

Are you searching for a Work Compensation Law Firm near you? If you are injured, we recognize you may not be capable to visit our offices. Let us go to your place!

Trial Pro, P.A. works with Floridians in a variety of personal injury law matters. Our practice areas include all types of personal injuries; automobile collisions, motorcycle collisions, wrongful death cases, slip-and-fall accidents, eighteen-wheeler accidents, construction injuries and workers compensation injuries. With offices in Orlando, Tampa, Naples, Brevard County, Melbourne and Fort Myers. Trial Pro, P.A. provides strategic advice and counsel to people in areas such as Casselberry, Dr. Phillips, Howey-In-The-Hills, Lochmoor Waterway Estates, Sidell, Hendry County and across Florida. Call our office for a completely free and confidential discussion of how we can help.

Workers' compensation in Apopka is a legally required system of benefits that are available to most people who are injured or hurt on the job. It is a no-fault system, meaning that for the most part negligence in the root cause of an injury is a non-issue. You can be completely responsible or negligent in leading to an injury, also this does not disqualify individuals from getting benefits. Conversely your manager or coworker may possibly be negligent in triggering the injury, and this does not qualify you to extra benefits. Work Comp is claimed for being equally a shield and a sword as far as providing for benefits. It is a "sword" in that your employer can't defend against your claim by saying you were negligent in triggering the unfortunate incident. It is a "shield" that gives protection to Employers from having to pay employees many of the damages that are accessible to non-employees who are hurt after the accident.

Need to file a Workers' Compensation Claim? Talk with our Expert Apopka, Florida Workers' Compensation Attorneys If you need aggressive representation, our law practice can help you. Call Trial Pro As soon as possible - 800-874-2577

This situation clarifies the "sword and shield" part of workers' compensation. Let's claim that Evan is an extremely reckless cook. He rarely pays attention to what he's doing. He's heading out the back entrance at work, hands loaded with trash, to toss in the dumpster. As he rushes down the well-lit staircases, he slips and collapses injuring his knee-cap. His boss comes to his aid, and observes that Evan as is usual was carrying way too much to be safe and his shoelaces were undone. You might actually assume that Evan may not have a claim simply because his neglect led to the personal injury. However you would be mistaken.

Apopka, Florida companies and property owners are under legal standing liable for maintaining their premises and need to keep it in a within reason safe condition and alert occupants of any dangerous conditions of which they are conscious or should be aware.

And now let's alter the facts a little bit. Evan rather than being sloppy is exceptionally mindful. He consistently ties up his no slip boots in double knots, never ever races down the staircases, and under no circumstances transports more than he should. On the other hand his business manager has been fairly slack in recent times. The light bulb on the stairs burned out, and he realizes that one of the steps is damaged and is a tripping hazard. However he's too hectic to address that issue right now. As a result, Evan trips on the worn out dark stairway that his boss knew about, yet failed to even bother to notify Evan about. If you suppose that Evan is able to now file a claim against his manager or Workplace for negligence due to his boss's reckless actions, you would most likely also be off-target. Unmindful Evan possesses the same legal rights as a hurt worker as careful Evan does. That may appear unreasonable, but that is a consequence of fault of negligence being a non-issue in workers comp.

So let's examine who is entitled to these types of benefits in Florida. To start with, you need to be an employee. Independent contractors (or 1099 staff members) are not entitled to workers comp benefits. Also, the company that you work with has to be large enough to be required to possess worker's compensation benefits. In the event that there are not at least four staff members, then the Business isn't required to hold worker's compensation coverage except if it is a building and construction employment Also, presently there are particular roles that aren't protected in FL under work comp. Some examples of occupations that are not covered are many real estate agents, owner-operators of rigs, the majority of volunteers, and taxi drivers.

Just let's suppose you qualify as an employee under the work comp system, does that mean that you're entitled to benefits if you sustain injuries or have an accident at the office? Just like many legal issues, the answer is that it depends. Primarily, the accident or trauma will need to "arise out of" and be "in the course and scope" of employment. Arising out of work in essence means that some element of the task caused the accident. An example of a reasonably common injury instance at work that is not typically a job related injury is a heart attack or stroke. If you're sitting at your desk and you experience a cardiac arrest in the course of work hours, this particular is not likely going to count as a workers' comp injury. It may have happened at work, but the job did not inflict the heart attack. Whether or not you have an extremely demanding career and you're boss has been harassing you relentlessly and you have a stroke due partially to the other psychological toll work takes on you, this is not likely going to be covered. The heart attack, stroke, or other "internal failures " are considered to be personal in character and unconnected to your job responsibilities. Therefore the fact that the misfortune took place at work is not sufficiently. Exceptions to these exemptions emerge if: (a) you are involved in an unusual stress or effort at the workplace, or (b) you are involved in a line of work where there is a probability that such an event is work-related - which include a law enforcement officer or fireman.

"In the course and scope of employment" is required for an accident to be protected under Workers Compensation. So as to be in the course of employment, you certainly have to be at work. If you have a motor vehicle accident either on your way to work or on your way home, most times those wrecks are not going to be considered work-related accidents. There are exceptions. To be in the span of employment, you must be performing something related to work or at least engaged in some sort of reasonable task the Company could possibly have anticipated. If your employment is to do desk work in an office space but you hurt yourself when you and your colleague choose to have a run down the stairway to see who's in optimum shape that injury is definitely not going to be considered work-related. You have unreasonably deviated from your work duties to the point that what you're doing during the time of injury is no longer sufficiently connected to work to be regarded as work-related.

So let's say you've cleared the hurdles of being an employee that's injured in the course and scope of your job by an injury that arose out of work, what do you obtain? To remain entitled to lost wages, you must miss out a certain amount of workdays and the incapacity has to last a particular period of time. If you skip less than a few days from your job, you're not going to receive lost earnings. At the same time if you have a trauma that heals within three full weeks, you're not qualified to temporary benefits. If you do suffer an injury that places you out of work for an extended period of time, then you will get compensation. Nonetheless, this remuneration is not your whole salary. Rather you get about two-thirds of what you were earning at the time of the injury. If the physician says no work at all, at that point you get 66.67% of what you were earning at the time of the injury. If the health professional says you can work with limitations AND the Business is unable to accommodate those limitations, you may get 64% of your paycheck. But if your Boss is able to accommodate those restrictions and you are making 80% of your pre-injury wages, you obtain 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 at some point, those lost wages are gone for good and will definitely 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 accident that arose out of work, what do you get? To remain entitled to lost wages, you have to miss a certain amount of workdays and the incapacity has to last a certain period of time. If you skip barely a week from your job, you're not going to be given lost earnings. At the same time if you have a trauma that heals in just three weeks, you're not entitled to temporary benefits. If you do suffer an accident that manages to keep you out of work for a prolonged time, then you will earn compensation. Having said that, this remuneration is not your full earnings. Instead you get approx two-thirds of what you were making at the time of the personal injury. If the physician says no work at all, then you get 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 not able to accommodate those restrictions, you will receive 64% of your paycheck. But if your Boss is able to accommodate those limitations and you are making 80% of your pre-injury earnings, you get no reimbursement. So bottom line is that if you are missing your job as a result of a work associated accident, you will lose earnings. The longer your impairment, the more earnings you can lose. Unless you settle your case at some time, those lost paychecks are gone for good and will certainly not be recovered.

A further constraint on your opportunity to receive lost wages is that those benefits are just paid for a certain period of time. Once you have acquired maximum medical improvement, which is the doctors way of stating 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 job is no longer available, your temporary benefits end. If you get an impairment rating due to a permanent lesion, you will receive permanent impairment benefits, although those benefits are less than the temporary and they are very short lived. They normally just last a matter of a few weeks or months. Just very few injured workers, the most severely injured, have a chance of acquiring long-term permanent benefits called permanent total disability.

When it relates to medical care, your rights or benefits also have major limitations. If you have an injury that entails critical care, at that point you can get that care without first getting Employer or workers' comp provider authorization. Right after that initial treatment, who you see for health treatment is not your choice. Your Employer or more frequently its work comp insurance company may inform you who you can treat with. If you don't prefer the medical professional they pick, then you may obtain a one time change but that's it. Moreover, you don't have the ability to select that next physician either. Once again the workers compensation insurance carrier picks the physician. You can obtain what is called an IME, or "independent medical doctor", but you have to pay for that doctor expense. Your health insurance won't cover it.

At least one of the few beneficial aspects of the medical care is that you do not pay for it at all, other than a $10 copayment as soon as you reach maximum medical improvement. The insurance provider is responsible for all other expenses of medical care including prescription drugs and physical therapy. Still as you can probably see already, workers' comp is not an outstanding system. 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. Mistakes made in the workers' compensation system may be difficult or even impossible to unwind. Plus certain errors can signify the end of your case entirely. So if you have a workers' compensation accident, speak with us right away. The consultation is free, and you are under no obligation to retain us. In the case that you do hire us, you won't be out of pocket for any expenses or costs. We only gets paid when we get benefits for you!

We Don't Get Paid Until You Get Paid

At Trial Pro, our car accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. That means our firm covers the costs of researching, building, negotiating and litigating your case. We do not bill you a thing unless our lawyers recover compensation on your behalf. If we do not win your lawsuit, you will owe us absolutely nothing.

Our Apopka personal injury legal professionals also offer absolutely free consultations to review the elements of your insurance claim and determine if you have a lawsuit. Arrange a Free Evaluation

If you or someone else you love has been injured because of someone else's negligence or neglectfulness, you need a good lawyer by your side who is familiar with the statutes and laws in FL.

Our Apopka personal injury legal professionals are skilled in personal injury litigation and have been acknowledged by our peers for our successes. A few of our attorneys have been identified as Super Lawyers and distinguished litigators for their victories on behalf of our clients.

We have recovered desirable verdicts and settlements that contributed in enabling our clients recover from their personal injuries or the loss of a loved one. Let us help you recover the maximum amount of compensation you deserve for your injuries.

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.

Apopka Workers Compensation Attorney

Frequently Asked Questions About Workers Compensation in Apopka, Florida

Experienced Apopka Workers' Comp Lawyers Who Know How to Succeed In Tough Lawsuits

We Don't Get Paid Until You Get Paid

Acquiring Compensation for Your Workplace Injury in Orange County Florida

Workers' Compensation Cases Frequently Asked Questions

Free Workers Compensation Case Review