Are you Canadian and were hit and injured in a car accident while visiting Florida? Well, here at St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas we are located in Pinellas County and we have a lot of Canadians who come here during the winter months for vacation. Unfortunately, like anyone else visiting the area, they are at risk to be involved in some type of car accident and injured. And unfortunately, we get these cases from time to time. The good news is that we’ve got experience in handling these types of claims. The bad news is the Canadian healthcare system is not the best to work with. If you’re Canadian and you’re watching this video, you probably understand where I’m coming from. But the purpose of this video is just to go through, generally speaking, what we do when a Canadian visitor to our area is hurt in a car accident and basically what we normally advise for them.
So let’s go through the typical situation. The person is, is here visiting. They’re involved in a car accident and they’ve got a little bit more time as far as their stay goes. Uh, so what we advise is to get as much medical treatment here in Florida as possible, uh, because, uh, the insurance companies here in Florida work much better with the medical providers here in Florida. So we try to get as much treatment as we can while you are still in Florida. Now we understand that your treatment won’t necessarily conclude while you are still here. So when you go back North to to Canada, if you live on a border area close to the the U S border, uh, we always advise, come across the border, continue with medical treatment in the States. Now again, that’s not always feasible and it’s not always realistic, but we do like to keep all of the medical treatment in the United States if we can.
Because as I mentioned before, uh, what we’ll normally get is your white card with your, uh, with your, uh, your healthcare insurance. Uh, and sometimes in order to get the diagnostic testing that we need, we can see weights of up to six months now that may be normal in Canada. Uh, but it is abnormal for auto insurance claims in the United States. And because the people who control the, uh, the, the purse strings, for lack of a better word, are here in the United States. They just don’t understand this delay. Uh, and it really does hamper the direction of our case when we have to wait for diagnostic testing many, many months. Now, I’m not saying it can’t be done. Eventually it will done. We can generally, um, salvage any type of case. But, uh, that’s why we like to get as much medical treatment, as much diagnostic testing as possible done in the States.
Now, the way it works with the, with the Canadian health care, um, we put them on notice just as we do with a, uh, you know, a us citizen that has some type of healthcare through the United States. And, uh, what, what happens at the end of the cases, Canadian healthcare system will send us a lien for whatever medical expenses were incurred and that lien gets repaid out of the proceeds of the car accident settlement claim. So if you’re a Canadian and you’re in town, I’m sorry that your stay was probably ruined by this car accident. But, uh, hopefully if you do have any questions and you’re watching this video, you are inclined to contact us. We can answer any other follow-up questions. And our, our consultations are always free.
*The above has been transcribed by a third party service and has not been checked for accuracy.
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If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident, then you should take the proper measures to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. Contact St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas today and speak with an attorney. For over 60 years our firm has been successfully helping people who have been injured due to someone else’s carelessness. We have been nationally ranked for decades by US News and World Reports as a Tier 1 law firm, which is the highest ranking that can be received. Sean McQuaid and Jonathon Douglas have dedicated their careers to continuing the firms legacy of superior legal representation.
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St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas
5858 Central Ave suite a, St. Petersburg, FL (727) 381-2300
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Sean McQuaid and Jonathon Douglas were voted best personal injury attorneys in Saint Petersburg, Florida for 2019.
