When we deal with car accidents in Saint Pete, Florida. One of the first questions our clients ask us is what insurance applies and how will this affect my own personal automobile insurance? First and foremost, in Florida, we have personal injury protection benefits and that’s $10,000 no-fault insurance available to our clients for their medical and a lost wage claim. So up to $10,000 is covered out of the gate regardless of fault. Now we get involved in cases where we’re representing victims and car accidents, and so in that scenario not only is does the pip apply, but additional insurances may also be available. The first insurance we look to is the at-fault driver’s bodily injury coverage, and if the at-fault driver has bodily injury coverage, that is the first layer of insurance that we would be looking towards to compensate our clients. If that amount of money is not sufficient to cover our client’s injuries and damages, then we look to our own client’s insurance company for any UIM or underinsured motorist coverage.
And so if there’s UM coverage that our clients have on their own personal policy, that would be the second layer of coverage behind the at-fault driver’s bodily injury coverage. Um, of course, if the at-fault driver, uh, was on, uh, driving for work, there may be some additional coverages. If there are umbrella policies, there may be additional coverages. But generally speaking, we, the pip is first, the bodily injury liability coverage is, um, the, the secondary or the first layer after the pip. And then finally the UIM coverage if it’s available. Now, after those questions are answered for our clients, they then ask, well, what happens if I make a claim? Is it going to increase my insurance rates? Well, nobody has a crystal ball, but if the person has not at fault, if our clients aren’t at fault, it should not increase the rates. Uh, but again, these are very important questions that are asked and we certainly are able to tell our clients, uh, how and why insurance works the way it does in a particular scenario. If you have any questions about a car accident in St Pete, please feel free to give us a call.
*The above has been transcribed by a third-party service and has not been checked for accuracy.
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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.
