FAQ - Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

HOW IS A PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER PAID?
Most legal services are paid for on an hourly fee basis via monthly invoices. By contrast, personal injury services are paid for via a "contingency fee", calculated as a percentage of the recovery made in the claim. If that "contingency" does not occur - if the claim is unsuccessful and no recovery is made - then the client pays the attorney nothing. The Florida Bar, which governs all Florida attorneys, has determined what percentages an attorney can charge for a contingency fee.

WHAT IS THE USUAL CONSULTATION FEE?
Zero dollars. Because injury attorneys get paid via a contingency fee, they have no reason or basis to charge a prospective client for the initial consultation.

WHAT IS "NO FAULT" AUTOMOBILE COVERAGE?
In the early 1970s, Florida enacted a "no fault" system of laws that applies to car insurance and car crash injury claims. This law requires each vehicle owner to purchase a certain minimum insurance coverage, including Personal Injury Protection ("PIP", also commonly called "no fault"). PIP coverage provides medical and disability benefits to an injured vehicle occupant, even if they were at fault for causing the crash or their injuries from the crash. However, the "no fault" system is one of give-and-take. In exchange for providing injury victims with insurance benefits that did not otherwise exist, Florida's "no fault" system took away certain rights and claims that injury victims used to have.

WHAT DOES "NO FAULT" AUTOMOBILE COVERAGE PAY?
Personal Injury Protection ("PIP", also commonly called "no fault") insurance coverage pays medical bills at 80% and wage losses at 60%, until its coverage limit has been exhausted. Thus, people with only PIP coverage will have unpaid medical bills and unreimbursed wage losses. These unpaid amounts are a part of the claim a car crash victim has against the insurance company for the faulty driver.

WHAT IS "MEDICAL PAYMENTS" COVERAGE, AND WHY WOULD I PAY MORE FOR THAT IF PIP PAYS MY MEDICAL BILLS?
As mentioned previously, Personal Injury Protection ("PIP", also called "no fault") coverage pays only 80% of the victim's the crash-related medical bills. For further protection, one can purchase Medical Payments ("MedPay") coverage, which provides additional funds for paying crash-related medical bills. A car insurance policy that has both PIP and MedPay coverage pays 100% of the medical bills up to the coverage limits. This extra coverage comes in handy when the victim is the faulty driver or when the faulty driver does not have liability insurance coverage to pay for the victim's losses.