As auto accident personal injury attorneys in Tampa, we run into this problem often. Despite our requests not to communicate with the insurance company directly there are times where our clients for one reason or another provide a statement to the carrier. It never works in the client’s favor and always works against them. Often the statement leads to a full, “investigation,” which is really a way to either delay or deny benefits.

Recently, one of our clients received a call from the insurance company asking her to answer “routine questions.” Instead of notifying our office right away, she continued to answer every question the carrier asked her regarding the claim. As a result, the insurance company withheld benefits and demanded an Examination under Oath, a very intrusive interview performed by the insurance company. Had she directed the insurance company to contact us and allowed us to answer all of the insurance company’s questions there would have likely been a different outcome.

It is always best to seek professional representation after an auto accident. If you are even considering legal representation, please remember not to speak to the insurance company yourself; no matter how much they attempt to contact you. Notify your attorney immediately when this occurs and have your attorney contact them instead of you. We see this happen to our clients and we hate to see their benefits compromised every single time. Let the attorney handle the insurance company, it’s our job.

Here is a map I assembled showing the intersections:

View Tampa Red Light Camera in a larger map

Westbound E Busch Boulevard @ N Nebraska Avenue
Eastbound E Fowler Avenue @ N Nebraska Avenue
Westbound E Hillsborough Avenue @ N Nebraska Avenue
Northbound N Armenia Avenue @ W Hillsborough Avenue
Northbound N Lois Avenue @ W Hillsborough Avenue
Northbound N Nebraska Avenue @ E Hillsborough Avenue
Northbound N Nebraska Avenue @ E Fowler Avenue
Eastbound W Gandy Boulevard @ S Westshore Boulevard
Eastbound Adamo Drive @ S 50th Street / S Tamiami Trail
Eastbound E Hillsborough Avenue @ N 22nd Street
Westbound E Hillsborough Avenue @ N 22nd Street
Eastbound E Waters Avenue / CR 584 @ US 41 / N Florida Avenue
Southbound N Himes Avenue @ W Hillsborough Avenue
Southbound S 50th Street / S Tamiami Trail @ Adamo Drive
Southbound S Dale Mabry Highway @ W Gandy Boulevard
Southbound S Manhattan Avenue @ W Gandy Boulevard
Northbound S Westshore Boulevard @ W Gandy Boulevard
Southbound US 41 / N Florida Avenue @ E Waters Avenue / CR 584
Eastbound W Gandy Boulevard @ S Dale Mabry Highway
Westbound W Gandy Boulevard @ S Westshore Boulevard
Westbound W Waters Avenue / CR 584 @ N Armenia Avenue
Eastbound W Waters Avenue / CR 584 @ N Armenia Avenue
Eastbound W Kennedy Boulevard @ N Ashley Drive

There are some things you can do immediately after an auto accident that will insure your loss is fully compensated. Below are things to do immediately after the crash:

First, call the police. You can always use 911, or the police directly (i.e. Tampa Police Department) but it is important to have the police document the scene, get information from the drivers, document insurance information, and control the scene for safety of yourself and others.

If you need medical attention GET IT! There is nothing more important than your health and well being. If you feel severe pain, you are bleeding, or have trouble breathing, get medical attention immediately. You should never worry about your car when your health is at issue.

Next, if your injuries do not require immediate medical attention, take pictures of the cars at the actual scene of the auto accident. Almost every cell phone has a camera. If you do not have a camera available, use the mobile phone camera. While the pictures may not be great quality, some bad pictures are better than nothing. Make sure to take pictures of BOTH vehicles; yours and the other vehicles involved in the auto accident. It’s best to take a lot of pictures and you can discard the ones you don’t like.

I always suggest avoiding having discussions with the other driver other than checking to see if they are OK and require medical attention. Many times, people in auto accidents are emotional and things can escalate and actually result in violence. Once you verify that the other driver is OK it’s always best to remove yourself from the other driver until the police arrive.

Also, make sure you cooperate with the police and get whatever information you need to follow up. The police will give you a report number or a driver exchange sheet with information that will be valuable in getting claims established with the insurance companies. You should never leave the crash scene without the police officer providing a document with information concerning the crash.

If your car is towed make sure you get the tow truck company and where they are taking your vehicle. The chances are that you will need to get some personal belongings from the vehicle and you want to know where the car will be so you can get them.

Finally, I strongly suggest you contact my office as quickly as possible so that we can begin to gather information and document matters with the insurance company to ensure your vehicle is fixed timely, try to get you in a rental car, and make sure that the insurance company acts in your interest and not in a manner to protect their interest. Regardless, it is critical at this point to protect your claim and there is no better way to do that then to find an attorney who is experienced in auto crash cases. Taking the proper steps immediately after a car crash can be a great benefit toward making sure that you are fully compensated for your losses and injuries.

Your auto insurance policy has a provision which allows the insurance company to have a physician perform a medical examination to determine if any further treatment is necessary.  A more accurate name would be, “Insurance Medical Examination” since the insurance company pays the doctor/chiropractor.  The IME physician is “working” for the insurance company and therefore no doctor/patient confidentiality exists.  You are required to attend an IME based on the contractual obligations of your insurance policy.
The insurance company almost always unilaterally schedules these examinations before your treating physician has completed your course of treatment.  In the vast majority of cases your benefits will be suspended after you attend this examination as the IME physician will determine that further medical treatment is not warranted.  Remember, the IME physician is paid by the insurance company.  Once the IME physician determines (after a single visit) that you don’t need any further treatment, the insurance company will no longer pay benefits to your treating physician.

It is, however, extremely important that you do not miss the appointment otherwise the insurance company will automatically suspend and/or deny your benefits for lack of cooperation.  Our firm, in almost every case, requires the insurance company to schedule the IME at a time convenient to our clients with plenty of notice and coordination of the date and time.  We also require the insurance company to provide transportation when necessary.

Once you are at the doctor’s office they will ask you to fill out a form stating your injuries, course of treatment, medications, etc.  Try to be as accurate as you possibly can.  Do not discuss how the accident happened, how much property damage occurred, or who was at fault with the IME doctor.  The IME doctor is not your friend.  He/she will report everything you tell them to the insurance company and even innocent conversation will be taken out of context and embellished by the IME physician.
When the IME doctor authors a report stating that your treatment is no longer necessary, your PIP benefits will be suspended effective immediately.  However your treating physician can challenge the IME doctor’s opinion in an effort to reestablish your benefits.

We often are involved in situations where the treating doctor believes further treatment is warranted after the IME physician determines it is not.  Just because the insurance company says you don’t need medical care does not make it true.

PIP is a type of insurance that pays for your medical bills and lost wages in the event of injury in an accident.  It makes no difference who is to blame or who is at fault; if you are injured in a car crash your PIP insurance pays for your medical bills.  So, if you are a passenger in a friends car and are involved in a car crash, your PIP coverage will pay for your hospital and doctor bills.  Many people do not understand this and tell me, “Why should my insurance pay when I wasn’t at fault?”  That’s Florida law.  PIP is, “PERSONAL” Injury Protection which means that you carry it on your PERSON without regard for who was driving, which car you are in, or who is at fault.  Of course, different situations may arise (i.e. an injured person does not own a car or have any PIP insurance) which have different coverage issues.

A common PIP policy will generally cover up to $10,000.00 of medical bills and lost wages and may have a deductible.  PIP pays 80% of your medical bills and will also pay 60% any lost wages you might have during your disability.  If you are unable to work, it is essential that you get a disability certificate from your medical provider and then submit support for your lost wages (generally a few weeks/months of past pay stubs).  Your PIP insurance company will then pay 60% of your lost wages up to a maximum of $10,000.00.  Remember, that the $10,000.00 is the TOTAL available for your medical bills AND lost wages.  So if your medical bills are $8,000.00 that will only leave $2,000.00 for lost wages.

This is a very, VERY brief introduction to a single type of insurance coverage available.  When you consider the different types of auto insurance coverages: PIP, Comprehensive, Collision, Bodily Injury, Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist, MedPay, rental, roadside assistance, Gap insurance; you begin to get an idea of how complicated coverage might be, and how much may not be covered when you think it is.

It’s important to know your coverages and rights.  The worst time to find out what is covered is after a car crash.  Unfortunately, most people find out what is NOT covered and are then responsible for the loss on their own.  I recommend speaking with your agent and getting an exact picture of your coverage.  My office would be glad to assist you with any issues you might have or any questions regarding coverage on your current policy.

Born in 1917 in Havana,  Cuba,  his father, a Spanish sailor, returned to Spain when my father was very young leaving my father and his mother alone in Cuba.  The stories of my father’s poverty and struggles as a youth set the foundation for what he knew he wanted to be and what he had to do to get there.  He would tell stories of his mother crying because the didn’t have money for rice (which at the time was, “dos centavos” literally $0.02.) When he saw his mother crying he told her not to worry that he would make enough to take care of them.  Of course, he was only 6 or 7 but he did start to take on tasks and jobs to help with money and had to leave school very early.

As a result of his situation, my father was relatively uneducated.  He had some minimal formal education but basically taught himself to read and write. He knew that education was critical to leaving the poverty and tears his mother cried because of that poverty.  Although not attending school, he would read anything he could:  newspapers, books, magazines, whatever he could get his hands on.

He fled Cuba when Castro took power.  He left with nothing except the clothes he had with him leaving everything he knew behind.  But he brought with him a lifetime of experiences and was already well into his studies in, “La Universidad de la Vida.”  By the time I was born, he was 51 years old and had an advanced graduate degree from that same university that has no campus, no paper degree, and only the world as your professor.  I cannot overstate the benefit it has been for me to have a Master tutor and mentor so thoroughly educated in that university.  It is something that no Ivy League, Rhodes scholarship, or paper degree can ever provide.  But I had the benefit of it.

He knew the secret for me was to get as much education as possible.  He constantly pushed me to get an education.  He didn’t care what I studied, just to keep going to school.  His view for my success, and by proxy his success, was that I would never have to punch a time clock.  That is the way, simple as it may sound, my father gauged success, to not punch a time card.

I will miss my father and his sage advice.  I will miss his sharp wit, biting sarcasm, and his stories.  I have lost my greatest critic…and my greatest advocate.  I know well that I am not a self made man and that I owe great debts to those who played a role in shaping my life.  I know that an enormous part of me was forged from the foundry of Ignacio Diaz-Rebozo steel.

Papi, te quiero, descanse en paz.