Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer Blawg

#4 in a series of discussions on Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault

If you have been a victim of a car or truck accident in Florida and have suffered injuries or someone you care for has suffered a wrongful death and have by the significance of those injuries met the threshold requirement of F.S. 627 - Florida's No Fault Statute, you will then most likely be dealing with an car or trucking company's insurance carrier in order to recover your monetary losses and damages. The difficulty you will then face is in dealing with the insurance company that functions for the benefit of its profit margin as opposed to the absolute best interests' of the injured victims of a Florida automobile and trucking accident. Let there be no mistake in your perception that the auto insurance company is committed to avoiding and or reducing its liability for its negligent insureds on each occasion there is a claim made against a wrongdoer whom they insure.

As is true for each and every profit centered business entity, an insurance company must be responsible to two simple principles: 1) increasing its cash flow; i.e., collecting our premiums; and 2) reducing and/or minimizing its expenses; i.e., by the avoidance of voluntarily making full claim payments for car accident cases.

The insurance company employs well trained adjusters, claims specialists and defense attorneys who are committed to the best interests of the insurance company and not yours, even if it is your own insurance company that you are making your claim with. Many, if not all, of the employees of an insurance, company as well as their defense attorneys actually operate with an unspoken belief that they are doing a righteous task, not only by protecting the insurance company's bottom line profits, but by defeating the interests of Florida's automobile and truck accident victims.

#3 in a series of discussions on Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault

Continuing our discussion, the reality of the No-Fault system was an attempt by the insurance industry to raise substantial revenues, while at the same time decreasing the number and amounts of settlements or jury awards for injuries caused by the negligent operation of a car, or vehicle in Florida. Unfortunately, the system was so poorly thought out that it not only failed to limit the volume of personal injury cases, but it also effectively drove up most costs associated with car accident cases.

In the beginning, the threshold for bringing a Florida car accident case was if the victim of a car or truck accident would incur in excess of $1000 worth of medical expense related to his or her vehicular related injuries. Back in the early 1970s physicians typically didn't charge more than $18 for an office visit, even for the treatment of accident patients. It took the medical community slightly less than a nanosecond to figure out how to charge more than a $1,000 for the treatment of a car accident patient. Incredibly, the insurance industry thought that they would limit the number of cases brought if they raised that threshold to a $3,000 minimum.

That failed wisdom just simply taught the medical community to raise their rates in an additional nanosecond. This failed reasoning continued until October 31, 1984 when Florida Statute Chapter 627 was finally amended to require the following four thresholds:

1. The victim had to suffer a wrongful death;
2. The victim had to suffer a significant loss of an important bodily function;
3. The victim had to suffer permanent and significant scarring or disfigurement;
4. and then the last Threshold was if the victim of a car accident suffered a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability.

This last category only opened up the interpretation for a soft injury claim and the insurance industries' ability to dispute those injuries through it's paid for defense experts' controlled opinions. All the while, the system enabled doctors, such as orthopedic physicians to charge over $1500 for that initial first visit, compared to $18 in the early 1970s.

Frankly, the auto insurance industry can be thanked for exponentially multiplying the cost of trauma care in this country while at the same time inciting an explosion in the related fields that are supposed to care for accident victims.

#2 in a series of discussions on Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault

Prior to the passage of Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law anyone involved in a car or motor vehicle accident had the legal right to seek damages for their accident related injuries without any pre-conditions to filing a lawsuit. In addition, car or motor vehicle insurance was not mandatory in the state of Florida prior to Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law (and in fact, approximately 60% of all car owners in the state of Florida were uninsured prior to the passage of Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law). It is this writer's opinion that the insurance industry and their special interests intended to have laws passed that would make it mandatory that all operators of cars or motor vehicles must obtain car or motor vehicle insurance in order to astronomically increase their gross revenues by collecting previously non-existent insurance premium payments from that non-participating 60% of the car owners in Florida - an extraordinary increase in the sheer number of payments, alone.

The insurance industry's premise for making car insurance mandatory was predicated upon a misleading concept that their insured would receive greater value in not having to prove fault before being able to receive benefits for medical expense and lost wages, instead of having to wait for medical or chiropractic care and the payment of lost wages until a court of law determined who was at fault for the accident. The original enactments of this Act provided for these benefits (PIP or Personal Injury Protection Benefits) with up to $10,000 of benefits, at 80% of any related medical expense including chiropractic care, and inclusive of 60% of a claimants gross lost wages to be paid, also from that $10,000 source. Fault would not be a determining factor in order to receive these PIP benefits. What was not and has never been candidly revealed to the insured public in the state of Florida at that time was that the insurance industry was permitted to sell this $10,000 PIP coverage with an $8,000 deductible - meaning that before the insurance company would pay dollar one, the injured insured would have to personally pay the first $8,000! Frankly, no one could easily afford to do so then, or now, and therefore obviously the intention of this act was not to actually pay the average insured one penny!

#1 in a series of discussions on Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault

Victims of motor vehicular accidents - (defined by: F.S. 627.732 (3) "Motor vehicle" means any self-propelled vehicle with four or more wheels which is of a type both designed and required to be licensed for use on the highways of this state and any trailer or semitrailer designed for use with such vehicle and includes:

(a) A "private passenger motor vehicle," which is any motor vehicle which is a sedan, station wagon, or jeep-type vehicle and, if not used primarily for occupational, professional, or business purposes, a motor vehicle of the pickup, panel, van, camper, or motor home type.

(b) A "commercial motor vehicle," which is any motor vehicle which is not a private passenger motor vehicle.

The term "motor vehicle" does not include a mobile home or any motor vehicle which is used in mass transit, other than public school transportation, and designed to transport more than five passengers exclusive of the operator of the motor vehicle and which is owned by a municipality, a transit authority, or a political subdivision of the state.) intending to pursue the recovery of their money damages for the injuries they may have suffered, must be aware that their lawsuit will likely be governed by the Florida Automobile Reparations Reform Act, or more commonly known as Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law (§ 627.730. Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law).

This particular Act, which has been in existence since the 1970s, strictly governs the basis for being compensated if one is the victim of a car or motor vehicle accident. This Blawg site will go into great depth and have many discussions on both the technical applications of this body of law, as well as a very in dept and candid analysis of the real implications of this body of law, over the many months to come. And to say that Florida's Automobile Reparations Reform Act/ the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law, has been the source of much debate is an extraordinary understatement. The basic premise of this writer's candid opinions will be centered upon the belief that the Act was originally intended by the insurance industry and its special interests as a source of increasing the insurance industry's revenues and profits without true regard for its policy holders or for righteous claimants who have been injured and demand damages for accident related injuries.

Thank you for your interest in the Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer Blawg (a public service provided by the Schulman Law Group, a Fort Lauderdale Injury Law Group). We are proud to announce that this is our inaugural posting and we look forward to establishing, being known as, and relied upon, as an important, go to source for credible and newsworthy information for topics related to serious car, bus, motorcycle, trucking, airplane, and slip and fall accidents, as well as for legal matters relating to faulty or defectively designed or manufactured products, and for legal matters of interest concerning all forms of professional negligence or malpractice, on behalf of our past, current and future clients, as well as the legal and medical professions and the public in general.

This site was created to provide significant meaningful help to victims of accidents and personal injuries as well as for the legal and medical professions that should serve these unfortunate people. Our commitment is based upon the strong belief and knowledge that our system of civil justice was created by our forefathers with the intention of providing a source for justice for the righteous victims of wrongdoing.

Unfortunately, interests other than for the care of individuals, have corrupted our society's perception of what was intended and have attempted to limit if not cripple the system's ability to function on behalf of those in need of care who have been seriously injured or damaged as the result of a wrongdoer's negligence.

We invite your comments or questions concerning any legally related questions related to accidents or personal injury matters. We are committed to being a highly trustworthy source of reliable information and for informing others of changes in the law concerning topics pertinent to accident and personal injury victims, their loved ones, and family, as well as the for the legal community - looking to better serve accident and personal injury clients.