FAQs

Read Some FAQs About Our Legal Practice

Q. What if I was injured while a passenger in a single vehicle accident?

A. If you were hurt as a passenger in a vehicle, you may be entitled to a recovery from the driver’s insurance company and from your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.

Q. Why would I need an attorney?

A. Soon after an accident, insurance companies will try to have you settle your case before you retain an attorney, with the extent of your injuries left unknown. Their rationale is that without legal representation, many people with injuries are willing to settle with an insurance company for pennies on the dollar for what could be very serious and permanent injuries. As your attorneys, we will not only fight to get you a fair economic recovery, but will be helping you maximize that recovery. In many cases, there are liens placed on the personal injury proceeds by either social security, ERISA, Medicaid or Medicare, child support, hospitals and other healthcare providers, as well as healthcare insurance providers. The laws are evolving rapidly regarding personal injury and we will work hard to reduce and sometimes extinguish any outstanding liens you face.

Q. What if I was injured in a motor vehicle accident while I was on the job?

A. The fact that you may be covered by workers’ compensation does not bar you from being compensated by the party at fault. Since workers’ compensation is primary and will have to be repaid, you may be entitled to a setoff. No matter the scenario, the attorneys in our firm know the interplay between workers’ compensation and personal injury and will work extremely hard to maximize your recovery.

Q. Should I speak with the at-fault driver’s insurance company regarding my injuries?

A. No. you should never communicate with the at-fault driver’s insurance company regarding the medical treatment for your injuries or any and all facts leading up to, during, or after the accident! The only time it is acceptable to speak with the at-fault driver’s insurance company is to negotiate the property damage to your vehicle, without giving facts and details about the accident or your injuries.

Q. What are Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits?

A. Also called Florida No-Fault Insurance, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Insurance covers you – regardless of fault (i.e. whether or not you cause the crash) – up to the limits of your insurance policy. Your PIP will also cover your child, members of your household and certain passengers who lack PIP Insurance as long as they do not own a vehicle. People riding in your vehicle who carry PIP will receive coverage under their own PIP for their injuries, and so would certain licensed drivers who drive your vehicle with your permission. PIP also covers your child if he or she suffers an injury while riding on a school bus. PIP coverage protects you while in someone else’s vehicle, as a pedestrian, or bicyclist if you suffer an injury in a crash involving a motor vehicle. The Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law, requires all owners or registrants of a motor vehicle with four wheels or more to carry a minimum of $10,000 of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $10,000 of property damage liability (PDL) if you own a motor vehicle in the state of Florida. Florida law requires you to maintain PIP or PDL insurance continuously throughout the licensing and registration period of your vehicle.

-Florida Department of Motor Vehicles

PIP pays 80% of medical benefits for all reasonable expenses for necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services, including prosthetic devices, wheelchairs, crutches, slings, neck braces and splints. PIP also pays 60% of disability benefits for any loss of gross income and loss of earning capacity or inability to work because of an injury sustained in an accident. Disability benefits also cover all expenses reasonably incurred for household services that, if not for injury; the injured person would have performed themselves. PIP pays $5,000 per individual in death benefits.

Q. How does the attorney fee and costs agreement between McRae and me work?

A. If we fail to prosecute your case successfully, there will be no money paid by you. You are only responsible for costs and attorney fees if we win your case. Our legal fees are based on a contingency fee, which is a percentage of the total amount of money we are able to recover for you. McRae abides by the Contingency Fee Contract, which is approved by the Florida Bar. In terms of fees, the Contingency Fee Contract allows for 33.3 percent recovery before the plaintiff files a lawsuit, the defendant files a response, and the client provides any payment.

Q. How long could it take until I receive a recovery?

A. This will depend solely on how complicated your case is and what we are dealing with. The best answer to this question is that it would be too difficult to estimate a monetary recovery time frame with any accuracy due to the complex nature of personal injury claims.

Q. My PIP only covers 80% of my medical bills up to $10,000. What do I do about the remaining 20% and the need for additional medical care if the $10,000 from PIP has been depleted?

A. If you do not have health care coverage for yourself, some doctors and facilities will accept a “Letter of Protection” which allows a patient to continue treatment without having to pay until the case settles or at a later date that is agreed upon. If the case does not settle, the patient remains responsible for those medical bills which would become due after the end of the case.

Q. Why do I have a PIP deductible?

A. The no-fault statute allows insurance companies to sell a maximum deductible of $2,000 to consumers. When consumers purchase insurance, they have a choice of a deductible lower than $2,000 or not have one at all.

Q. What are Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist (UM) benefits and why are they important?

A. In Florida, bodily injury liability insurance is not required. Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist benefits are benefits that will be paid by your own insurance company to compensate you for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident when the at-fault driver is either underinsured or uninsured. Uninsured motorist coverage will cover bodily injuries to you and your passengers when the other person has no insurance or there is not enough insurance in a crash that is not your fault. Given the large number of uninsured motorists, this is extremely important coverage to have.

Q. What is MMI and why is a permanent impairment rating important?

A. MMI is Maximum Medical Improvement and a doctor determines this status. This is an important status for a patient because in Florida, a person is only entitled to receive compensation for personal injuries sustained in a car accident if they have suffered a permanent impairment due to their injuries. When you reach MMI, the physician has determined that the patient has reached a point where they are as healthy as they can be and will not progress any further. If you have received a permanent impairment, the doctor will typically assign the patient a permanent impairment rating according to American Medical Association guidelines.

Q. Why do we "file suit?"

A. Filing a complaint and other papers at a courthouse is “filing suit.” Our client must give our firm the authorization to file suit. Filing suit is sometimes the only recourse if the insurance company is not offering a reasonable amount to compensate our client for an amount they deserve for the injuries they have sustained.

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The no-recovery, no-fee policy at The McRae Law Firm ensures that you don't have to pay any attorney fees unless you win your case.