PALM HARBOR PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS

It depends on who was at fault for the accident. If you were at fault, your insurance company will pay for the damage to the vehicle. If you were not at fault, the at-fault driver’s or owner’s insurance policy will pay for the damage, and if they do not have enough coverage to cover the damage to your vehicle, your collision coverage (if purchased) would pay for the damage to your vehicle.

Non-binding arbitration is another form of what we call in Florida, Alternative dispute resolution. Mediation is when you bring together parties with a mediator and you basically have the parties decide what the value of your case is. Non-binding arbitration is when you go in front of what’s called an arbitrator. Usually this is a former judge or an attorney that practices in trials and has a great amount of experience. During the arbitration process, both sides are able to put forward what we call evidence. That can be in the form of sworn testimony, it can be in the form of documents, it can be photographs. The arbitrator pulls all of this information together. He listens to statements from both sides and then ultimately comes up with a decision. In that decision they field the issue of liability. Who caused the injuries as well as what the injuries are and what they are worth. Both sides get an opportunity to review that opinion and if they agree and they accept it then the case is resolved and basically it’s over. If one side says “I don’t agree with that” They notice the case for trial and we just continue along in the litigation process.

A proposal for settlement is just another chance to try to resolve your case. What happens is you sit down with your attorneys or the other side sits down with theirs and they come up with a number that they view that the case is worth. They put it down on what is called a proposal and it is sent to the other side. Once that proposal is served, the side that receives it has 30 days to decide what they want to do with their case. If the proposal is accepted, the case is over. That means that it’s resolved and basically you will move through with the final documents. If the proposal is not accepted, you ultimately go to a trial because your case will continue on and we end up getting a verdict or the other side gets a verdict. If it’s 25% greater than the offer we made to the defense, we would be entitled to all of our attorney fees and costs from the date that was served. If it’s on the other side where the defense served the proposal, and we reject it and they get 25% less than their offer then we would be responsible for their attorney fees and costs.