Frequently Asked Questions

The value of your personal injury lawsuit will depend on the details of how you received the injuries, the extent of your injuries, the ability to prove your injuries, and the extent of insurance company negotiation. You may be able to receive compensation for:

• Medical bills
• Loss of revenue or loss of job
• Expenses from injury-related traveling, like doctor visits
• Payment for property damage
• Payment for other expenses you incurred
• Physical pain and suffering
• Personal injury settlements can come in several different forms – or not at all.

Depending on the state where you live, laws governing injury lawsuits and who can receive compensation in a personal injury case can vary greatly.

Our Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyers can help you understand the information you need to determine if your specific case might be eligible for a personal injury settlement. Call us today to receive your free consultation.

All of the attorney’s fees at Harris Guidi for personal injury cases are referred to as “Contingency Fees”. This means our attorney’s fees are contingent or based upon, making a recovery in the case. If there is no recovery in the case, there are no attorney’s fees charged to you. We do not bill by the hour or require any up-front retainer.

There are no attorney’s fees for property damage reimbursement including rental car reimbursement, diminished value of your vehicle as a result of the collision, or loss of use of the vehicle while it is being repaired. We allow those dollars to go directly to you. The attorney’s fee is only charged against the recovery's bodily injury portion. Call us today to receive your free consultation.

Damages are available to victims of personal injury negligence in Florida of all types, including automobile accidents, slip and fall/trip and fall incidents, defective products, medical negligence, premises liability, negligent security, or any other personal injury negligence claim. These damages include past medical expenses incurred as a result of the injuries, future medical expenses to be incurred over your lifetime, lost wages, future lost wages or loss of earning capacity over your lifetime, loss of household services if you are required to hire someone to do household tasks you were able to do before the incident. All of these are referred to as the “economic damages” in your case. Additionally, you are entitled to recover the “non-economic damages”. These damages include pain, suffering, mental anguish, frustration, loss of enjoyment of life, change in your lifestyle, loss of the ability to conduct activities of daily living, and psychological and emotional distress associated with a physical injury.

While the economic losses may be a result of mathematical calculations, there is no specific calculation for the non-economic damages in these cases. Each case is different and each case must be prepared from the beginning in a way to maximize the non-economic damages and thus your total recovery.

When a case settles the at-fault party pays a lump sum and there is no specific designation as to what type of damages are incurred. Contingency fee attorney’s fees and the case costs are taken from the total recovery of the case before any payment of past medical expenses or other obligations are made. Call us today to receive your free consultation.

Florida is a “no-fault” state. This means we are all required to carry no-fault insurance, commonly referred to as “PIP” or Personal Injury Protection. This insurance pays the first $10,000.00 of expenses for medical bills and lost wages. Our own PIP insurance pays 80% of reasonable and necessary medical charges and 60% of lost wages actually incurred. Many times we have medical payment coverage commonly known as “Med-Pay”. Med-Pay coverage under our automobile policy pays 100% of reasonable and necessary medical expenses. It is very important to coordinate the insurance coverages that are involved when you are faced with automobile accident injuries. You may want to reserve your “PIP” coverage for wages only and use your private health insurance to pay your medical bills. This maximizes your recovery under your own policy. Additionally, PIP coverage is not limited to $2,500.00 per incident unless you have been certified by a medical doctor as having an Emergency Medical Condition often referred to as “EMC”. You only have 14 days to be certified by a doctor with an Emergency Medical Condition. Once you have obtained that certification in your medical record you are entitled to the full $10,000.00 worth of PIP insurance coverage. Therefore, it is critically important to get to the right doctor or physician within the first 14 days following an accident in order to maximize your insurance coverage that you have paid for.

Florida law requires that all of your automobile PIP and Medical Payment coverage be exhausted or used up before you can apply for coverage under your private medical insurance or care coverage.

The insurance coverage for the at-fault driver or vehicle owner is referred to as “Bodily Injury Liability Coverage” and is only paid in a lump sum at the end of the case either as a result of a settlement or a jury verdict in your favor. The at-fault insurance carrier will not pay piecemeal or pay your expenses or co-pays along the way. Call us today to receive your free consultation.

No, a property owner’s negligence depends on the specific circumstances surrounding your injury. The duty of care owed by the landowner to you as a visitor depends upon your reason for being on the property. The highest duty of care is owed to an invitee such as a guest oSlip and fall, trip and fall, and other premises liability cases are extremely difficult under Florida law. It is extremely important that we get involved in these cases as soon as possible to photograph the condition of the property as it existed at the time of the incident. It is critically important to identify witnesses at the business or restaurant or other location. Defects in the property are often fixed or abated by the landowner quickly after the incident making it extremely difficult to prove the condition. Oftentimes surveillance video captures the incident, but the surveillance video is recorded after 36 to 48 hours and the evidence is lost. For these and other reasons it is critically important to contact the lawyers at Harris Guidi as soon as possible after an injury on someone else’s property so that the investigation can begin immediately.r a business customer of a property owner. This is the most common situation and requires the property owner to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition free from defects that are known to the landowner but unknown to the guest. The injured person must prove that there was a defect on the property and that the landowner knew or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known about the defect and did nothing to correct it. Alternatively, if the landowner is aware of a defect he may be relieved of liability if he has properly warned the guest of the potential danger or hazard.

Call us today to receive your free consultation.