Tampa Car Accident Attorney
Car accidents in Tampa generate some of the most contested personal injury claims in Florida. Insurers move fast after a crash, and their interests are not yours. Having a Tampa car accident attorney who understands how to build a claim, counter lowball offers, and take a case to court when necessary is the difference between a settlement that covers your actual losses and one that barely covers your medical bills.
At Kobal Law, attorney Jason Kobal handles car accident cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning no fees until there is a recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe nothing.
Why Tampa Roads Produce More Accidents Than You Might Expect
Tampa’s highway network, including I-275, I-4, the Selmon Expressway, and US-19, sees some of the highest traffic volumes in Florida. Dale Mabry Highway, Fletcher Avenue, and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard are among the local corridors where crashes happen with regularity. The combination of tourist traffic, commercial trucks, distracted commuters, and frequent construction zones creates conditions where accidents are not random flukes.
Hillsborough County consistently ranks among Florida’s most dangerous counties for traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Rear-end collisions at congested intersections, T-bone crashes at poorly timed traffic signals, and wrong-way incidents on major expressways are all documented patterns here. Understanding where and how a crash happened matters legally, because it shapes questions of fault, road conditions, and which parties might bear responsibility beyond just the driver who hit you.
What Your Damages Actually Include After a Serious Crash
Florida’s no-fault insurance system requires drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection coverage, which pays a portion of medical bills and lost wages regardless of fault. But PIP has real limits. It covers 80 percent of medical expenses up to $10,000, and only if you sought treatment within 14 days of the crash. For anything beyond that threshold, or for serious injuries that qualify to step outside the no-fault system, you can bring a claim directly against the at-fault driver.
What that claim can recover goes well beyond what PIP touches. Medical costs, both what you have already paid and what future treatment will require, are recoverable. Lost wages matter when an injury keeps you out of work or limits what work you can do. Pain and suffering, the physical experience of an injury and the way it disrupts daily life, is compensable under Florida law for injuries that meet the serious injury threshold. Property damage is a separate component, covering repair or replacement of your vehicle.
In crashes involving a fatality, surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim. Florida’s wrongful death statute allows recovery for loss of support, lost services, and in some cases, grief and loss of companionship. These cases are distinct from personal injury claims and carry their own procedural requirements.
Third-Party Claims and When Workers’ Comp Intersects With a Car Accident
Not every car accident is a simple two-party dispute. When a crash happens on the job, whether you were making a delivery, driving a company vehicle, or traveling between job sites, both workers’ compensation and a third-party negligence claim may be available. This is an area where many injured workers leave money on the table, because they assume workers’ comp is their only option.
Jason Kobal has specific experience handling exactly this overlap. Workers’ compensation typically does not allow you to recover for pain and suffering, but a third-party negligence claim does. When a work-related car accident is caused by another driver’s negligence, pursuing both claims simultaneously can mean substantially greater total compensation than either claim would produce alone. The legal mechanics of coordinating these recoveries are not straightforward, which is why having an attorney who regularly handles both workers’ compensation and personal injury claims is genuinely valuable here, not just a selling point.
Third-party liability can also arise outside the employment context. Accidents involving commercial trucks, rideshare vehicles like Uber or Lyft, government-owned vehicles, or drivers operating under the influence often bring additional defendants and additional insurance coverage into the picture. Identifying all potentially liable parties is one of the most consequential things an attorney does early in a case.
How Insurance Companies Handle These Claims, and What That Means for You
Florida is a competitive insurance market with carriers that are well-practiced at minimizing payouts. After a serious accident, expect contact from the at-fault driver’s insurer quickly, sometimes within days. That contact will often include a recorded statement request and, not long after, a settlement offer. Both deserve careful thought before you respond.
Recorded statements are not neutral exercises. Adjusters are trained to ask questions that produce answers useful to the insurer, not to you. An offhand comment about how you are feeling, or a hedged description of what happened, can be used to undermine your claim later. You are not legally required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer.
Early settlement offers are typically low. Insurers calculate them before the full extent of your injuries is known, before imaging results are reviewed, and before any specialist weighs in on long-term prognosis. Accepting early forfeits your right to additional compensation even if your condition worsens. Once a release is signed, that claim is closed.
At Kobal Law, the approach is to let the evidence develop, understand what a case is actually worth, and negotiate from that position. If an insurer will not offer fair value, the option to take the case to court exists and matters. Insurers know when an attorney is prepared to litigate and when they are not.
Questions Tampa Accident Victims Ask
How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in Florida?
Florida recently changed its statute of limitations for negligence claims. For accidents occurring after March 24, 2023, the deadline to file a lawsuit is two years from the date of the crash. For older accidents, a four-year period applied. Missing the deadline means losing your right to sue regardless of how strong the underlying claim is.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Florida applies a modified comparative fault rule. If you are found to be more than 50 percent responsible for the crash, you cannot recover damages from the other party. If you are 50 percent or less at fault, your recovery is reduced proportionally. Fault allocation is often disputed in litigation, and insurers frequently argue the injured party bears more responsibility than the facts support.
Do I need to see a doctor right away even if I feel okay?
Yes. Florida’s PIP statute requires you to seek initial medical treatment within 14 days of the accident to preserve your PIP benefits. Beyond the insurance requirement, adrenaline and shock can mask symptoms in the hours after a crash. Injuries that seem minor, such as soft tissue damage or early signs of a concussion, can progress quickly. A medical record created close to the accident date is also important evidence in any subsequent claim.
The other driver had no insurance. What are my options?
Florida has a high rate of uninsured drivers. If the at-fault driver carried no insurance, your own uninsured motorist coverage becomes the primary source of recovery. UM coverage is optional in Florida, meaning not all drivers carry it, but if you do, it can step in to cover damages the at-fault driver cannot pay. An attorney can review your own policy terms and pursue coverage properly.
What if I was a passenger in the accident?
Passengers generally have strong claims because they bear no fault for the crash. A passenger may have claims against the driver of the vehicle they were in, the other driver, or both, depending on how the accident happened. PIP coverage from the vehicle you were riding in typically applies first.
How is a car accident case different from a workers’ compensation claim?
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system with defined benefit categories and no recovery for pain and suffering. A car accident negligence claim requires proving fault but allows a broader range of damages including pain, suffering, and emotional distress. When both apply to the same incident, an attorney helps coordinate the claims to maximize total recovery without triggering reimbursement obligations that could offset what you net.
What does contingency fee mean in practice?
It means you pay no attorney fees unless and until your case results in a recovery. The fee is calculated as a percentage of what is recovered. If the case does not resolve in your favor, you owe no attorney fees. This structure makes legal representation accessible without requiring any upfront payment.
Talk to a Tampa Injury Attorney About Your Accident
Jason Kobal has 18 years of experience representing injured people in Tampa and throughout Florida. He was recognized by peers as the top workers’ compensation attorney in the Tampa Bay Area in 2019, and he handles personal injury claims, including car accidents, with the same attention to building a complete case across every available legal avenue. Both English and Spanish are spoken at Kobal Law. Cases are handled on a contingency basis with no fees unless there is a recovery. If you were hurt in a crash and want to understand what your claim may be worth, contact Kobal Law to schedule a confidential case evaluation with a Tampa car accident lawyer who will give you a clear picture of where you stand.
