Tampa Personal Injury Attorney
If you’ve been injured by the negligence of another, Florida personal injury law allows you to bring a civil claim against the at-fault party. They are responsible for paying your medical bills and lost income due to the accident, as well as other legal damages such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of quality of life, and more. Even if they admit fault, their insurance company is not likely to offer you a settlement that reflects the true value of your claim. It takes an experienced Tampa personal injury attorney to build a strong case and advocate strongly on your behalf for full the value of what is owed to you. After a car accident, slip and fall or other personal injury, call Kobal Law to speak with an experienced and successful Tampa personal injury attorney. We’ll pursue your case on your behalf so you can focus on getting better, and there’s no charge unless and until we recover for you.
Can I file a personal injury claim and a workers’ compensation claim for the same accident?
A workers’ compensation claim is always a possibility if you’ve been injured on the job. Whether you also have a personal injury claim depends on whether a third party unrelated to your employer caused the accident. This could be a negligent driver on the streets, the owner of property with hidden dangers on the premises, an independent contractor who faultily erects a scaffold or negligently sets up crane operations, or the maker of a defective product that causes you injury on the job. It’s always wise to talk to a personal injury attorney after a workplace accident for a no-cost evaluation of any potential claims you may have. At Kobal Law, we handle both workers’ compensation claims and any related personal injury matters. Contact us for help with workers’ compensation benefits after a workplace accident, and we’ll let you know if we think you have a personal injury claim as well.
Florida Car Accident Injury Law
After a car accident, your no-fault personal injury protection insurance will pay 80% of your medical bills and 60% of your wages up to $10,000, or up to $2,500 if you did not require emergency medical treatment within two weeks of the accident. If the accident occurred while you were on the clock, you may have both a workers’ comp and a personal injury claim. No-fault PIP benefits may not be better than what you receive from workers’ comp if you were not seriously injured, but after a serious accident, you can sue the other driver for the full amount of your damages, including pain and suffering. This recovery likely would exceed what you get from workers’ comp. A lawsuit against a negligent driver is only available if you suffer any of the following in the car accident:
- Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
- Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement
- Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Death
Slip and Fall
Property owners have a responsibility to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition for customers, salespersons, delivery persons, and others who may come on to their property. This duty requires them to be aware of the condition of their property and to fix or warn of any hazards within a reasonable time after they know or should know about the danger. Property owners and their insurers may claim they were not aware of the danger or didn’t have time to fix it before the accident happened. They may also claim the danger was so open and obvious that the slip and fall victim was responsible for avoiding it. They will also dispute the fact that you were seriously injured and only offer a small amount, if anything, to settle your claim. Tampa slip and fall attorney Jason Kobal knows how to investigate the accident, document your injury, and prove the property owner’s liability to you. If you were working on the property when the accident occurred, you may have a personal injury claim along with your workers’ compensation claim, assuming the hazard that caused the injury was not something you were there to repair.
Wrongful Death
Florida workers’ compensation pays death benefits to surviving family members in the event of a fatal workplace accident, or when a person dies within a year of a work injury or within five years of suffering a continuous disability that was job-related. These benefits include up to $7,500 in funeral expenses, weekly payments to a surviving spouse or children, and parents or siblings who were dependent on the deceased, along with educational benefits for the surviving spouse. Workers’ comp death benefits in Florida can total up to $150,000.
If a third party was responsible for the death, Florida law authorizes wrongful death claims to cover damages such as medical expenses, funeral expenses, loss of earnings, lost support and services, loss of companionship, and mental pain and suffering. The personal representative of the estate can bring a wrongful death claim and recover for expenses paid by the estate. The representative can be joined in the lawsuit by family members who paid expenses or personally suffered losses. These family members include the spouse, children, parents, and other blood relatives or adoptive siblings if they depended in some way on the deceased for support or services.
Get the Help You Need After a Tampa Personal Injury
For help with a car accident or other personal injury claim in the greater Tampa area, whether work-related or not, call Kobal Law at 813-873-2440 for a free consultation with an experienced and successful Tampa personal injury attorney.