A hit-and-run car accident is often devastating, especially when it leaves you or a loved one with severe injuries. After calling first responders, you might notice that the person who hit you left the scene, and your heart drops because you might not be able to recover compensation for your injuries and other losses.
Florida is a no-fault state, meaning your vehicle insurance company will cover your losses if the police cannot locate the hit-and-run driver. However, your fight with the insurance company will be as stressful as it would be if you deal with the other driver’s insurance.
Hit-and-run cases have an extra layer of complexity. Instead of taking the chance of getting your claim denied or a pittance from your insurance company, contact an Orlando hit-and-run car accident lawyer at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, for a free case evaluation and for help recovering the compensation you deserve.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, Handles Complicated Hit-and-Run Accident Cases
The attorneys at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, have many years of combined experience handling car accident cases, including hit-and-run cases. They have recovered multi-million dollar settlements and trial awards for their car accident cases.
While every case is different, we handle each case with care, and you are not just a number to us. We want to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. Your time is better spent recovering than worrying about recovering enough to pay for medical expenses and other losses, whether you expect to recover in a couple of months or your injuries cause long-term or permanent disabilities.
Our Orlando office is conveniently located. We offer free, no-obligation case evaluations. And, if you can’t come to us, we will come to you or can set up a video conference or phone call for your initial case evaluation.
If you suffered injuries or lost a loved one in a hit-and-run car accident, contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, by calling us for your free case evaluation.
Recovering Damages After an Orlando Hit and Run Accident
It is more difficult to recover damages after an Orlando hit-and-run accident than other car accidents, as you must locate the missing driver or negotiate with your own insurance company. Make no mistake—just because you paid your premiums on time, does not mean your insurance company will easily pay out a large claim.
All insurance companies are in business to make a profit and paying out claims cuts into that profit. They may try intimidation or other tactics to deny your claim or pay you a pittance that might not even cover your medical expenses, never mind the other losses you should recover.
Factors that Affect Compensation
One of the most common questions we hear is, “How much is my Orlando hit-and-run case worth?” No attorney can answer that question without investigating the accident and reviewing your medical records. The severity of your injuries and other factors play a part in determining how much your case is worth.
Florida allows you to recover two types of damages: compensatory and punitive. The court only allows accident victims to recover punitive damages when they can prove the at-fault driver’s actions or inactions were grossly negligent or intentional.
Compensatory damages have two categories: Economic damages and non-economic damages. Most accident victims recover economic damages, which have a monetary value. It is more challenging to recover non-economic damages, which do not have a monetary value. In most cases, only victims with long-term or permanent injuries or who lost a loved one recover non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Sometimes referred to as special damages, economic damages include:
Medical Expenses
Depending on the severity of your injuries, you might have several doctor’s appointments and require all types of medical care.
Medical expenses include:
- Doctor’s appointments
- Surgeries and follow-up appointments
- Prescriptions and prescribed over-the-counter medications
- Ambulatory aids
- Medical equipment, such as oxygen tanks
- Hand controls for your vehicle
- Accessibility items for your home, including wheelchair ramps, handrails, widened doorways, and grab bars
- Physical therapy appointments
- Cognitive therapy appointments
- Psychological therapy appointments
- Occupational therapy appointments
- Home health care
- Nursing home and/or rehabilitative home care
Income Replacement
After an accident, you could recover the income you lost from not being able to work. If your injuries result in long-term or permanent disabilities, you could also recover loss of future earning capacity.
Accident victims who might work part-time could recover from the loss of partial earning capacity. Additionally, if your injuries prevent you from returning to your career or prior job but allow you to work full-time, you could recover the difference as a loss of partial earning capacity.
Personal Property
You could also recover compensation to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, including your vehicle and anything of value in your vehicle. Examples of property that might become damaged in an Orlando hit-and-run accident include cell phones, computers, school books, and dry cleaning.
Death-Related Expenses
If you lost a loved one in an Orlando hit-and-run accident, you could recover compensation for funeral and burial expenses, cremation expenses, and certain probate court expenses. If you retain a probate attorney to help you handle your loved one’s estate, you could recover probate attorney’s fees and costs.
Non-economic Damages
Sometimes referred to as general damages, non-economic damages do not have a monetary value. In most cases, to recover non-economic damages, your injuries must be long-term or permanent, or you must have lost a loved one.
Non-economic damages include:
- Pain and suffering, including emotional distress.
- Loss of quality of life if you have to make lifelong changes, such as taking prescriptions or using ambulatory aids.
- Loss of companionship if you can no longer enjoy time with your family or attend family activities and events.
- Loss of consortium if you can no longer enjoy a physical relationship with your spouse.
- Amputation of a digit or limb.
- Loss of use of a body part, such as a foot or hand.
- Loss of use of a bodily function, such as your eyesight or bladder.
- Inconvenience if you have to hire someone to do the chores you normally do, including but not limited to grocery shopping, house cleaning, lawn maintenance, and home repair and maintenance.
- Excessive scarring and/or disfigurement.
Punitive Damages
Florida allows accident victims to recover punitive damages if the plaintiff can show grossly negligent or intentional actions or inactions caused the crash. The court orders punitive damages to punish the defendant..
Hit-and-Run Car Accident Lawyer in Orlando
Some of the most dangerous intersections in Orlando are ripe for hit-and-run accidents.
When you are in these areas, it’s always good to take some extra precautions:
- Pine Hills and Silver Start
- Central Florida Parkway at John Young Parkway
- John Young Parkway at Oak Ridge Road
- Oak Ridge Road at Texas Avenue
- John Young Parkway at Americana Boulevard and Conroy Road
- Pine Hills Road at Indian Hills Road
Orlando is full of people—residents and tourists. Although the city has a tourist season where traffic is worse, it sees tourists year-round due to the climate and the amusement parks in the area. Intersections and roads become more dangerous when tourists are in town, simply because many have not driven the roads and are unsure where they are going.
Florida Statute of Limitations
After an accident, whether with a tourist or a resident of the area, you must take legal action within a certain period of time or lose out on recovering the compensation you deserve. In most cases involving negligence, the statute of limitations is four years. However, for wrongful death cases, the statute of limitations is two years.
Seek the assistance of an Orlando hit-and-run accident lawyer immediately after the accident—evidence tends to disappear rather quickly. Additionally, your recollection of the accident is better right after the wreck. If you wait too long to file a claim, you may forget crucial details or the defense might claim that you weren’t injured.
Orlando Hit and Run Accidents and Injuries
Hit-and-run accidents can cause catastrophic injuries if the hit-and-run driver rams into you hard enough. The types of injuries you sustain depend on several factors, including the way the other driver hits you, the speed of the vehicle, and the size of the vehicle.
Hit-and-run injuries include:
- Bumps, bruises, scratches, and cuts
- Strains and sprains
- Pulled and torn muscles and other soft tissue injuries
- Simple and compound fractures
- Crushed bones and other crush injuries
- Internal injuries
- Face and eye injuries
- Chemical and thermal burns
- Road rash
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Head, neck, and shoulder injuries
- Back and spinal cord injuries
- Ear injuries, including deafness
Florida is a no-fault insurance state, which means that your insurance company pays for your injuries and other damages if investigators and/or the police cannot find the hit-and-run driver. However, don’t think that just because of your years-long loyalty to the insurance company that it will not give you a fight.
Insurance companies are in business to make money. Every claim they pay out reduces their profits, so they look for reasons to deny a claim.
If the insurance company can’t find a reason to deny your claim, it may offer you a pittance, hoping you will go away. When you retain an Orlando car accident attorney, the insurance company knows it cannot get away with misleading tactics. With an attorney, you are more likely to recover a fair and reasonable settlement sooner rather than later.
What to Do After a Hit and Run Accident
If you haven’t seen a medical professional yet, the first step is to do so, even if you believe your injuries are minor. Some injuries do not manifest until hours or even weeks after the wreck. You will also need medical documentation to recover compensation for any injuries and other losses.
Keep a diary of your recovery progress. Include the accident and how it happened, doctors’ appointments and what was discussed or checked, how you feel each day, medications you need to take, physical progress, and more.
Include a pain diary. Every day, mark down your pain based on the pain scale. Keeping notes about the accident, doctor’s appointments, and your recovery process help you remember what happened, plus it helps your attorney put the evidence together.
Contact an Orlando Hit and Run Car Accident Lawyer
After a hit-and-run accident, contact an Orlando car accident lawyer as soon as possible. Even if the police investigation does not locate the hit-and-run driver, your insurance company covers your losses, but you will need to have proof.
The lawyers at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, will work to ensure you recover the compensation you deserve by investigating the accident, reviewing medical records, and working with expert witnesses, such as crash reconstruction experts and medical experts, when needed.
If you suffered injuries or lost a loved one in a hit-and-run wreck, contact Dolman Law Group Accident and Injury Lawyers, PA, for your free case evaluation by calling (407) 759-4565 for your free case evaluation.
Orlando Office
1701 Park Center Drive, Suite #240-G
Orlando, FL 32835
Phone: (407) 759-4565