Mike Hancock
Personal Injury Attorney
“I wrote this page to teach everyone who has been injured in a car accident everything you need to know to educate yourself enough to know your legal rights, to beat insurance companies, to avoid losing out on the compensation you deserve, how to find and choose the best attorney for your case, and even more important, how to avoid the costly mistake of choosing the wrong attorney for your case. The following information is the same I have given to my friends and family for many years. Regardless of whether you decide to hire Hancock Injury Attorneys to represent you or a loved one in your personal injury or wrongful death claim, or whether you are a grieving family member of a loved one taken from you far too soon, I hope this page and website provide you valuable information to protect you and your loved ones. I wish you and your family the very best.” – Attorney Mike Hancock, founding partner of Hancock Injury Attorneys
At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we take care of your injury claim so you can take care of yourself. We know that suffering an injury in a car accident is physically and financially overwhelming. That is why we do the heavy lifting. If you have been injured in a car accident, our skilled team of Spring Hill car accident lawyers take over as soon as we are hired. You can have peace of mind while we file your claim, get your car repaired, deal with the insurance company, and fight for the maximum compensation possible for your injuries so you can get your life back on track. We do all the hard work so you don’t have to worry about anything but recovering from your injuries.
Source: Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; Traffic Crash Reports; Crash Dashboard; 2020-2021
https://www.flhsmv.gov/traffic-crash-reports/crash-dashboard/
Mike Hancock spent the first eight years of his legal career at two insurance defense law firms, the first of which had 25 attorneys and was located in Houston, Texas. The second was in Tampa and had 15 attorneys. Both law firms limited their practices to insurance defense litigation.
For eight years, Mike’s job as an insurance defense attorney was to be hired by large auto insurance companies like GEICO, Allstate, Progressive, Travelers, State Farm, and more, to defend them and their insurance in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Very few personal injury lawyers have this kind of experience being hired by car insurance companies. Even fewer have the experience of going to trial and trying lawsuits representing car insurance companies.
In those first eight years of his career, Mike was mentored by some of the best trial attorneys in the nation. During that time Mike tried more than thirty trials on behalf of the insurance companies, honing his trial skills. The insurance adjusters and Mike communicated daily discussing case evaluations, determining how much each case was worth, and developing strategies to defend car accident-related personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Mike became privy to how the insurance companies evaluate car accident injury claims, learning what motivates them to pay the largest settlements in the least amount of time.
Mike gained invaluable experiences, insider insurance industry information that we now use to maximize the value of our client’s car accident claims.
In short, by working for and trying personal injury cases for car insurance companies for eight years, Mike learned the car insurance companies’ “playbooks.” Now, all the attorneys at Hancock Injury Attorneys use Mike’s knowledge of the “playbooks” against the insurance companies to maximize our own clients’ recoveries in car accident injury claims. By knowing the “playbook” we are always one step ahead, anticipating their next move, and knowing how to defeat the tactics every car insurance adjuster will use to delay your claim and minimize your injuries.
At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we have a reputation for success. We are well-respected by our peers, the courts, and the insurance companies. Because of this, we are able to get results that matter for our clients.
Insurance companies know who the highly regarded and successful Spring Hill car accident attorneys are. Our reputation and track record are well-known in the industry. With our vast insurance defense experience, we know the value of never backing down or accepting unreasonable offers. Insurance companies know that we are diligent in our pursuit of fair compensation for our clients and are willing to take a claim to court to ensure their best outcome. Better outcomes. Faster results. This is what we offer our clients.
Check out our results for our clients.
We know of no other personal injury law firm other than Hancock Injury Attorneys that guarantee the amount you receive for your settlement will always be more than the amount of our attorney’s fees. We know of far too many stories of personal injury attorneys who have refused to reduce the agreed contingency fee, even if their client takes less due to outstanding medical bills. Unlike those firms, we guarantee to reduce our fee to make sure our client gets more money than us.
At our law firm, we don’t charge you a “file set-up fee” or other unnamed and unspecified “administrative costs” like other law firms. We believe that would be unethical.
We are careful with advanced costs associated with your case and work hard to keep your costs to a minimum. We are also committed to never pocketing more money than our clients.
Many other personal injury firms will take the agreed contingency fee, even if their client takes less due to outstanding medical bills. Unlike those firms, we are happy to reduce our fee to make sure our client gets more money than us.
Most personal injury attorneys charge the same basic contingency fee to their clients for their services. But what you get for that can be significantly different from attorney to attorney. The vast experience of our lawyers is second to none, so while our representation won’t cost you more, the results can be substantial. Having the Spring Hill car accident lawyers at Hancock Injury Attorneys on your side can make a big difference in the size of your settlement and the time it takes to resolve.
Mike Hancock has been recognized by his peers as a preeminent attorney and is considered an expert in personal injury and car accident law by state and national organizations, including Tampa Top Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Martindale Hubble AV Preeminent, Best Lawyers, Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Better Business Bureau A+ rating, Florida Trends Legal Elite, U.S. News Best Law Firms.
Mike is a second-generation Tampa native, now raising his family where his parents raised him. Mike has ties to our community and is a leader in local charitable, civic, and legal organizations. And as a leader both in the office and in the community, he works to make Tampa a safer place for all our families.
Our free case consultation is always free and at your convenience, including any time on weekdays, evenings, or weekends, in person, by phone, Zoom, or Facetime. And your free case consultation will always be with one of our attorneys, not with a non-lawyer call center representative.
At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we have been contacted countless times by clients of large law firms that you see on television ads and billboards. These individuals come away from their experience with these firms with less than satisfactory results. In fact, many of these clients come to us wanting to fire their attorneys and hire us. They have similar stories and complaints.
Lawyers who do a lot of advertising spend a lot of money to get a lot of clients. Unfortunately, the attorney you see on the television ad is rarely the one who will be representing you. This is one of the pitfalls of hiring a firm with a lot of advertising exposure. The quality of your representation can significantly suffer for it.
Since 1996 the lawyers at Hancock Injury Attorneys have represented thousands of clients injured in all sorts of motor vehicle accidents. In addition to representing clients injured in collisions involving two cars or SUVs or pick-up trucks, we also have years of experience in representing clients injured in motorcycle accidents, accidents involving large 18-wheelers, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents, and ATV accidents. The following is just a sample of the many types of claims we have experience with:
Though every automobile collision is different, there are several types of injuries that our lawyers tend to see when handling these cases. Some of the medical conditions individuals may experience after a car crash include:
Many of these catastrophic injuries can become life-threatening if they are not treated immediately. Even if you feel fine, it is always best to seek medical attention after a traffic accident. Medical professionals are better equipped to identify a severe injury. In Florida, insurance laws dictate that you have 14 days from the date of the accident to seek medical care in order to qualify to use your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage through your car insurance After your condition has stabilized, your next step should be finding a qualified lawyer.
The state of Florida is considered a no-fault insurance state. No-fault laws were designed to give accident victims easy access to benefits without having to wait for the insurance company’s determination of fault.
All registered drivers in Florida are required to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance coverage. In the event of an accident, the victim’s first resource for benefits is through their own PIP coverage. PIP insurance will give the accident victim access to $10,000 immediately regardless of who is at fault for the accident. This can be used to pay for medical bills and lost wages. It will also pay for household services you would normally provide, but you cannot perform now because of your accident. PIP coverage also provides separate death benefits of $5,000.
PIP insurance will pay for 80 percent of the cost of your medical bills, 60 percent of your lost wages, and 100 percent of any replacement household services up to its limit of $10,000. If your costs exceed your PIP limits, you may seek the balance through the at-fault driver’s liability insurance or your own uninsured motorist coverage.
Unfortunately, the reality of insurance is that its for-profit business model most often results in lowball settlement offers to victims. In order to maintain their own profits, insurance companies rarely offer accident victims what they deserve without extensive negotiation or even a lawsuit.
In order to mitigate their financial exposure, insurance companies will often
At Hancock Injury Attorneys, our experienced Spring Hill car accident lawyers know these insurance tactics. We aggressively advocate for our clients, ensuring that they get the fair compensation they deserve.
If the other driver was at fault, that driver’s bodily injury liability insurance, also called BI coverage, pays for everything not covered by your PIP. Costs for your medical treatment and lost wages alone can easily exceed your $10,000.00 PIP limit. When you hire us to be your attorneys, our job is to recover all the damages you are entitled to, including:
If you have been found partly at fault in the accident that caused your injuries, Florida follows pure comparative negligence rules. This means that your compensation will be reduced by the percentage that you were found at fault for the accident. Consequently, you will still be entitled to compensation for your injuries but not the entire amount.
Our goal is to settle your personal injury claim for the largest amount of money you are legally entitled to recover. This is your one and only opportunity to recover money for the injuries and losses you suffered in your car accident.
Once you settle your claim, by law you can never come back for more compensation. That is why we make sure your settlement will include compensation for past and future medical bills, past and future lost wages and loss of earning capacity, pain, suffering, mental anguish, inconvenience, the loss of capacity to enjoy life, disability, and scarring.
Some of the many factors we review to determine how much your personal injury claim is worth include: the amount of property damage to the vehicles involved in the crash; the photographic evidence of the damage to the cars; how soon after the crash you sought medical care; were you flown by helicopter from the scene of the car crash to the emergency room as a trauma alert patient or taken to a hospital emergency room (ER) by ambulance or did you not seek medical treatment until weeks after the crash.
While most accident victims will want to know the value of their claim, this is not a simple answer. There are many factors, variables, and costs that must be considered in a car accident claim.
The severity of your injuries and your long-term prognosis is important to the value of your claim. Has it affected your ability to earn a living? Will you need further medical care in the future? In other words, in order to get the most comprehensive compensation possible, a car accident should never be rushed.
At Hancock Injury Attorneys, our Spring Hill car accident attorneys take care to understand all the circumstances surrounding your accident. We launch an immediate investigation and diligently pursue evidence that supports your injury claim. With us on your side, you can have peace of mind that you have an experienced team of professionals on your side ensuring that you get the compensation you deserve for your damages.
The Insurance Research Council (a non-profit group funded by national insurance companies) published a study in 1999 titled “Paying for Auto Injuries; A Consumer Panel Survey of Auto Accident Victims”. This insurance industry study found that the average settlement for car accident victims was 40% higher with the help of an attorney.
Another study from the Insurance Research Council revealed that 85% of all money paid by insurance companies for car accident injury claims is paid to those who have hired an attorney.
One of the most common questions we are asked is “…how long will it take to settle my personal injury claim?” Although the question seems simple enough, the truthful answer is “it depends.” Every case is truly different. The length of time it will take to settle your personal injury claim caused by a motor vehicle accident will be based on many factors unique to each case.
Hopefully within 30 days after being injured in a car accident, all your aches and pains have gone away, and you return to your normal state of health. If that occurs, and your doctors tell you there is no need for continuing medical treatment, we can prepare a demand to the insurance company to settle your personal injury claim within 30 to 60 days.
If your aches and pains do not disappear within 30 days, your injuries will hopefully get better and heal up within four to six months. If you are done with all your medical treatment within four to six months, your car accident injury claim would be ready to settle at that time. During those four to six months, our team at Hancock Injury Attorneys will have already been obtaining your medical records and bills, speaking with your doctors to obtain their opinions regarding your diagnosis and prognosis, and will have already completed all aspects of investigating your car accident injury claim. Your lawyer at Hancock Injury Attorneys will then prepare a demand to be sent to the insurance company to settle your personal injury claim, giving the insurance adjuster thirty days to respond. If the insurance adjuster responds with an unacceptable offer, we will begin negotiations with the insurance adjuster. These negotiations take on average two to four weeks before we know whether we can settle your case, or whether we will need to file a lawsuit on your behalf to obtain a result that fully compensates you for your injuries.
If, at the end of four to six months, you are still suffering from the injuries caused by the car accident, we will prepare your settlement demand as soon as your doctor is of the opinion you have reached maximum medical improvement. At that time, your doctor will provide us with a report that not only details all the injuries you sustained in the motor vehicle accident, but more importantly sets forth your prognosis. The detailed prognosis will include a description of the symptoms you are expected to have in the future, a description of all the future medical treatment you will need, along with the anticipated cost of that future medical treatment.
For a more in-depth look at how long it takes for a car accident case to settle, watch the video below. There, attorney Mike Hancock discusses the factors that determine how long it will take to settle your car accident injury claim.
“My goal in writing this Spring Hill Car Accident Lawyer page is to educate people like yourself who have either been injured in a car accident or who have loved ones who have been injured as the result of the negligence of another driver. People like yourself who are trying to learn more about your legal rights, learn how to choose the best attorney to represent you in your personal injury claim, and learn more about the process of a personal injury claim. We have made hiring Hancock Injury Attorneys fast, simple, and convenient. Call us 24/7 and speak with one of our attorneys. There is no need to “schedule” a consultation days from now, as other firms do. Call us right now, and you will speak with one of our attorneys right now. The call is absolutely free and there is no obligation to hire us. If you do decide you want to hire us, we will immediately text or email you the paperwork you can electronically sign. It is that easy. I look forward to representing you.” – Attorney Mike Hancock, founding partner of Hancock Injury Attorneys
Although we are based in Tampa, we also have office locations in Wesley Chapel and Spring Hill. Furthermore, we represent clients throughout Florida, as far north as Tallahassee and Jacksonville, across the state to Orlando, Clermont and Satellite Beach, south to Fort Lauderdale, Labelle, Miami, Fort Myers, Bradenton, Sun City Center, and many other cities throughout Florida, including
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