One moment you’re having what you think is a regular day. The next moment, another driver slams into you and suddenly you have a mountain of problems to deal with. A car accident can have serious effects on your life, your health, and your family. If you or a family member were injured by someone driving recklessly, whether thy were distracted, under the influence or speeding call a Tampa car accident lawyer first. An experienced personal injury attorney could be the ally you need to make a successful claim against the responsible party and secure the damages you deserve.

Mike Hancock is a seasoned, caring, car wreck injury lawyer who has helped several thousand clients in Tampa, Hillsborough, and beyond fights for the maximum amount of compensation possible in their car accident cases since 1996. He worked for insurance companies for years and has an inside perspective on how they operate.

How Car Accidents Occur

Drivers in Tampa have to always be on guard. With constant accidents, many with serious injuries, the simple act of getting from one place to another can be scary. Then, after getting into a car accident, there are so many questions that most people don’t really know the answers to. How do I handle this? How do I get Medical Care? Can I get reimbursed for all my bills? We are here to answer those questions, any others you might have, and to be the one you choose to help you through this tough time. With court systems filled with personal injury lawsuits, you need an attorney that will make sure your case is not lost in the shuffle, and make sure the insurance companies stay on the hook for what you rightfully deserve.

Compensation For Injuries:

Victims of car accidents are entitled to monetary compensation for their injuries. Monetary compensation is money awarded for damages.

Damages in car accident cases frequently include expensive hospital bills, time away from work, pain, anguish, emotional suffering, future medical care, and other damages that can be reasonably shown to have arisen from the crash.

Additional damages are available if a loved one was killed during a tragic crash in what is called a wrongful death case.

Unfortunately, many auto insurance companies will delay or deny your claim, or even attempt to blame you for your injuries. An experienced attorney who focuses on automobile accidents can often significantly improve the outcome of your case.

How Can Someone Find Transportation in Tampa After a Car Accident?

After an auto accident, you might be faced with the stress of losing your only form of transportation. One of the first things many clients ask after a car accident is how to get another car, or form of transport so they can get to work, pick up their kids and get the medical treatment they need.

At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we fight to get all that you deserve, and that not only includes maximum compensation for medical bills, vehicle damage, lost wages, and pain and suffering — we will also help make sure you have a way to get where you need to go.

Options for Getting A Rental Car

Your damaged vehicle either needs to be repaired or it might be totaled. In either scenario, it unfortunately takes time and money for you to get your car back or something new to drive permanently.

Even though you are dealing with so much, as we know your life goes on. You and your family need the ability to get where you need to go.

There are two possible places you can look at to quickly arrange a new form of transportation:

• Your own insurance policy may have a provision to provide you a rental car after an accident.
• The other driver’s insurance policy may cover a rental car for you.

Our legal team at Hancock injury attorneys will help you figure out what route you can and should take to getting a rental car. As soon as we know the insurance company for the at-fault party, we will contact them to demand that they provide you with a rental car until your vehicle can be repaired or replaced.

Do I Really Need a Lawyer?

A local lawyer is not needed after every crash, and we won’t hesitate to tell those who call us that they can handle their claim on their own if we believe that to be true for their situation.  But there are other times when a caller has serious injuries and medical bills, or substantial damage to his or her car. In those cases, it’s often best to retain the help of an experienced auto accident legal professional.

For example, when our office first starts a new case we:

• Help our clients with making sure the medical expenses are being properly submitted for payment
• Help our client obtain a rental vehicle and if needed, help get their vehicle repaired
• Talk to the insurance companies from the moment we sign up a new client, so our client does not have to deal with them further

If a client is just trying to heal from injuries, taking care of these things can be very difficult. Further, without the experience in litigating auto accident cases, it may be difficult to determine all available insurance coverage.  For example, If our client is injured while riding as a passenger in a vehicle, there could be many different layers of insurance coverage available: my client’s auto insurance,  the driver’s auto insurance, the owner of the vehicle’s auto insurance, the at-fault driver’s auto insurance, the auto insurance of the owner of the vehicle that the at-fault driver vehicle was operating, and so on. Because we want to maximize all insurance coverage that is available, we look at all the potential sources of insurance.

Generally, if you have persistent pain, you are unable to go to work or received treatment in a hospital after an auto accident, that was not your fault, out of an abundance of caution, at least call or contact us today and get guidance on how to proceed.

Hiring a lawyer is an important decision. You want to make sure your they are capable of handling your case, understand how much you will owe them if you win or lose, and get a feel for if they anticipate that your case will go to trial.

Important Questions to Ask Potential Local Lawyers:

Here are the top five questions you should ask before you hire a Tampa car crash injury attorney. These questions will help ensure that the person you are hiring is right for you and your case will have the most desirable outcome.

1. Who Will Handle My Personal Injury Case?

Unfortunately, at some law firms cases are passed off from one employee to the next. You want to ask if the attorney you are hiring will actually be handling your case. When you have a question, will you be able to speak directly with your lawyer, or will your message be passed along to someone else to handle?

Who will be evaluating your claim? Be sure you understand who will be working on your case before you hire a personal injury professional. At some of Tampa’s larger law firms, your case is typically handed off to a legal assistant. At Hancock Injury Attorneys, your case is always handled by a personal injury lawyer and that is the same personal injury lawyer you meet with.

2. Have You Handled Car Accident Injury Cases Similar to Mine?

It is best to hire a lawyer that has previous experience and success with car accident cases similar to yours. An attorney with experience on similar claims will know what investigation, preparation, and strategy will be beneficial to your case. You want an experienced representative to give you the best chance for success. Hancock Injury Attorneys has successfully recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients.

3. Will There Be a Trial?

Your personal injury lawyer should be able to give you an indication of whether they think your case will go to trial or not. The majority of the time a trial is not necessary and in many cases, a settlement can be agreed upon. Regardless of whether or not your case goes to trial, your personal injury legal advisor will make sure the outcome of the case is fair and you receive the money you are entitled to. However, it is important to know we have the necessary financial resources to take on the large insurance carriers and insurance defense lawyers at the most powerful law firms.

4. What Will it Cost Me to Hire You?

If you have been injured in an accident, you most likely are facing medical bills and possibly lost wages due to missed work. Therefore you are looking to recover money from the person accountable for your injuries. If the lawyer you hire does not win the case will you be required to pay attorney fees anyway? Are you responsible for any upfront costs?

It is important to understand what your financial obligation will be whether you win or lose the case. Consider hiring a Tampa auto collision attorney that does not charge a fee unless they earn you compensation. Look for an attorney who will advance all upfront costs, including court filing fees and fees for expert witnesses. Verify you understand what portion of the money you receive will be owed to cover your lawyer fees. The state requires that contingent fee agreements be in writing. At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we cover all of the upfront costs associated with your case. There are never any out of pocket expenses to handle your case and if we don’t win your case, we absorb all of the expenses.

5. What are Your Reviews and Awards?

There are certain resources you can check to make sure you hire an attorney who is credible and has high qualifications. Some of the sources include the ones that are “peer-reviewed”, which are based on what other attorneys say about them. The most important was to look out for are:

• Martindale-Hubbell AV-Preeminent Rating: Martindale-Hubbell has peer review ratings of more than 1 million lawyers across the country. It has been one of the most respected and reliable sources of information about the legal community for over 130 years. An “AV” rating shows that an attorney and firm has high preeminence, immense legal ability, expertise, experience, and integrity. Only 10% of all attorneys hold an AV-Preeminent rating.
• Superlawyers: Annually, Super Lawyers releases a list of outstanding attorneys who based on peer-reviews have a high degree of recognition and professional achievement.

Check out all of our awards here. 

How Long Does an Injury Case Take?

In the video below, Mike discusses the variables which determine how long a case may take.

No-Fault Law and PIP Coverage:

If you are involved in a car accident, you will almost certainly have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. It’s required as part of the Florida No-Fault Law. Your PIP insurance is almost always limited to a maximum of $10,000.00. The basic idea behind the No-Fault Law when it was first enacted in the 1970s was to make sure everyone involved in a car accident had immediate access to $10,000 worth of insurance to pay for medical bills, lost wages, and household services, without having to wait for the at-fault driver’s insurance company to agree to pay.

Your PIP policy pays 80 percent of reasonable and necessary medical bills, 60 percent of lost wages, and 100 percent of replacement household services, up to its $10,000.00 policy limits. The at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability insurance policy is responsible for paying all of the damages that your PIP doesn’t pay for, including medical bills, lost wages, and pain and mental suffering.

At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we understand that the full value of your claim may extend well beyond the policy limits and lowball estimates that insurers typically insist on. Insurance companies may not care about the long-term effects of your accident or the impact it has on your quality of life, but we do. With decades of experience, a reputation for aggressive representation, and valuable relationships with experts in car crash investigations, Attorney Mike Hancock can often make a compelling case that you’re entitled to more under the law.

You may have many options for compensation above and beyond your PIP policy. We can pursue those for you.

Calculating the Value of Injuries Sustained in a Car Accident:

An insurance company’s goal is to settle your case for as little money as possible.

Our goal is to maximize your compensation for your physical, financial, and emotional damages.

The insurance company will try to assign a specific value to your accident claim by assessing the amount and type of damage done and determining a percentage of fault for the accident. Financial damages, while sometimes a bit complex, are fairly straightforward as you are dealing with exact amounts of loss, including hospital bills, out-of-pocket costs, lost wages, and related and documented expenses. The insurance company generally pays these willingly. However, pain and suffering requests require more negotiation by both parties. The insurance company will use a formula to calculate the amount of pain and suffering. Each injury or medical issue is assigned a value related to the severity of the injury. These numbers are totaled with lost wages and other general and special damages in order to arrive at a theoretical settlement amount.

The damages for a personal injury are more than just your hospital bills. We estimate the costs of future medical care, calculate lost earnings, and your loss of earning potential.  We work with our clients and their treating physicians to document the extent of the injury, the extent of recovery, and the effects on your life.

Work With an Experienced Tampa Car Accident Attorney Today

Hancock Injury Attorneys are standing by and ready to help you. Dealing with a complex car crash claim on your own could see you losing significant amounts of money. Call our dedicated Tampa car accident lawyers today to schedule an initial case consultation.

If you agree to accept a settlement without speaking with an attorney first, you run the risk of missing out on some of the damages that are rightfully yours. The sooner you hire an attorney, the better your outcome could be