As a personal injury attorney in Miami, Florida; many people ask me about big money verdicts. Many times, these big money verdicts are associated with truck accidents. This is typically due to the large commercial insurance policies that these trucks carry. The policies can easily be $1,000,000.00 or more. Compare that to car insurance where the minimum policy is $10,000.00 and you will easily see the difference. This means that in a car accident where the policy is $10,000.00 and the insurance company settles, that may be all you can get. However, if your car was in a truck accident, you could have access to a $1,000,00.00 policy. Big difference.
Let’s look at a large settlement case of Christopher Dean Taylor vs. Emerald Coast Utilities from Escambia County in Florida. In 2016, Christopher was rear ended by a truck that belonged to Emerald Coast Utilities. The accident was not his fault!
A resolution was unable to be reached, so in 2019 a lawsuit was filed. The collision only caused $5,000.00 in property damage yet Christopher incurred $117,000.00 in medical expenses! My past experience as a Chiropractor already gave me the feeling that the insurance company would not have taken this claim seriously. Sometimes insurance companies take the position of low damage to the car should equal a lower payment. I now see this also as an accident attorney. Low damage to the vehicle does not always mean little injury to the victim. There isn’t always a correlation between the two. Modern cars are designed to crumple to minimize damage to the vehicle. What isn’t designed to crumple is the person inside the vehicle.
This case went to trial and the jury returned a verdict for $802,000.00! The jury awarded:
· $117,000.00 for past medical expenses;
· $160,000.00 for future medical expenses;
· $250,000.00 for past pain and suffering; and
· $275,000.00 for future pain and suffering
What a great resolution for Christopher. The persistence paid off. This is very important in truck accident cases as you can see how much money is involved. Taking a lower settlement offer may have cost Christopher hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps leaving him with medical costs to pay for a truck accident that was not his fault.
When you have a truck accident in Florida, it is very important to choose the right lawyer. I enjoy working hard and fighting for my clients to get the results that they deserve. I have experience seeing injuries by working as a Doctor of Chiropractic and now I have experience as an attorney fighting for the rights of accident victims. If you or anyone you know was injured in a truck accident or car accident, call me at 844-452-6377 as soon as possible.
Time is the enemy and I’d love to help as soon as possible.
