Insurance Perspective
Insurance companies have to treat drunk driving car accident case far more seriously than a car accident without alcohol involvement. The insurance company has a legal duty to protect the drunk driver who caused the car accident from being sued by the personal injury victim's lawyer if at all possible. Typically, the injured victim's lawyer will present a settlement demand laying out all of the damages to which the injured person is entitled to recover. A time limit is normally included in that demand letter in the 15 to 30 day range.
The insurance company needs to evaluate the case and make a Good Faith offer to settle in an attempt to prevent a personal injury lawsuit from being filed against their insured drunk driver who caused a Miami, North Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, West Palm Beach, Hialeah or other Florida City car accident. If they fail to act in Good Faith when the obligation to settle the claim within the policy limit is clear to a reasonable insurance adjuster, the insurance company for the drunk driver can become responsible for the money damages awarded by a jury in excess of the policy limit according to Florida insurance law in Baxter vs. Royal Indemnity Company and other personal injury cases. Jack Bernstein has 26 years experience as a personal injury attorney. An Insurance Company that is given an appropriate time limit to tender their policy limit is required to offer that policy limit timely under Florida Bad Faith Law. If the insurance company fails to tender the policy limit within the appropriate time frame, they can be liable for paying the full amount of money damages owed to the injured person. This includes the amount in excess of the insurance policy limit. We can help you with this type of drunk driver car accident case.
Juries get angry at drunk driving Miami, North Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, West Palm Beach, Hialeah or other Florida City car accidents and have a tendency to award money damages that are on the high end of the standard evaluation. The amount of money damages normally awarded to a personal injury victim of a car accident is much higher when a drunk driver is involved. The insurance company has to consider that the average defense attorney is in a bad position in front of a jury in trying to justify the drunk driving behavior, or in an attempt to minimize the personal injury damages and losses sustained. The normal defense for the insurance company is to hire a doctor to examine the person in hopes the defense doctor will testify the injury either was not from the accident (that it pre-existed the accident) or that the injury is not as serious as the injured persons doctors allege. The average jury of six people in their combined wisdom will see through that defense and side with the personal injury victim of the drunk driver who caused a car accident.
Insurance companies will usually pay all of a Miami, North Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, West Palm Beach, Hialeah or other Florida City car accident victims out of pocket expenses, including every penny of the rental expense, lost wages and medical bills to avoid a personal injury lawsuit. If a lawsuit is filed against a drunk driver, the insurance company will normally send a letter to their insured driver telling them that the insurance company will not be responsible for the punitive damage award or for an award of money damages in excess of the policy limit. Many times the drunk driver who causes a Miami, North Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, West Palm Beach, Hialeah or other Florida City car accident will hire a personal lawyer, separate from the lawyer appointed at the insurance company expense to protect their interest. The personal drunk drivers lawyer should put pressure on his or her clients insurance company to pay the maximum possible amount of money damages to the personal injury victim to avoid the filing of a personal injury lawsuit and ultimately a trial against the drunk driver where punitive damages could be awarded that are not covered by insurance. Punitive damages are not normally allowed by law to be covered by insurance. We as a society do not want someone who injures another with a gross indifference to their safety to have their insurance pay for the personal injury and damages caused. We want the drunk driver to be punished and to pay for the punitive damages out of his own savings or earnings.
Experienced personal Injury attorney Jack Bernstein at Bernstein and Maryanoff has been a licensed attorney in Florida for twenty six years dealing with insurance companies on drunk driver cases. I would be glad to represent you and your family for personal injuries, death or other damages caused by a drunk driver in a Miami, North Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, West Palm Beach, Hialeah or any Florida City where a car accident happened. It is important to send a strong message to insurance companies as well as drunk drivers, that they must pay the top value of money damages for the personal injury and damages caused by the drunk driver. This gives the insurance company's incentive to force people who have had a drunk driving car accident to attend driving courses and show proof of rehabilitation before they will sell them insurance. It also sends a strong message to all people that an experienced personal injury attorney will vigorously pursue them for money damages if they drive a car while drunk and cause personal injury. Every little bit helps to fight against drunk driving. We need to get the message across for someone who drank too much to call a taxi, sleep it off, wait until you are sober, drink less when you are out of your home, and if you don't and injure us, not only will the state attorney pursue their criminal charges, but we will pursue a civil injury case against you for money damages that will affect your insurance rates and can result in loss of your money which is not covered by insurance.
