If you were partially to blame for your own accident and injuries, you likely cannot receive the full amount of compensation that you would otherwise have been due if the other party was 100 percent at fault. The question is whether you can receive any compensation at all, and you should recognize that financial recovery is still a possibility in Florida.
Nevertheless, you want a personal injury attorney from Consumer Law Attorneys to vigorously defend you if you are being partially blamed for the accident.
Your Blame May Keep You from Proving Full Causation
In any personal injury case, you must prove that the other party was to blame for your injuries to receive financial compensation. One of the elements of the four-part test that you must meet to show negligence is demonstrating that the other party was both the legal and proximate cause of your injuries. However, the chain of causation may be broken, either in whole or in part, if you bear some fault for what happened.
It is entirely possible that the other party may not have been entirely to blame for the accident. They may bear some blame because of their own negligence, but there is a chance that you may have been partially to blame. For example:
- You were speeding at the time that someone else ran a red light and struck your car
- You were not paying as close attention as you could have when you fell because of debris on the floor
- You were bitten by a dog, but you are accused of provoking the animal
Your Compensation Is Affected if You Were Partially to Blame
Each state has its own approach to handling situations in which the accident victim shares some responsibility for the accident. Some states allow you to recover some financial compensation, so long as you were not 100 percent to blame for the accident (but the amount of your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of blame that you bear). Others may keep you from receiving a single dollar if you were even one percent to blame for what happened.
Florida Follows the Law of Modified Comparative Negligence
There is a middle ground used by many states, including Florida. Here, the law is modified comparative negligence. In Florida, you can still receive compensation for your accident injuries, so long as you were not more than 50 percent to blame for what happened. If you bear more than half of the blame, you will be precluded from receiving any compensation for your injuries. Even if you were less than 50 percent to blame, your compensation will be reduced by the amount of fault that you bear, making it in your best interest to ensure that your side of the story is told by an experienced personal injury lawyer.
In the example where you may have been speeding at the time that someone else ran a red light, you might be judged to be 25 percent to blame for the accident. If you suffered $100,000 total in damages, the total size of your check would be $75,000. The other party is not obligated to pay for the harm that they did not cause themselves. While you may still be entitled to some financial compensation, it would not cover the full amount of your damages because you are partially to blame for some of your own injury.
The Insurance Company Has a Motive to Spread Blame
Accordingly, the insurance company has a financial motivation to blame you for the accident. They know that they may save money at your expense when they can make allegations against you stick. They may be even more likely to do this when they see that you do not have a personal injury attorney representing you, making it less likely that you can successfully push back.
If you are being accused of being partially (or entirely) to blame for your own accident injuries, it is vital that you are prepared to fight back. If you do not defend yourself when the insurance company tries to blame you for what happened, you may find your entire case at risk. Although your case is primarily about proving that someone else was to blame, the battleground may shift to you needing to defend yourself. You may need to present similar evidence to what you have already put forward to show that you were not to blame for the accident.
How You Can Disprove Allegations Made Against You
Your personal injury attorney may address these allegations during the course of your settlement negotiations with the insurance company. They may discuss what happened and attempt to dispel any wrongful notions that you bear part of the blame. Your personal injury lawyer may present the following forms of evidence in an attempt to clear your own name from any allegations:
- Testimony from people who saw what happened and what you may have been doing
- Pictures of the scene of the accident
- The police report which documents the accident
- Videocamera footage of the accident
- Testimony from an accident reconstruction expert
If the insurance company refuses to back down from their allegations, you may need to take your case to court and allow the jury to decide who was to blame and apportion the degree of fault. Of course, you are taking a risk that the jury may not side with you, and you could be denied compensation altogether. However, you must maintain the option of litigating your case, if necessary, when the insurance company will not budge.
Contact a Florida Personal Injury Law Firm Today
If you have been involved in an accident, the Florida personal injury lawyers at Consumer Law Attorneys can help. We can deal with the insurance company on your behalf as you seek full financial compensation for your injuries. You can schedule a free initial consultation with a personal injury attorney by filling out an online contact form or by calling us today at 877-241-2200.
