Borkovic Law Group is dedicated to helping individuals with their personal injury matters and wrongful death claims. Personal injury refers to any type of damage inflicted to you that is caused by another individual’s negligence. These damages include physical, emotional, and/or economic harm. The damages sought are past, present and future losses. The most common kind of cases we handle involve people who are injured or fatally injured in automobile accidents, trucking accidents, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, boating accidents, slip and falls, and dog bites and traumatic brain injury.

Majority of our work involves dealing with auto insurance companies and their attorneys to help you get the most favorable settlement or a verdict for your case. This includes investigating liability, discovering coverage and policy limits, collecting your medical records and bills, sending demand letters, and negotiating with the insurance companies to achieve a favorable settlement offer and or litigating your case to the verdict. Our firm is dedicated to our clients and our main concern is to make sure our clients are taken care of. Our goal is to lift the weight off of our clients’ shoulders by having us deal with the insurance companies, their attorneys while having our clients prioritize their treatment and get better. We would like to provide our clients a level playing field with insurance companies. Insurance industry has unlimited resources, attorneys and experts to attempt to deny your claim, we would engage our resources, experience, and experts in zealous representation of your interests in personal injury matters. We keep our clients informed every step of the case. We regularly communicate with our clients to get injury status and see how their treatment is going. This helps us understand when the best time is to start collecting medical records to prepare a demand to send to the insurance company. Every offer we get from the insurance company we will present to you. We will give you our opinion to help you resolve your case that will be the most favorable to you.

No one expects to be involved in a car accident but it could certainly happen to anyone at any time. That is why it is important to know what you should do and should not do before an accident happens. These are important 10 steps to follow to protect yourself after an accident:

1. Stay calm and do not minimize your accident. Do not assume your accident is not serious. Do not admit fault. Do not assume you are not hurt.
2. Call 911. Calling 911 will ensure medical personnel arrive at the scene if needed and that a trained police officer will investigate the accident.
3. Seek medical treatment and attend to others. Make sure that yourself, any passengers, and other persons involved in the accident receive the proper medical attention.
4. Take photos of the accident scene. It is important to document the incident. Take photos of the accident scene, all the vehicles involved, and all of the property damage.
5. Exchange information. Make sure to exchange important information such as driver’s license and auto insurance with all parties involved in the accident.
6. Speak to any witnesses. Make sure to speak with any witnesses that saw what happened in the accident. Take down their name, telephone number, and address.
7. Speak with the officer. Make sure you speak with the officer who reported to the scene and give as much information to ensure a detailed police report.
8. See a medical doctor within 14 days. Car accidents can contort and injure the body in many ways, which you may or may not feel the on-set of symptoms right away. That is why it is very important to be evaluated by a medical doctor as soon as possible after an accident. Seeing a doctor within 14 days after an accident is crucial in order to preserve important benefits through your auto insurance. However, we do not recommend waiting until the 14th day after the accident – the key is seeing a doctor as soon as possible, typically within a week after the accident is standard. When you visit a doctor, make sure you report all pain, injuries, and symptoms you are feeling.
9. Do NOT speak with any insurance company. It is very important that you do not speak with any insurance company after an accident, including your own. The auto insurance companies do not have your best interest in mind and their goal is to settle your claim for as little as possible.
10. Call an attorney. The best way to protect yourself after a car accident is to call an experienced personal injury attorney to fight these insurance companies for you. Borkovic Law Group is here for you and will advise you additional steps you need to take after an accident when you call us for help. Our office telephone number is (727) 798-5291.

The type of doctor you visit will depend on the extent of your injuries and which body parts were injured. We always recommend seeking immediate treatment after an accident, such as at a hospital or urgent care. Emergency care treatment at a hospital is only preliminary and further treatment with a specialist needs to be sought. Typical injuries after an accident include whiplash, neck pain, back pain, headaches, and leg or arm pain.

After an Emergency Room, you could see your primary care doctor. However, often you will find out that your primary care doctor will refuse to see you if you are involved in a personal injury case or seek medical help relating to a personal injury matter. It is extremely important that you find competent medical doctors to help you immediately after your injury and do not delay your treatment.

• For injuries sustained to the neck and back, it is best to be seen by a chiropractor, physical therapist and/or an orthopedic specialist.
• After your medical doctor performs diagnostic testing and diagnoses your injuries, he or she may refer to another specialist, such as a physiatrist, pain management doctor, or orthopedic doctor most appropriate to help you for your indicated injury.
• If you sustained a head injury or have neurological issues such as loss of consciousness, blurry vision, or memory loss, you will need to be seen by a neurologist.
• You may also experience post-traumatic disorders after accidents, which will require you to be evaluated by a psychiatrist.
• Car accidents can also sometimes leave unattractive and everlasting scars after a wounded area heals. In order to remove or minimize scarring to achieve a more attractive appearance, you may need to be seen by a plastic surgeon.

Borkovic Law Group can assist you in locating a medical doctor after your accident.

If there is no recovery there is no fee in all personal injury cases we handle. We offer free initial consultation for personal injury matters where we would evaluate your initial case and provide advice on how to proceed with your case. If we agree to represent you in your personal injury case we would propose to you a contingency fee agreement to represent you in your case. Contingency fee agreement is a simple contract between an attorney and the client where attorney does not charge any fee upfront but rather limits its recovery to a percentage of the total of successful recovery amount brought to the client, usually anywhere between one third of the total successful recovery (33.33%) and forty percent (40%) depending on the case and if the case is resolved in litigation or not.

• As most personal injury firms do, Borkovic Law Group charges a percentage of the settlement or judgment we get for your case. This percentage can vary depending on the type of case. These fees will be explained in detail in your “Authority to Represent and Contingency Fee Agreement” document.
• Most cases get resolved pre-litigation. For cases that are resolved pre-litigation, we charge one third (33.33%) of any recovery up to $1 million.
• If the defendant is a government entity at a local, state, or federal level, then our fee is capped at twenty percent 20% of any settlement recovery.
• In the rare event we do not receive any settlement or judgement, Borkovic Law Group will cover all fees and costs, and you will owe us nothing. Simply said, if there is no recovery there is no fee for you.

• You may be able to pursue a claim through your own auto insurance company if you purchased UM (Uninsured Motorist) coverage.
• It is not uncommon for someone to wrongfully hit you and not carry insurance for your injuries, especially in Florida. Almost 25% of people in Florida are driving uninsured and it is completely legal. In Florida, individuals are not required to carry Bodily Injury (BI) liability coverage on their auto insurance, which is liability insurance in the event they injure someone in an accident. That is why it is extremely important for YOU to insure yourself and your loved ones by having Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury Coverage on your auto insurance policy. Having UMBI is the only thing you can control before an accident. You do not determine who is a negligent driver that will have a car crash with you and injure you and your family. You also do not determine if that negligent driver will have sufficient liability injury coverage if any. Having UMBI coverage on your automobile policy before an accident happens is the smartest and best way to protect your family and yourself today.
• If you call us at Borkovic Law Group, we would be more than happy to review your auto insurance policy with you free of charge, to make sure you have the appropriate coverage to insure you and your family in the event of an accident. Call us for your free review with our personal injury and insurance coverage attorney. Our office telephone number is (727) 798-5291.

While health insurance will pay your medical bills and disability insurance will cover some of your wage loss, they will not pay you for the non-economic damages you have suffered. For example, if you are seriously injured in an accident that leaves you with permanent injuries such as a broken arm or spinal disc injuries, these types of injuries result in loss of ability to enjoy life, for which your health insurance and disability insurance will not pay for. Uninsured Motorist Bodily injury (UMBI) coverage is important because in addition to coverage for economic losses, it will also cover non-economic losses such as pain and suffering you will have to endure as a result of the accident.

Florida happens to be one of the few states that has Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits, which is a type of no-fault insurance coverage that pays for some of your expenses in the event of an accident.

PIP insurance in Florida pays up to a total of $10,000 for the following expenses:

• 80% of each medical bill
• 60% of lost wages
• 100% replacement services such as childcare, housekeeping, and yard work
• Up to $5,000 of death benefits
• 80% of prescription expenses
• Mileage reimbursement

If you owned an insured vehicle at the time of your accident, your auto insurance will be the primary source that is providing you Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits, regardless of what car you were in at the time of the accident or whose fault the accident is.PIP is a mandatory coverage on your automobile insurance policy in the state of Florida.

You should be seen and evaluated by a medical doctor as soon as possible after an accident, if possible immediately from the scene of the accident or within the same day of the crash, but no later than 14 days of the accident. Car accidents can contort and injure the body in many ways, which you may or may not feel the on-set of symptoms right away. It is common to be in an auto accident and not feel any pain or symptoms until days after the accident. That is why it is very important to be evaluated by a medical doctor as soon as possible after an accident. Seeing a doctor within 14 days after an accident is crucial in order to preserve important benefits through your auto insurance known as Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits. Failure to see a medical doctor within 14 days after your crash in Florida will result in you losing your Florida PIP benefits. When you visit a doctor, make sure you report ALL pain, injuries, and symptoms you are feeling. Do not over-exaggerate your symptoms, but also make sure you are not leaving any symptoms or pain out that you are experiencing.

No one can promise with certainty the duration of time it may take for a case to settle or get a verdict as every case is different and many factors affect the length of a case. A case with very low coverage and minimal treatment may be resolved quickly in the matter of a few weeks or months, as opposed to a case with high coverage and extensive treatment that may take up to a year or more resolve. The timeline of a case is very dependent on what kind of coverage is available, the duration of your medical treatment, the negotiation process with the insurance, and reduction process of medical bills and liens, litigation and a trial. Although most cases do get resolved before the filing of any lawsuit, if your case is required to go to trial, it is possible that the timeline will be much longer. In any event, Borkovic Law Group will do our very best to make sure your case is handled as quickly and carefully as possible. It is in our mutual interest to resolve your case for the most money in the shortest possible time.

No one can promise you with certainty that your case will be successful or how much your case is going to get resolved for. However, Borkovic Law Group can guarantee you that we will employ our skills, training, and experience to fight with the best of our abilities to make sure you get the most favorable recovery possible to fairly compensate you for your injuries. There are certain factors that could affect how much of a recovery you will receive, such as but not limited to:

• Whether you were partially at fault for the accident;
• How much coverage the party at fault has (this would be their Bodily Injury coverage);
• How much coverage you carry (this would be Uninsured Motorist);
• Severity of the impact;
• Severity of your injuries;
• The extent of your medical treatment;
• If you were out of work as a result of the accident;
• If your earning capacity has been reduced as a result of the accident;
• How your lifestyle has been affected as a result of the accident;
• Venue where the accident happened.; and
• If you had any pre-existing injuries and complaints to the same area of the body where you sustained injury in your case.

If you have health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, they may pay for some or all of your medical bills. Health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid are legally entitled to any settlement recovery from an auto accident for medical bills they have paid in relation to the accident. They will assert a lien against you until the case is resolved.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) would be the primary payor for your medical bills relating to your car crash injuries and treatment. PIP coverage under your auto insurance policy may also pay some of your bills.

If there are any medical bills left over including liens from health insurance or governmental entities, Borkovic Law Group will do our best to resolve the remaining bills and liens so that they can be paid with a part of your settlement.

Most of our cases do get settled without having the need to file a lawsuit. However, when we recommend that it would be best to proceed with a lawsuit, it is usually because the insurance company is presenting too low of an offer and is unwilling to amicably resolve your case. When this occurs, all of the options will be presented to you and the possible outcomes of choosing each option. We will recommend which option we think is best, however, you as the client ultimately decides whether you wish to proceed with filing a lawsuit or settling with the insurance company.

Yes, if we are able to represent you on a case-by-case basis. If your personal injury case falls outside of Florida, we will find a reputable law firm to help us prosecute your injury case in that particular state and be a co-counsel with them taking care of you to the end. These types of cases are not uncommon for us and we work with a set of competent law firms from all over the nation in efforts to achieve the most favorable verdicts for our clients.

Many people usually have the false perception that insurance companies will help them in the event of an accident. Whether it is the auto insurance at fault or your auto insurance, they do not have your best interest in mind. The insurance adjusters work for the insurance company and therefore, they have the insurance company’s best interest in mind, not yours. That means that they will try to resolve your claim for as little money as they possibly can, which is an adversary to your interest.

In deciding whether to use an attorney or handle the case yourself, you may want to consider the following information:

• An experienced personal injury attorney is the source of knowledge and experience in fighting the insurance companies for your benefit. Imagine, should you hire a medical doctor when you have a heart attack?
• ABC news reported that Allstate Insurance Company circulated internal documents that stated that an injured person, represented by an attorney, received, on average, three times as much money as the personal injury victim who did not use an attorney.
• Of course, recoveries in individual cases are based on individual facts and circumstances of the case, and are subject to reduction by attorney’s fees and costs.
• Additionally, hiring a personal injury attorney to represent you in the event of an accident ensures that you have a legal professional handling your case who has experience in dealing with insurance companies.