If you’ve been injured in a car accident and you were a passenger in one of the vehicles, you may need to seek compensation from the responsible parties and their insurance companies. This may include taking action against the driver of the vehicle in which you were traveling, the driver of another vehicle or any other party that was partially or fully at fault for the crash.
Regardless of the circumstances, you would need to prove liability on the part of the defendant in your lawsuit, along with the extent to which you were injured. You will need to get the insurance information for both drivers and file claims with both insurance companies. There could be exceptions if, for example, one of the drivers was clearly not negligent, such as in a rear-end collision. In this situation, you would only need to file a claim with the insurance company of the at-fault motorist.
If both drivers share fault for an accident, you could experience some complexities in the settlement process. For example, if your claim is worth $100,000 and one driver only has 20 percent liability, it would make more sense for the defendant to go to court — as he or she would have a better chance at reducing the amount required to pay in a jury verdict. Disparities in responsibility for the accident could lead to disputes between the two negligent drivers, and you could get caught in the middle.
However, an experienced attorney understands how to avoid this situation and get you the settlement you deserve. For more information about how to proceed with an injury claim stemming from a Florida car accident, consult a dedicated personal injury attorney with Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez, Murphy & Walsh.