Florida's Revised Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Law

Greetings!

At Taylor, Warren & Weidner, we are dedicated to assisting those who need legal guidance. All of our firm's attorneys began practicing law with the goal of helping people and that goal remains today. With that goal in mind, we are poised to dedicate our knowledge and resources to you through this monthly newsletter.

Sincerely,

Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A.

www.TWWLawFirm.com

850-438-4899

Florida's Revised Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Law

Florida's new PIP law took effect on January 1, 2013 and appears to give an edge to insurance companies by making it more difficult for consumers to collect benefits following a motor vehicle accident.

The summary of the new PIP law is as follows:

1. A person who sustains injuries in a car accident must seek initial medical treatment for injuries within 14 days of the accident, either from a licensed physician, osteopathic doctor, dentist, chiropractic physician, hospital, registered nurse practitioner, or a physician's assistant. PIP insurance will only cover the medical expenses if initial treatment begun within the 14 days timeframe, and if any follow-up treatment is made by referral from one of the above providers. If no treatment is sought within 14 days of the accident, then NO personal injury benefits will be paid.

2. Treatment of an emergency medical condition is limited to $10,000, but treatment of any emergency medical condition that is not initially diagnosed is limited to $2,500.

3. "Emergency Medical Condition" is defined as a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in serious jeopardy to the patient health, impairment to bodily functions, or severe dysfunction of a body organ or part. For an individual who is not diagnosed with an emergency medical condition, the PIP medical benefit limit is $2,500.

4. The new law offers $5,000 in death benefits in addition to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits. Previously, the death benefit was the lesser of the unused PIP benefits, up to a limit of $5,000.

5. Insurance companies can require injury victims to undergo an independent medical examination by a doctor of the insurance company's choosing. If a victim does not submit to this request, or does not appear for an exam without reasonable excuse for delay, or if the physician disagrees with the diagnosis, PIP coverage may not be available. Refusal or failure to appear for two (2) independent medical exams raises a rebuttable presumption that the refusal, or failure, was unreasonable.

6. The new law eliminates massage therapy and acupuncture sessions from reimbursable treatment options.

7. Chiropractor practitioners cannot render an opinion as to whether a patient has an emergency medical condition, which would qualify the patient for full personal injury benefits ($10,000) for treatment.

Insurance FAQ's

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT VEHICLE ACCIDENTS AND INSURANCE COVERAGE

Q. How do I recover damages from a vehicle accident and where does the money come from?

A. There are "first party benefits," which are benefits that your vehicle insurance policy provides, and there are "third party benefits," which are those benefits that the other party carries under their insurance policy.

"First party benefits" include PIP benefits, which stands for "Personal Injury Protection." PIP is paid regardless of fault. PIP payments typically include payment for medical bills and lost wages up to a specific amount, which depends on the amount of coverage that you selected under your policy.

Community Service

Gulf Coast Kid's House is a private, not-for-profit which provides services to victims of child abuse in Escambia County.

Gulf Coast Kid's House is a children's advocacy center. We combine all of the professionals and resources needed for the intervention, investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases under one child-friendly facility.

Child victims and their families also receive mental health counseling at our center. The goal of Gulf Coast Kid's House is to form a more collaborative response to child abuse cases so that we can improve case outcomes and minimize trauma to the children and families we serve.

8. A claimant whose claim is denied due to an error in the claim is given 15 additional days to correct the erroneous claim and resubmit it timely. The insurer must maintain a log of all PIP benefits paid on behalf of the insured and must provide the log to the insured upon his or her request if litigation has initiated. If a dispute between insurers and insured occurs, the insurer must provide notice within 15 days of the exhaustion of PIP benefits. Insurers must reimburse Medicaid within 30 days.

9. The reimbursement level for care provided by ambulatory surgical centers, clinical laboratories and for durable medical equipment, is 200 percent of the appropriate Medicare Part B schedule.

These changes reflect only what affects the average consumer. The bill contains other provisions for attorneys, law enforcement, and insurance companies themselves.

Case Spotlight

The law firm of Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A., recently negotiated a settlement on a high profile civil rights lawsuit against the Sheriff of Santa Rosa County, Florida. In a case involving their clients, the Firm sued the Sheriff, and three of his deputies, for police misconduct, in violation of the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution. This case has been the subject of multiple media accounts.

The case arose out of a nighttime confrontation between the Sheriffs' deputies and homeowners, shortly after Hurricane Ivan made landfall, in 2004. A private home, damaged by the storm and temporally abandoned by its owners, was apparently being broken into. Neighbors saw flashlights inside the upstairs of the house. The side door of the house was kicked in, and muddy boot prints were discovered on the door and leading up the stairway.

Neighbors confronted the two intruders with flashlights by asking them to get out of the house. The light-wielding individuals responded by yelling back inappropriate and threatening expletives. Convinced that the home was being looted, one of the neighbors fired a warning shot into the ground, a few feet in front of him, to alert others around, and to defend his neighborhood.

The prowlers brandishing flashlights turned out to be two sheriff's deputies-one from Santa Rosa County, and the other from Pinellas County. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's office gave conflicting accounts as to why they were inside the house, or even if they were in the house at all. The two deputies abandoned the house and flanked some of the neighbors outside their homes.

The deputies ran at the neighbors in the street, and began to swear, yell and threaten them with their weapons drawn. The deputies did not identify themselves until just a few feet before they reached the homeowners. Once the deputies identified themselves, the homeowners quickly surrendered.

After the two homeowners surrendered by lying flat on the ground with their hands out, the officer from Pinellas County then brutally attacked one of them-a retired New York City Police Captain. The captain's wife reacted to the brutal attacks, and was herself fiercely tackled and permanently injured.

The responding police officers called to the scene attempted to cover up the misconduct and went as far as threatening the witnesses. When the homeowners refused to cooperate with the coverup, the Police Captain and the neighbor who fired the warning shot, a retired Air Force Colonel, were arrested and charged with attempted murder.

Despite formal protests from the Sheriff, all charges were quickly dropped by the State's Attorney's office. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff doggedly refused to even look into whether his deputies had engaged in misconduct that evening. When the two involved homeowners insisted, the Santa Rosa Sheriff retaliated by trying to bring new criminal charges against them.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations opened a case after the homeowners complained that the Sheriff was retaliating against them for filing a legitimate grievance. One Santa Rosa deputy resigned and the Pinellas County deputy went to federal prison for a year for violating the civil rights of the retired NYPD Police Captain.

After several years of complex litigation in federal court, attorney Keith Weidner was able to secure a very large settlement from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's office, on behalf of the Police Captain and his wife. In exchange for this unspecified but quite substantial amount, we agreed to drop the claim that the Sheriff of Santa Rosa County was deliberately indifferent to the rights of the citizens of Santa Rosa County by failing to investigate his deputies or discipline them based on the events surrounding this case.

This case required several hundred hours of intense work by our litigation team. As work progressed and more facts came to light, the team identified the officers had violated Americans' civil rights. The dedicated staff at Taylor, Warren, and Weidner were intensely committed to obtaining justice for these homeowners who were simply doing the right thing trying to protect property after a devastating blow by a hurricane.

Partner Spotlight

Keith Weidner

Keith W. Weidner is a native Floridian from West Palm Beach. Mr. Weidner enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1993. While in the Marine Corps, he was attached to a Marine Security Force Company tasked with protecting assets involving national security. Mr. Weidner was also a non-commissioned officer in an infantry line company-Echo Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division. Mr. Weidner served as a team leader of a recapture tactics team (SWAT) before being honorably discharged in 1997.

Mr. Weidner received his Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, in just three years from the University of Florida in 2000. Mr. Weidner's undergraduate degree focused on international relations and police practices. While attending the University of Florida, he was invited to join Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and Golden Key National Honor Society. Mr. Weidner received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Florida in just two and a half years. While in law school, Mr. Weidner was a certified legal intern with the State Attorney's Office (Ocala branch) who handled multiple misdemeanor jury trials.

Keith Weidner Mr. Weidner was hired by the Soloway Law Firm directly from law school in 2003. While an associate with the Soloway Law Firm, Mr. Weidner's practice focused on civil litigation in the areas of general negligence, police misconduct and disability law. Mr. Weidner was brought on as an associate with McKenzie, Taylor, & Zarzaur, P.A. in 2005. As an associate, Mr. Weidner broadened his practice areas to include complex medical injuries, wrongful death, pharmaceutical injuries, and property damage insurance claims. His primary focus while an associate with McKenzie, Taylor, & Zarzaur, P.A. was representing people against insurance companies for benefits arising from damage to their homes caused by hurricanes.

In July of 2006, Mr. Weidner along with Stephanie Taylor, and Phillip Warren established the law firm of Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A. Mr. Weidner is licensed to practice law in the state courts of Florida, and the United States District Court of the Northern District of Florida and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Weidner limits his practice to civil litigation. He is a member of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, the American Association for Justice, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Police Accountability Project, and the Escambia Santa Rosa Bar Association.

About Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A.

From an office in Pensacola, Florida, Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A.("TWW") represents individuals throughout Escambia County, Santa Rosa County and the surrounding areas. As a firm focused on helping people, we offer personalized legal services and effective client advocacy. Our firm offers legal counsel to people at times when they need it most.

At TWW we have a firm culture of placing the interests of our clients first and serving those interests with professional, ethical and zealous advocacy. Preparation, devotion and resolve is the trademark of our successful firm. We are proud of our record and tradition of excellence. The firm's careful preparation and experience ensures that each case will be clearly developed and persuasively presented to achieve the most optimal level of success. At TWW we use cutting edge technology and innovative methods to develop and present our clients' cases.

The lawyers and staff at Taylor, Warren & Weidner have been privileged to represent thousands of clients in resolving their legal problems. We take great pride in knowing our cases have helped victims recover from life changing events. We are proud of the fact that our advocacy has benefited all of society and changed the way insurance companies treat everyday people for the better. Our cases help improve the way products are manufactured, roads and buildings are designed and constructed, and health care is provided. At TWW, we speak for the victims of those who have been injured by the negligence of others, treated unfairly by the powerful, and who are in need of justice.

Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A. began with the simple vision of creating an unparalleled team of legal professionals to deliver the best results possible to clients. Our dedication to clients has allowed us to successfully fulfill our vision and experience immediate growth.

Today, TWW maintains the same results- oriented vision. The dedication to our clients continues to drive our success. While we have expanded our staff and services, we have never lost sight of the reason for our success. We hope you will give us the opportunity to show you why our clients trust us to deliver the best results possible.