TWO PROCESSES AFTER ONE COLLISION

Palm City DUI Accident Lawyer

An arrest after a Palm City collision may leave you waiting for the next court development while medical bills and missed work continue. Your injury claim has a different purpose and timetable. You can begin checking your losses, insurance and lawsuit deadlines now. Do not assume the criminal case will take care of everything.

Explore the Palm City personal injury page when the event raises more than one injury issue. The Florida DUI accident overview explains the firm’s statewide victim-focused service.

Call Us Now
Schedule A Call
Michael Katz Esq

Civil injury claims after impaired-driving crashes

No attorney fee unless compensation is recovered for you

The prosecution is not your medical-loss claim

YOUR PALM CITY INJURY CLAIM

A criminal case addresses the driver’s alleged offense. A civil injury claim seeks payment for harm caused by the crash. It focuses on who is legally responsible and which insurance may apply. The same incident can create evidence relevant to both, but a criminal fine is not payment of your injury damages.

An arrest also does not establish the amount of your loss. Treatment records, wage documents and evidence of continuing limitations serve a purpose that an arrest narrative does not. Keep those materials as care progresses instead of assuming someone in the criminal case is collecting everything needed for your civil claim.

Palm City is a Martin County community. For records, identify the responding agency rather than assuming a municipal police department handled the collision. For records held by the sheriff, the Martin County Sheriff report process is a starting point. Confirm the actual investigating agency from your paperwork before making a request. Another agency may hold a different part of the evidence.

DUI Accident Lawsuit Attorney

Build a recovery record while the court calendar moves

List the first care, follow-up appointments and work restrictions in date order. Save bills and explanations of insurance payments separately so a charge is not mistaken for an amount already paid. If someone helps organize records, keep the original documents and make notes outside them.

For missed work, connect the dates to employer information and the restrictions your provider gave. If you returned on lighter duties or reduced hours, preserve that change too. The aim is an accurate picture of the actual loss, not a claim based on every difficulty that happened after the collision.

The Palm City car accident page discusses collision proof and insurance questions that remain important here. An impairment allegation does not remove the need to establish how the vehicles moved or why the crash caused the claimed injuries.

If an insurer requests a statement or records, keep the request and any response date. Check what the request covers and what you are required to provide. Do not assume you must accept it unchanged or can simply ignore it. Accurate cooperation and thoughtful review are not opposites.

Schedule A Call
Personal Injury Lawyer Florida

DO NOT BORROW THE CRIMINAL DEADLINE

Review the civil filing period and any settlement now

Florida’s §95.11(5)(a) generally gives two years to file a negligence lawsuit. The incident date, type of claim and any exceptions must be checked for your case. Do not calculate the deadline from an arrest, plea or sentencing date without legal review, and do not assume a pending prosecution extends it.

A proposed settlement may resolve more than the expense mentioned in a phone call. Read which claims and parties the release covers. Consider the evidence of the care and recovery needs that remain. There is no fixed payment based on the severity of a criminal charge, and the existence of insurance is not a promise that every loss is covered.

The other side may also contest fault. Under Florida comparative-fault law, a claimant’s responsibility can reduce recovery and, above 50 percent, bar recovery in covered negligence actions. Preserve the driving evidence even when the focus of the public discussion is intoxication.

Keep any criminal-case communications with the rest of your records, but label them separately from insurer letters and civil advice. This makes it easier to see which process requires a response and which question remains unanswered.

Palm City questions while a prosecution is pending

No. You can discuss the civil claim and its deadlines while the criminal matter is unresolved. Available evidence may develop over time, but waiting for sentencing is not a safe general rule for preserving a negligence claim.

A criminal charging decision does not by itself decide every civil issue. The crash evidence, legal responsibility and insurance coverage need their own review. So does the link between the crash and your injuries. Keep the updated paperwork without assuming either automatic success or automatic defeat.

Keep copies for your own claim file and discuss how to use them with your lawyer. Giving information to a criminal investigator does not mean an insurer or injury lawyer has received it or reviewed your losses.

Get a civil plan alongside the criminal case

Tell Katz & Associates what is happening with your care, the insurer and the investigation. We can help identify the questions that should not wait for a court date. Call (772) 933-5289 or use the consultation form. This page offers general information rather than advice about an individual deadline.