Win Your Legal Case with Our Gainesville Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Car crashes, slip and falls, and boating accidents are just some of the most common causes of spinal cord injuries in Gainesville. The spinal cord is one of the most important parts of the body, and it is also one of the most fragile. Any spinal cord injury is considered very serious and can result in permanent impairment, paralysis, and even death. If you have suffered such a serious injury after an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, our Gainesville spinal cord injury attorney can advise you of your options for obtaining compensation.
Living With a Spinal Cord Injury Is Often Expensive
When you’re facing life with a spinal cord injury following a serious accident, chances are, your first thought isn’t about the associated expense. Unfortunately, living with a spinal cord injury is expensive. Spinal cord injuries don’t just limit your activities and impact your quality of life. They can also leave you struggling to pay your bills or even to make ends meet. If you’ve sustained a spinal cord injury, make sure you’re prepared for the continuing expense associated with those injuries.
Limited Earning Potential
One of the biggest costs of living with a spinal cord injury is the limit it can place on your earning potential. Where once, your earning potential was essentially unlimited, following your injury, it is limited by what you’re able to do. If you’ve been paralyzed, you may not be able to complete some of the job responsibilities that were once easy. If you’re living with pain, your hours at work may be limited or your mind may be impacted by the pain medications you need to keep functioning. Living with a spinal cord injury may mean that you face significantly lower earning potential than you did before your injuries.
Medical Care
Medical care is one of the biggest immediate expenses of living with a spinal cord injury. Not only do you face the initial cost of your medical care, including hospitalization, surgery, and rehab, you may also need to pay for:
- Wheelchairs and other assistance devices
- In-home care or aides as you learn to function more independently
- Medications
- Long-term potential health issues, including increased risk of illness and infection
Home and Vehicle Modifications
Is your home fully accessible from a wheelchair? If it’s not, you may be looking at a number of expensive modifications following your spinal cord injury. Modifications for your injury may include:
- Modified vehicles with wheelchair accommodations
- Lowered counter-tops
- Wider doorways
- Ramps and elevators
- Modified showers and other items
Other Increased Expenses
Living with a spinal cord injury is expensive enough in terms of simple modifications. There are also, however, several unexpected expenses that may creep in along with your injury. These may include:
- Travel expenses as you visit specialists and other doctors who are able to help provide care for your injuries
- Increased entertainment expenses, since you’re unable to participate in many of your former activities
- Accommodation expenses, such as the increased need to eat out as you’re unable to cook for yourself
Our Attorney Can Help You Obtain PIP Benefits and More
Traffic accidents involving passenger vehicles, trucks, motorcycles, and pedestrians are some of the most common causes of spinal cord injuries. When this is the case, you can file a claim with your own insurance company to claim personal injury protection (PIP) benefits.
Even when dealing with your own insurance company, it is important to have legal representation by your side. Insurance companies, even your own, are not concerned about your safety or well-being. They are only interested in retaining their profits and so, they may try to reduce, deny, or delay your claim. A attorney will not let them get away with these tactics, so you recover the full benefits you are entitled to.
In Gainesville, as throughout the rest of Florida, the minimum limits of PIP motorists are required to carry is $10,000, and most people do not purchase more than this. A spinal cord injury though, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the first year alone, particularly if it resulted in paralysis. In the event that you exhaust your own PIP benefits, and meet the serious injury threshold, you can seek additional damages by filing a claim against the negligent driver that caused the accident.
Our Attorney Can Help You Obtain Damages from Other Parties
If you did not suffer a spinal cord injury in a car crash but another type of accident, you may only have to deal with the negligent party’s insurance company. These insurers are even more likely to try and deny the damages you rightfully deserve. Our spinal cord injury attorney in Gainesville will accurately value your claim, and help you claim a fair settlement, which may include common damages such as:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages, bonuses, and benefits
- Loss of future earning capacity, if you cannot return to the same line of work after the accident
- Loss of household services
- Pain and suffering
- Property damages
It is often difficult for accident victims to accurately value their own claim, as they do not consider factors such as current and future losses. A attorney will know how to value your claim so you recover damages that will cover the full cost of your injury.
Our Gainesville Spinal Cord Injury Attorney in Gainesville Helps Accident Victims
If you or someone you love suffered a spinal cord injury due to the negligent actions of another person, you need experienced legal representation. At Meldon Law, our Gainesville spinal cord injury attorney will aggressively pursue your claim and hold liable parties accountable for paying the fair settlement you deserve. Call us today at 800-373-8000 or fill out our online form to schedule a free consultation.
