Car Accidents

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | October 25, 2026 | Car Accidents

PIP Examinations Under Oath and Your Right to Benefits Key Takeaways: Yes, your insurer can generally deny or withhold Florida PIP benefits if you skip a properly requested examination under oath. Fla. Stat. § 627.736(6)(g) requires claimants to comply with the policy terms, including EUOs, and makes that compliance a condition precedent to receiving benefits…. read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | October 17, 2026 | Car Accidents

How Treatment Gaps Can Affect Your Palm Bay Injury Claim Key Takeaways: Insurance companies question gaps in treatment after a Palm Bay car accident because the time between your crash and your medical visits lets them argue that your injuries are minor, not caused by the accident, or already healed. Adjusters often pair those arguments… read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | October 15, 2026 | Car Accidents

How a Crash Can Tear Your Shoulder and What Florida Law Allows Key Takeaways: In a Melbourne crash, a seat belt can tear your rotator cuff by pinning one shoulder while your body twists forward, and a steering wheel can do it by driving force up your braced arms into the shoulder joint. A tear… read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | October 7, 2026 | Car Accidents

The Small Computer Inside Your Car That Can Prove What Really Happened Key Takeaways: An event data recorder, or "black box," captures technical data around a crash, including speed, braking, steering, seat belt status, and airbag deployment. In an Orlando car accident case, that objective record may corroborate your account when memories conflict. Because Florida… read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | September 19, 2026 | Car Accidents

The Insurance Exam That Can Make or Break Your Melbourne PIP Claim Key Takeaways: A compulsory medical examination (CME) is a medical exam requested and paid for by your insurer after a Melbourne car accident, authorized by Fla. Stat. § 627.736(7)(a) whenever your physical or mental condition is material to a PIP claim. The insurer… read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | September 15, 2026 | Car Accidents

Understanding the Optional Coverage That Pays Medical Bills After a Crash Key Takeaways: MedPay is optional Florida auto insurance that pays medical expenses after accidents regardless of fault, covering you, family members, passengers, and sometimes pedestrians. It matters in Palm Bay because Florida PIP covers only 80 percent of reasonable medical expenses, subject to a… read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | September 11, 2026 | Car Accidents

Why Medicare Wants Money Back From Your Cocoa Crash Settlement Key Takeaways: A "Medicare lien" in a Cocoa, FL car accident settlement is a federal conditional payment recovery claim under the Medicare Secondary Payer statute requiring repayment of accident-related benefits from your settlement. Liability and no-fault insurers are primary payers, and Medicare’s interest attaches to… read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | September 7, 2026 | Car Accidents

When the Belt That Saved You Also Hurt You Key Takeaways: Seat belt syndrome refers to chest, abdominal, and spinal injuries caused when a safety belt restrains the body during a crash, often leaving a visible "seat belt sign" bruise that may signal deeper harm such as bowel perforation, internal bleeding, lumbar Chance fractures, or… read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | September 6, 2026 | Car Accidents

Why Insurance Companies Bring Up Your Seat Belt After a Crash Key Takeaways: Florida’s seat belt defense argues that an injured person’s failure to wear an available seat belt worsened their injuries. It operates through comparative fault under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, together with Fla. Stat. § 316.614(10) and Insurance Co. of North America v…. read more

Norden Leacox Accident & Injury Law | August 13, 2026 | Car Accidents

Understanding When a Car’s Owner Answers for Another Driver’s Mistake Key Takeaways: Under Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine, a vehicle owner can be held vicariously liable for a permissive driver’s negligence even if the owner was not present. Rooted in the 1920 case Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, the doctrine protects injured victims by ensuring… read more