Boat Accident Case Value

Answer:

Determining the value of a boating accident injury claim in Florida really starts with who is at fault for the accident. In southwest Florida particularly, we are blessed to have many open waters around us, and folks go out on boats and otherwise in our gulfs and rivers in order to enjoy themselves and have a good time, not thinking that anything bad is going to happen. Unfortunately, bad things happen to good people sometimes, so the first determination of value is trying to put the pieces on exactly what occurred. Under Florida law, there’s what’s called comparative fault, which means that not only one person has to be totally at fault for a victim in a boating accident case to be compensated for their losses and harms and damages.

The valuation first starts with trying to really understand how this incident occurs. Was there alcohol involved, who was operating the vessel, how was that operation of the vessel different than it should have been under normal circumstances, and many other things that go into that first layer of analysis in the value of a boating accident case, but then it starts to turn on the nature and extent of your injuries and your damages. What are your medical expenses? What have you incurred as a result of this terrible accident that happened out at sea? What are you going to need in the future in the form of medical care and expenses? What have you lost in regard to wages and working time? How is it going to affect your ability to make money into the future? Then all these intangible damages loosely termed pain and suffering. How has this accident affected you, who you are? This, again, is a personal injury case. It’s all about you. At Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz, we work very hard to put all these elements together, hopefully from the very early stages of the case, to work with you to increase the value of your case to find for you, the client, what is justice in your eyes.