How Service of Process Mistakes Can Doom Your Florida Personal Injury Lawsuit
If you have been seriously injured in a car accident caused by another driver’s negligence, you understandably want to hold that driver accountable for their actions. Keep in mind that Florida is a “no-fault” state with respect to auto accidents, so in most cases you will need to first seek compensation through your own insurance policy’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. In cases where you sustained what the law considers a “serious” injury, however, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver to recover the full amount of your damages.
Court Rejects Self-Represented Plaintiff’s Lawsuit Against Auto Insurer
If you do need to file a personal injury lawsuit, it is important that you work with a qualified Pasco County car accident attorney. There are a number of procedural rules that must be followed in these cases. And self-represented plaintiffs often make critical mistakes that doom their lawsuit before it even gets in front of a judge or jury.
Take this recent decision, Rush v. GEICO General Insurance Co., from the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. This case involved a self-represented plaintiff who sued the insurance company GEICO. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, he sustained injuries in a rear-end car accident that occurred in Florida. He maintained that GEICO was responsible for paying his medical bills and demanded compensation.
The lawsuit never survived GEICO’s motion to dismiss. There were a couple of issues. First, the plaintiff never had a viable cause of action against GEICO itself. When you file a personal injury lawsuit seeking damages from a car accident, you sue the at-fault driver, not their insurance company. You can file a “bad faith” lawsuit against an auto insurer, but that typically involves a situation where the plaintiff sues their own insurance company for paying PIP benefits or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Here, the plaintiff did not have a policy with GEICO. He apparently believed the at-fault driver did, but again, that meant he should have sued the driver.
The second issue with this particular plaintiff’s lawsuit was that, even assuming he had a valid claim, he never properly served his complaint on GEICO. Service of process is a critical step in initiating any civil lawsuit. In this case, the plaintiff simply sent a copy of his complaint to GEICO’s corporate office in the mail. But that is not how service of process works. Normally, service is done by a local sheriff or another individual authorized to act as a process server. It is not done by the plaintiff. And while a defendant may agree to waive formal service of process and accept service by mail, that did not happen in this case.
When a plaintiff fails to properly complete service of process within a specific timeframe, the judge can dismiss the case outright, which is what happened here.
Contact a Pasco County Car Accident Attorney Today
When it comes to a personal injury lawsuit, it is best to seek out professional advice and representation from an experienced Pasco County car accident lawyer. Contact Wendy Doyle-Palumbo, Esq., today at (727) 233-2134 to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in Hudson, New Port Richie, and Pasco County, Florida.
Source:
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13930718989366479761