I used to defend drivers and their insurers.Now I fight them.
A crash takes seconds. The insurance claim takes months, and the other side starts working on it that same day. While you’re dealing with doctors, a rental car, and missed work, an adjuster is deciding what your injury is worth.
I used to sit in on those decisions. I defended insurers in crash cases and saw how they build the case against you. Now I represent people hurt in Tampa car accidents, and I build the case before they can.
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The three things people ask first.
You can recover if you are 50% or less at fault. Your award is reduced by your share. Fla. Stat. § 768.81
In a car crash, your own PIP pays first: up to $10,000 if a doctor finds an emergency medical condition. Fla. Stat. § 627.736
I used to advise insurers on these moves. Here’s how to answer each one.
An adjuster calls within days. Friendly, concerned, and recording. “I’m feeling okay” becomes evidence you weren’t hurt. What you do: Don’t give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement. Send them to me.
A check shows up before you know how bad the injury is, with a release attached. What you do: Don’t sign anything. Once you sign the release, the claim is over for good.
Any gap between the crash and your first visit, or between appointments, gets used to argue you weren’t really hurt. What you do: Get checked within 14 days and keep your appointments.
If the cars don’t look bad, they’ll say the crash couldn’t have hurt you. What you do: Photograph the damage and keep the repair estimate. I’ve made this argument for insurers. I know how to answer it.
Hit by a commercial vehicle? See truck accidents. Lost a family member? See wrongful death.
I lock down video and witnesses early, so their version doesn’t get the last word.
I get the phone records and the criminal file.
What the driver was doing in the app decides which policy pays. I pin it down early.
Your own UM coverage is usually the answer. I make sure it pays.
Get the evidence first. Crash report, photos, 911 calls, witness names, and any video from nearby businesses before it’s recorded over.
Find every policy. Your PIP (the part of your own car insurance that pays medical bills no matter who caused the crash), the other driver’s bodily injury coverage, your UM coverage, and any commercial or rideshare policy in play.
Help you find care. If you need treatment, I can share names of doctors near you who accept PIP and that past clients have spoken highly of. The choice is always yours.
Document the injury. Medical records, bills, lost wages, and how this changed your day to day life.
Handle the adjusters. You stop taking their calls. I take them.
Handle your property damage claim, free. Your repair or total loss and your rental car. I don’t charge a fee for that part.
Push back on their arguments. Gaps in treatment, prior injuries, low property damage. I’ve made those arguments. I know how to answer them.
File suit when they won’t be fair. Every case gets prepared as if it’s going to trial.
The roads. I-275 through downtown and Westshore. The I-4 interchange locals call Malfunction Junction. The Howard Frankland and the Selmon Expressway. Dale Mabry, Hillsborough Avenue, Fowler, and Bruce B. Downs. On the interstate, note the exit, the lane, and your direction. On a surface road, note the intersection and any businesses with cameras.
Where you treat. Tampa General is the area’s Level I trauma center. St. Joseph’s and AdventHealth Tampa see crash patients every day.
Bridges and causeways. On the Howard Frankland, the Gandy, or the Courtney Campbell, there’s often nowhere safe to pull over. Move only if it’s safe. If you can, photograph the lane and the nearest mile marker.
Toll roads. The Selmon Expressway is all electronic. Toll records can help place the other car on the road at the time of the crash.
Your Tampa crash report.
Tampa Police handles crashes in the city, the Sheriff’s Office handles the county, and Florida Highway Patrol handles the interstates. Reports are confidential for 60 days except to the people involved and their lawyers. You can buy yours on the FLHSMV portal. If you hire me, I get it and pay for it.
Where it’s filed. Hillsborough County cases go to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. Most civil cases are heard at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse downtown.
My office is on North Dale Mabry in Carrollwood. I’ll also meet you at home or at the hospital. Most clients never need to come in.
Bring what you have: photos, the exchange form, insurance letters, medical bills. It doesn’t need to be organized. That’s my job.
Call or text me at (813) 547-4707.
PIP pays first, up to $10,000, no matter who caused the crash. Get treated within 14 days or you can lose it. My Florida PIP guide covers the details.
The at fault driver pays the rest. For pain and suffering, Florida requires a permanent injury or similar serious harm. Proving it takes the right doctors and records.
When the adjuster calls, get their name and claim number. Don’t give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. Call me first.
Steps that protect your claim.
Call 911 if anyone’s hurt. See a doctor within 14 days, even if you feel fine.
Both cars, the scene, the road, your injuries. Only if it’s safe.
The other driver, their insurance, and any witness.
If you don’t know the speed or the distance, say so.
Before you talk to their insurer.
Inside city limits, Tampa Police. In unincorporated areas like Carrollwood or Town ‘n’ Country, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. On I-275 or I-4, Florida Highway Patrol. The agency’s name is on the exchange form the officer gave you.
Rental and out of state drivers are common near the airport, downtown, and the attractions. Coverage can come from their own policy, coverage bought with the rental, or your own uninsured motorist coverage. Sorting out who pays first is my job.
Hillsborough County’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. Most civil cases are heard at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse downtown. Most cases settle without a trial, but I prepare every case like it’s going to one.
Two years to file suit for most Florida crashes. The PIP treatment window is only 14 days. Negotiating with an adjuster does not stop the clock. Florida Statutes § 95.11
Nothing unless we win. My fee and case costs come out of the recovery. If there’s no recovery, you owe nothing.
Yes. You call or text, I answer.
Every case is handled by me. Not assistants, case managers, or call centers.
I also handle other injury cases in Tampa.
See all areas I serve. I represent injured people across Florida.
Written by Jacob Gordon, Florida Bar No. 125004 · Updated October 2026