Jacksonville Motorcycle Property Damage Lawyers
Here are some tips to help you assess the property damage done to your motorcycle and to prepare to collect damages from potentially liable parties.
Keep good records. Immediately following your Jacksonville motorcycle crash (or other event that resulted in the destruction or partial destruction of your bike), record in detail what went wrong and what you believe is damaged. Take pictures from many angles, ideally at the scene of the accident. Write down information about how the bike behaves, particularly how it seems to be malfunctioning or misfiring post-accident. A video may even be more helpful than a series of photographs to establish damages.
Most insurance companies will not require that you take your bike to a specific mechanic. But when you do take the bike into the shop for repairs, get a written estimate to fix the bike, repair broken parts, and restore its aesthetic value (particularly if you own a high value or antique/collector motorcycle).
If you leave your damaged bike with the repair shop, the proprietor can charge you storage fees, which can really add up over time. Even if you successfully later litigate to recover damages for broken property, you might not be able to get money back to compensate you for these exorbitant storage fees. Before having repair work done on the bike, bring the estimate to the insurance company responsible for paying for the damage. This estimate should take into account not only the cost of part replacement but also the cost of labor, services, shipping, storage, and other sundry fees.
Following its repairs, inspect the bike to verify the completeness of the work done. In some cases, a mechanic or insurance company may seek to substitute inferior parts to save money. If you don’t discover this until after the fact, you may not be able to do anything about it. So take the time to inspect and verify – you may even want to take the bike to a second mechanic to ensure that all the broken parts have been fixed and all the necessary repairs have been completed.
What if another driver or liable entity caused or partially caused the damage? You likely can take legal action to recover the cost of the repairs as well as money to compensate for the inconvenience, frustration, pain, and suffering the accident caused you.
However, to make your most forceful case, you’ll likely need an attorney who has substantial background in motorcycle accident law. For two and half decades, Floridian bikers have trusted the team of Farah & Farah. Eddie Farah is a member of the Better Business Bureau, The Florida Justice Association, and The American Association of Justice. At the firm’s main site, www.farahandfarah.com, you can explore more about the firm’s successes. For more information or to set up a consultation now, dial 1.800.614.3136, or email Eddie at efarah@farahandfarah.com.