LAKE COUNTY, FL – A collision in Lake County on Monday afternoon claimed the life of an elderly motorcycle rider, WKMG reports.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the victim was an 84-year-old man from Leesburg. The FHP’s investigation found that he was riding east on El Presidente Boulevard near U.S. Highway 27 at about 2:09 p.m. The motorcyclist failed to stop for a stop sign while trying to make a left turn near the intersection, and entered the path of a Toyota Corolla heading south on U.S. Highway 27.
The front of the car collided with the left side of the bike. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead after being taken to an area hospital. The driver of the Corolla, a 31-year-old woman from Georgia, was not injured.
OCALA, FL – The Florida Highway Patrol was on the scene of a fatal pedestrian accident in Marion County on Monday morning, according to WESH.
The victim was a 63-year-old Opa Locka man who was hit by a truck on Interstate 75 just before 6 a.m. The FHP said he was walking from east to west from the paved shoulder and entered the right lane of I-75 near the exit for SR-326.
The driver of a southbound tractor-trailer swerved but was unable to avoid hitting the pedestrian with the front fender. The driver lost control, went off the highway and onto the grass median, where the truck overturned and the tractor section hit a guardrail. A second tractor-trailer then collided with the first vehicle.
PASCO COUNTY, FL – The Florida Highway Patrol said a multi-vehicle accident in Pasco County claimed the life of one of the drivers involved.
WTVT reports the crash occurred Friday afternoon on US-301 near Wire Road shortly after 3:30 p.m. According to the FHP, a man was driving a pickup truck northbound when he lost control while trying to change lanes.
The pickup truck went through the grass median and crashed nearly head-on into a sedan that was traveling south on US-301, causing the pickup to overturn. The sedan then rotated and was hit on its left side by a third vehicle, an SUV.
GAINESVILLE, FL – Gainesville police and rescue crews were called to the scene of a fatal pedestrian accident on Friday morning.
According to WCJB, the incident happened at Northwest 23rd Avenue and Northwest 6th Street at about 10 a.m. A woman was struck by a sport utility vehicle at that location, authorities said.
The victim, identified as Lorin Cava, was pronounced dead after being rushed to UF Health Shands Hospital.
SPRING HILL, FL – Authorities said a driver was killed when his car crashed during storm conditions of Hurricane Idalia on Wednesday morning.
According to WTVT, the accident happened on Saint Joe Road near Interstate 75. The Florida Highway Patrol said a man was driving a Ford Ranger eastbound at about 6:15 a.m. when his vehicle veered off the road and crashed into a tree.
The driver, a 40-year-old Spring Hill man, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hurricane Idalia ripped through Florida as a Major Hurricane. Using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the National Hurricane Center defines a hurricane as “Major” if sustained winds are over 110 miles per hour, which is considered Category 3 and above on the scale.
The severe storm made landfall on Wednesday morning, August 30, 2023 in the Big Bend of Florida’s gulf coast, over Keaton Beach, with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour, just before 8 a.m. ET after having briefly strengthened to Category 4.
Idalia moved across northern Florida toward Georgia and was downgraded to a tropical storm Wednesday afternoon. It continued up the Atlantic Coast on Wednesday night to South Carolina and North Carolina.
OCALA, FL – Two people died and a police officer was injured following a hit-and-run incident in Ocala Saturday night, according to WESH.
Police said a driver was speeding through the intersection of South Pine Avenue and Southwest 17th Street shortly before 10:30 p.m. and struck a pedestrian and a parked patrol car. The pedestrian, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead after being transported to an area hospital.
The driver left the scene of the crash with police officers in pursuit. One officer was parked in a median near Maricamp Road and 30th Avenue and was preparing to place stop sticks on the ground.
You may be wondering where to start when you have come back to your home or business after the storms and find yourself left with massive property damage and destruction. Should you go on to your insurance provider’s website and submit an online claim?
The answer is YES! This is a great idea because you want to submit your claim in a timely manner. However, just because you submit an online claim does not mean you can blindly trust that the insurance company will not try and play games with your submission. What do we mean by that?
The main thing to understand is that these websites are created for these insurance claims to come in, as well as a means for the insurance company to control what they do and do not know/what they were and were not notified of. So, what should you do?
Once you submit your online claim, you should immediately follow that up with an email. When writing your follow up email to the carrier, after submitting your claim, be sure answer these questions.
(1) who are you? Policy number, where do you live?
(2) when you submitted the claim via online form
(3) what online form did you use? (Name of website)
(4) what date and name of storm?
(5) what damage did you highlight?
(6) any estimates, bills, work performed or anecdotal information
(7) how best to get back a hold of you
The point of doing this is to have an email memorializing what you did on their website because you have no way of knowing if your insurance provider will try and say they never received your claim. You have no idea how many times we have seen when people submit a claim and never here anything back. They hire us later and we communicate with the insurance company only to find that they say this is the first time they have heard anything about the claim in question. This can change the prospects for your financial recovery based on dates, statutes of limitations, and all sorts of other things.
With all this said, it is absolutely a great idea to use your insurance company’s website to submit an online claim. Just make sure you memorialize it with an email that follows up with exactly what you did. You can even screen shot a picture of the website submission form before you submit it, so that you can show further proof of your claim submission.
MARION COUNTY, FL – A two-vehicle collision in Marion County Saturday afternoon claimed the lives of both drivers, authorities said.
According to WCJB, deputies with the Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene on SE Maricamp Road at about 2:15 p.m. and found the two victims in their cars.
An investigation determined that a 71-year-old woman was driving on the roadway when she crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a car driven by a 79-year-old man.
As Hurricane Idalia makes its way through Florida, already causing flooding in some coastal areas, parts of the State’s Gulf Coast are expected to see deadly storm surge that officials are describing as non-survivable.
In addition, a tornado watch is also in effect for central and western Florida, including the Tampa Bay area, until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Tornadoes are frequently connected with the outer bands of tropical systems that make landfall.
Idalia is anticipated to strengthen to a Category 3 hurricane before reaching the Big Bend region, which contains Taylor County and is located just southeast of the state capital, Tallahassee. Idalia will bring strong gusts and a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet to the area, which is enough water stacked to reach halfway up an average building’s second level.
Evacuation orders are mandatory in at least 28 counties. You can view them here.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration identifies storm surge as the reason for most storm evacuations and the cause for about half of all hurricane-related fatalities.
If you are in an evacuation zone, our Florida Hurricane and Storm Damage Lawyers at Whittel & Melton urge you to get to safety. Remember, you do not have to leave the State – sometimes you just need to travel tens of miles (not hundreds) to get to a safer spot.
After Idalia hits, and you can make it safely back to your home, assessing the damage is an important task. We have a few tips that can make filing an insurance claim less stressful.
Fully evaluate your losses: The goal of insurance is to compensate you for your actual losses. Making a thorough record of your losses, complete with images, estimated values, purchase dates, and information on the damage sustained, will help to support your claim.
Report the damage right away: Waiting too long could mean you lose money. As soon as it is safe to do so, make the initial report to your insurance provider.
Know the details of your insurance policy: Different types of hurricane insurance exist. Knowing when temporary solutions can help or when they might undermine your long-term claim is important. Review the specifics of your policy.
Keep a detailed log of repairs: Maintain thorough records of the repairs you have made and the associated charges.
Speak with our Florida Hurricane and Storm Damage Lawyers at Whittel & Melton: You can get help from our Hurricane Insurance Claims Lawyers to ensure that your payment is accurate and thorough. If the insurance provider rejects your claim unfairly, we can also assist you in taking the proper legal action to challenge them.
