Hi, I just had my auto insurance recently under my parents’ policy here in Florida and honestly, I am not familiar with some things on it. I still don’t know why Florida is a no-fault insurance state, so would you care to explain that?

Jose

Coral Springs, FL

Since you have just been recently added as a new driver to your parents’ car insurance policy in Florida, it is perfectly understandable that you are not yet familiar with everything that is on it. Majority of the states have conventional fault-based system wherein the compensation will be according to the driver’s level of fault in an accident. But, some states view that it will be expensive to fight through the courts just to figure out who was at fault in a lot of accidents. For this reason, some states are using another system which is no-fault insurance.

If you get involved in an accident, your car insurance company will pay for the damages up to a certain limit, no matter whose fault it was under the no-fault system. In return for this definite compensation, you should give up some of your rights to take legal action against the other person involved in the accident. Similarly, you will not be taken to court by the other party in case you are the one who caused the accident. There are some aspects of no-fault in every car insurance policy. For instance, medical payments as well as property damage are normally being compensated whoever is to blame in the accident.

I am about to purchase my own SUV here in Royal Palm Beach-West Jupiter, Florida and of course I need to get it insured. What are the factors that will be considered in determining the rates for the auto insurance?

Parker

Royal Palm Beach-West Jupiter, FL

You probably already know that buying an SUV would be a bit costly, especially at the gas pump. But the auto insurance would also be more expensive than other regular cars. According to insurance analysts, the cost of the insurance of an SUV would average out to be 10 to 20% more that the insurance of other cars.

There are also some other factors that will be considered in determining the insurance rates of the SUV you will purchase in Royal Palm Beach-West Jupiter, Florida. The credit and driving history of the driver, the city and state where the SUV would be used and if the SUV is outfitted with any kind of anti-theft devices could play very important roles in the amount of your insurance rates.

A lot of people think that because SUV’s are safer to drive, the insurance would be less than the normal rates of a car. However, auto insurance providers know that even though the damage would be less if someone who drives an SUV get into an accident, the repairs would be much more expensive than that of a regular car. The bumpers of an SUV could be considered as a bit fragile, so a little bump from any other automobile could end up amounting to hundreds of dollars to have it repaired.

What do you think is the first thing that I should do to win my case after being arrested for DUI here in Clearwater, Florida?

Chuck

Clearwater, FL

You will immediately feel the effects after being arrested for DUI in Clearwater, Florida. You’ll be required to use a temporary driver’s license for a period of 30 days and during this time, you would have to hire a DUI lawyer and begin building your defense. You have to work with your DUI lawyer and begin building your defense and determine if there are any loopholes in the current law that could benefit your DUI case.

Make sure that the lawyer that you hire specializes in handling DUI cases so that they can find loopholes in your DUI arrest that is specific in the state of Florida. The DUI lawyer would definitely challenge the findings of the breath test and chemical tests for your blood alcohol content. A lot of factors affect a breath test aside from consuming alcohol. Also, urine and blood tests are not a hundred percent accurate. The DUI lawyer will start questioning the testing method when trying to find loopholes in your DUI case. A DUI arrest would also trigger for your car insurance to have higher rates so if you are looking for a better but affordable car insurance, go and get an online rate quote from this website.

We are all saddened for what happened to my brother because he got arrested for DUI in  Florida. How much would a lawyer cost him if he hires a private one?

Edward

Boca Ciega, FL

How much your brother would pay for a lawyer to help him on his DUI case in Boca Ciega, Florida would depend on too many factors to list here. Proper defense for DUI cases would involve a great deal of valuable time and effort so do not expect a low price. If your brother wants the lowest-priced lawyer, he could find to hold his hand as he pleads guilty, the phrase “you get what you pay for” would come to mind. I’d be honest that if you get a cheap lawyer, he would probably show up in court and plead your brother out, but could not do anything to build up defenses that could help your brother win his DUI case.

In other words, if your brother could afford one, a good private DUI lawyer is absolutely the way to go, but get ready to pay because it would really not be cheap. He could consider a few private DUI lawyers and all of them charge between $4000 and $6000 for a pretrial retainer. If he is not prepared to pay for this range, then he could save his money and try to go with a public defender. But that would be not a good idea at all so I suggest he finds a way to hire a qualified DUI lawyer. After all, an experienced DUI lawyer could really help him a lot on his DUI case.

I know that my sister’s DUI charge in Southwest Orange, Florida is something that she has to be serious about. I’ve read that the breath test is not 100% accurate and I have my own thoughts about it. How can we exclude the results of the breath test as evidence on her case?

Daphne

Southwest Orange, FL

The use of breathalyzers such as the intoxilyzer to measure one’s blood alcohol content has been widely criticized since law enforcement has utilized the device in an effort to seek convictions for those suspected of DUI. Because of that, a lot of safety measures have been put into place to minimize the number of innocent people who are being convicted. There are a lot of reasons that the court could rule in favor of excluding the results of the breath test in your sister’s DUI case in Southwest Orange, Florida.

The breath test machine needs to be maintained and serviced regularly to ensure accurate results. If it is not calibrated or serviced, that could be a ground for suppression of evidence. Likewise, if the officer did not observe your sister for a period of 20 minutes before administering the breath test, the results may be excluded. If the one who carried out the test is not properly certified and not current with his/her educational requirements, this would constitute a failure of legal procedure and any results acquired should be excluded from the evidence.

• Hourly rates.

Hourly rates work best for short and simple cases. If this is your first time getting charged with DUI, for example, and there is nothing serious to complicate your case which would cause your Tallahassee FL DUI attorney to have to gather research and witnesses and so on, then it’s possible that an hourly rate would be the best method for you to pay your lawyer. Throw one cog in the wheel, though, and the prices hear could rise by a lot.

• Fixed fee.

A fixed fee means one of two things: in many cases, a lawyer will split the fee into two, with one fixed fee for researching, interviewing, consulting, and so on, and another fixed fee for just the defense. Some lawyers, though, do it differently, in that they charge a single fixed fee across the board for all of their services.