If you are involved in a West Palm Beach car accident case where the tortfeasor or person at fault does not have any bodily injury insurance or your injuries and damages exceed their bodily injury coverage, your West Palm Beach car accident lawyer will probably look at your own insurance policy to determine whether you have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in order to receive compensation for your injuries. If your West Palm Beach car accident attorney determines that you have UM coverage, he/she will write a letter to the insurance company notifying them that you are making a UM claim. Once your West Palm Beach car accident attorney has done this, your own insurance company steps into the shoes of the tortfeasor and tortfeasors are not allowed to engage in pre-suit discovery. However, insurance defense attorneys will often try to schedule an examination under oath prior to a suit being filed to learn more about the case and assessing whether you have a legitimate claim. Your insurance policy may allow for this; however, there is likely no language which specifically allows your insurance company to do this and the UM statute in Florida is silent on the issue. No Florida court has ever ruled on whether the insurance company can insert a provision in their policy that allows for pre-suit discovery in a UM case.

Nevertheless, most attorneys go ahead and cooperate with the defense counsel's request probably so as not to compromise their client's case. Some attorneys do fight the request by filing a complaint for declarative and injunctive relief to stop the examination. An examination under oath is similar to a deposition where the defense counsel asks you questions about the accident, your accident history, your treatment and injuries. It is usually recorded and takes place in the presence of a court reporter who swears you in which means that you are subject the laws governing perjurious testimony.