The Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast

E131: Protecting Your Health & Finances After a Car Accident with Atty. Melissa Solevilla

• Kerry Reller

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Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! This week, I’m joined by Melissa Solevilla, a personal injury attorney and partner at Neal & Solevilla Personal Injury Lawyers. In this episode, Melissa shares her personal story of being hit by a texting driver while pregnant—an experience that shaped her approach to advocating for injured clients.

We discuss why most people in Florida are underinsured without realizing it, and Melissa explains how uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) coverage can protect your finances and access to care after an accident. We also explore the physical, mental, and emotional challenges accident victims face and why finding quality medical care—including mental health support—is so difficult after an accident.

Tune in to learn how to protect your health and finances before and after an accident, with real-world advice from someone who’s been there.

Melissa Solevilla, Esq. is a personal injury attorney and partner at Neal & Solevilla Personal Injury Lawyers in Clearwater, Florida. She began her career in personal injury law as a receptionist in 1999 and has been passionate about helping the injured and disabled ever since. After earning her law degree from Stetson University College of Law in 2012, she partnered with Katherine Neal to open their own firm in 2023.

Melissa focuses on representing clients injured in car accidents, falls, and other negligence cases, as well as families who have lost loved ones in wrongful death cases. She also specializes in crematory and cemetery malpractice claims—a unique niche where she advocates for families affected by extreme industry negligence.

Her commitment to personal injury law deepened after her own experience of being hit by a texting driver while pregnant, leaving her with permanent spinal injuries and a difficult pregnancy. This personal journey drives her dedication to providing personalized, compassionate care to every client.

Melissa is a wife, mother of four, and active community volunteer. She’s a member of The Florida Bar, the Clearwater Bar Association, and volunteers with Countryside Little League, Pinellas County Schools PTA, and Harborside Christian Church in Safety Harbor, Florida.

00:00 - Introduction
00:28 - Meet Melissa Solevilla, Esq: Why She Chose Personal Injury Law
01:47 - Melissa’s Personal Story: Pregnant, Hit by a Texting Driver
05:58 - What is UM Coverage? Why Florida Drivers Are Underinsured
08:15 - Financial Protection as Health Protection: Melissa’s Insurance Tips
10:53 - Misconceptions About Personal Injury Lawyers
12:55 - Challenges of Running a Small Law Firm as a Mom of Four
16:32 - Competing with Big Firms: Boutique Client Experience
19:01 - Physical and Emotional Hurdles After an Accident
20:15 - Trauma and Mental Health: Why Recovery Isn’t Just Physical
23:14 - Why Finding Quality Care After an Accident Is So Hard
27:22 - Wellness Tips Melissa Shares with Clients After Injury

Connect with Attorney 
Website: www.nealandsolevilla.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NealandSolevilla
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nealandsolevilla/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/neal-solevilla-personal-injury-lawyers/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-solevilla-35957b9/

Connect with Dr. Kerry Reller
Podcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou... 
My linktree: linktr.ee/kerryrellermd
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryrellermd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamilyMedicine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kerryrellermd
Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwa...
Podcast: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou...

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Kerry:

Hi everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kerry Reller, and today we have Melissa Solevilla on the podcast. Welcome.

Melissa:

I happy to be here.

Kerry:

Yes. I'm so happy to have you. This is gonna be definitely something new for me because why don't you tell us a little little bit about who you are and what you do, and then everybody will understand.

Melissa:

I am a partner at a law firm, Neil and Solevilla Personal Injury Lawyers, and our firm started out about 18 months ago. My partner Catherine Neil and I were partners at a law, another law firm for many, many, many years. And left that firm, um, about a year and a half ago to start our own adventure and, focusing on advocating for people who have been involved in accidents and it's not their fault, or advocating for their families in the event that somebody has lost their life, through a non at-fault accident. And so that's what we're doing.

Kerry:

Awesome. Yeah, it must be, um, I guess some confusing to some listeners why I might have you on the podcast, but I think any, you know, everybody has their kind of health and wellness story or journey. So tell us a little bit about how you became into the position. of the lawyer that you are today, so share

Melissa:

Well, so I was working as a paralegal and in law school, uh, with a local law firm. And I was actually pregnant with my first child. Super excited. I'm not saying that it was fantastic planning to be pregnant in law school. Probably not great planning, but it worked out that way. My husband and I were very thankful. And we were on our way to Orlando to visit some family for the afternoon when we were involved in a pretty bad car accident. So we were rear-ended by a young lady, about 19 years old, admitted to the police officer that she was texting while she was driving 75 miles per hour on the interstate flying through the interstate. State on her cell phone. And so there was a car right behind us and that car managed to see her coming and not braking and he zipped around us. So she just plowed straight into us without even stopping. So, and I was newly pregnant and I don't know about most of your listeners, but I was a super, super anxious pregnant woman and completely just worried about the baby and what was gonna happen. So. We were rear-ended. It was we were hurt, our car was trashed. And. You know, I was already working in the PI realm at that point, but I think that that accident really helped me understand and have a level of empathy for our clients that it's impossible to have otherwise. And so it was through that traumatic moment that I really even became more passionate about working with auto accident victims. And specifically families and moms who are dealing with the repercussions of an accident. So that's what renewed my commitment to staying in personal injury and gave me a whole new level of empathy.

Kerry:

Yeah. Well, while I don't wish you know these kinds of stories upon anybody, it is nice to be able to really be empathetic with your clients. I think that I I, I, I didn't know you were already, you know, kind of dialed into law school and everything like that and you had decided on the personal injury, so,

Melissa:

It was crazy. It was crazy because that was something that I dealt with on a daily basis. I was used to dealing with people who were involved in accidents. I could tell you textbook what you should do after you were in an accident. But then when it happened to me, I panicked. I panicked, I panicked, I panicked. Um, god bless my husband who was sitting in the passenger seat. He did not stay any calm, more calm than I was. And so it was a really scary situation and I was just terrified to, to wait to see what happened with the baby because at that point, when you're that early in the pregnancy, there's nothing that they can do. So you're literally just waiting to see. See if everything's gonna be okay. And that was a, that was a horribly vulnerable feeling.

Kerry:

Yeah, I mean, even like you said, you were already an anxious pregnant woman and pregnancy is, you know, very common to have extra anxiety. I just can't imagine what, you know, we're feeling like at that time. I'm assuming since you're a mom of four that everything worked out okay.

Melissa:

Oh, so blessed. I'm so blessed. Ethan is now 13 years old and he is feisty and funny, and smart and wonderful in every single way. Um, so I am very, very blessed with four fantastic children and no other eventful issues.

Kerry:

Yeah. Good. And I should point out, since you mentioned that the person was texting and driving that, I mean, I ask silly things, you know, when we do like an annual wellness visit and well, some of them is like, are, do you wear a bike helmet and things like that. But, we don't ask anything about their driving habits, but I maybe that should be one, because that is a super dangerous thing to do to be driving and, you know,

Melissa:

Well, and you know, another interesting layer on top of it, which you know, is something important for the health of Tampa Bay families is to understand that this young lady who hit us also didn't have any auto insurance.

Kerry:

Wow.

Melissa:

So not only did she hit us trash, our car, I incurred a lot of medical bills as a result because yes, the pregnancy was okay, but my, my neck and my back were permanently injured. made the pregnancy extremely miserable with those injuries and with having limitations on what the doctors could really do while I was pregnant. but also on top of it. She had no insurance coverage. So fortunately I had, UM coverage on my auto insurance policy because I was already in the industry. I knew how important that, UM coverage was. If it weren't for that, I would've had permanent injuries utter anxiety and financially a really, really bad situation. So thankfully I had that, UM coverage. So at least it took away that concern.

Kerry:

So since we're in different fields, tell us what, UM coverage means.

Melissa:

Sorry. UM, coverage is uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Okay. And it is not standard on your auto insurance. Yep. Absolutely. Send me your policy. I'll take a look at it for you. It is not standard on a Florida auto insurance policy. It's not required in the state of Florida. If you go to your auto insurance company and say, I want full coverage, they probably will not put, UM coverage on there. But, UM coverage is uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, and it's the coverage you need on your policy to protect yourself if the other driver doesn't have bodily injury coverage on their policy. So I always tell clients you know, I'm gonna educate you on what auto insurance coverage should look like. I'm gonna educate you so that when you're purchasing your coverage in the future, you feel educated and confident in doing so, but also give your family a lesson at Thanksgiving dinner and tell them to go ahead and send me a pol a copy of their policy so that I can warn them in advance if they don't have adequate coverage before they're in the situation where they need it.

Kerry:

Oh, that is some really good advice for sure. Oh my goodness. What, what other good advice do you have for any listener, like regarding health and wellness in this like field, I guess your, your specialist.

Melissa:

Yeah, I think that, you know, financial health and wellness is important as well, and having the right auto insurance coverage provides you and your family with health, healthy health and wellness. So you wanna make sure Florida does not require bodily injury coverage on your policy. The law is written pretty loosey goosey and it basically says that you either need to have$10,000 of bodily injury coverage, or you can self-insure for 10,000 in bodily injury coverage. If those clients that don't, or people who can't afford to have that$10,000 in bodily injury coverage. Probably don't have$10,000 in their bank account sitting in case they cause an accident. So you wanna make sure that you have bodily injury coverage on your policy if you don't have that$10,000 in your, on your policy, and if you cause an accident And you don't have that self-insured money, then your driver's license will be suspended until you can deal with that. So that is important to know. You wanna make sure that you have at least$10,000 worth of bodily injury coverage on your policy. If you don't have that, you need to add it. It's also a good idea to talk with an insurance salesperson about how much bodily injury coverage you need on your policy in order to protect your assets. So you wanna make sure you have bodily injury coverage on your policy. You can't have uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist coverage if you don't have bodily injury coverage on your policy. So it's important to make sure you have both of those. Some clients don't understand, the importance of collision coverage. Collision comprehensive and collision coverage is coverage that you have on your auto insurance policy to fix your car. I. If the other driver doesn't have adequate insurance coverage. And so sometimes what people will do is when they get the car paid off, they'll just drop their collision coverage. Problem is, is if you can't afford to just write off that car, you really need to make sure you keep collision coverage on your policy. Now, I mean, let's be honest, everybody, especially with the prices of insurance these days, everybody's juggling, you know, benefit doing a benefit analysis, is it worth what I'm paying for it? You know, where can I cut to save money? But you really wanna be careful with what insurance coverages you cut, because that exposes certain risks to your family that really could be financially devastating for you or many people.

Kerry:

Yeah, that's definitely important information. I think when we were talking a little bit before you were saying some people have the wrong impression of personal injury attorneys. Can you kind of tell me what people get totally wrong about personal injury law?

Melissa:

Well, we used to have someone who would send us a Shark week cake every week during Shark week I think insinuating that we were just out there for the blood. But, you know, that's that's not really who we are. Um, I wouldn't, I'd tell you that I think the majority of personal injury attorneys that I meet are people who are passionate about other people who have compassion, who want to help people protect people from, vulnerable situations. And what I can say about our firm in particular and all of these incredible women who work in our firm, these people are here because they care about their community. They, most of us have been involved in some kind of a horrific accident. Have dealt with the aftermath of it, and so we're really here because we don't like to see members of our community in a vulnerable spot navigating a complicated insurance situation or a complicated legal situation. Without the tools that they need to be successful and to protect themselves. So, you know, the stereotype is that we're all ambulance chasers and you know, we get a lot of those comments on our social media post. And I just try to reach out to people and say, Hey look, if you wanna give me a call, I'd be happy to talk to you and let you know what my value system is and the good that we do in the community. And then maybe you can reassess what you think of at least these personal injury attorneys. Does that make sense?

Kerry:

Yeah, of course. Yeah. So you, you also, you know, branched out on your own and what kind of I guess improvements or maybe hurdles that has done for, I guess, your, you know, personal life. You're a mom of four, so you can, you take off whenever you want. Right? So like what kind of pluses and minuses when you go out on your own do you, I guess get, as a business owner.

Melissa:

It's been such an adventure. So Catherine and I went out on our own 18 months ago, and obviously there's even so much more work that goes into it when you own the business. But we are really, really lucky where we are able, we're like-minded and we have the same priorities. And so we are able to kind of tailor our workday to accomplish everything we want to accomplish. A lot of times what we'll do is I'll come in early. And I'll work until a point where I turn on mom mode and I get to go run the kids around and do the things with the kids that are important to them and where we're making memories. And maybe while they're sitting in a dance class, I'm working, you know, in the lobby or in my car. But then I get to spend that time with them and I get to be there with them and I get to watch the cartwheels going on and whatever's exciting and special for them at that moment. And you know what, sometimes that means we go home, we bathe, we have dinner, and they go to bed and maybe I go back to work and work a little bit more from home. But we're able to really. Have everything that we want when we're the captains of the ship. So it's really special. It's fantastic. Our clients don't, suffer from the fact that we have an unconventional work schedule some days, it may mean that they get a phone call or a text message, you know, late at night or early morning. But I find that clients appreciate that and that they respect that. So it's, it's pretty fantastic. It's pretty special. It's a lot of pressure. But it's such a blessing. It's such a blessing to be able to pursue everything that we're passionate about on our timeline. And to work with these incredible people. We were so fortunate that the majority of our team members came with us. And we are just so thankful to be able to provide secure, rewarding career options for these incredible women where they're making a difference in the community and we're able to make a difference in their lives. So it's pretty fantastic.

Kerry:

Yeah, I mean it sounds like you got the best of both worlds. It is. You know, it's fun being business owner, but obviously there's a lot of challenges to that too. And then you get to kind of, like you said, turn on mom mode. So that's kind of perfect.

Melissa:

It's also been really special with my family, where my family has like stepped in and helped us build this business. You know, my sons were here moving furniture and building furniture and, you know, my daughter and I were here shredding papers and sweeping the floor and it's really become kind of a family mission. And they're excited when they see somebody wearing one of our Neil and Solevilla t-shirts or, I think the school bus my daughter was on a field trip the bus drove past our billboard and the kids on the bus were like, look, that's Reagan's mom. And so she thought it was really cool and really special. And I think it's showing her, you know, you can pursue your dreams, showing all my kids, you can pursue your dreams, decide what your dreams are, set your goals, and go out and do'em, and you're gonna have the support of your family to help you reach those dreams

Kerry:

Yeah, I think that's amazing to be able to set an example like that for your kids. I don't know about in law, but you know, in medicine, like the kind of private practice field is like, not that in existence anymore and I'm holding out, so we'll see.

Melissa:

Please, please do. We need you.

Kerry:

yeah, it's just, I don't, I don't know. Is it, is, are everything like a big law firm or is, you know, these smaller practices still around?'cause I feel like they're still around. I think you guys are lucky.

Melissa:

I. They are still around. There are still a lot of, small practices, but obviously we're competing with those giants. The, you know, the 800 pound gorillas. And we're never gonna be able to compete with their billboard budget or their radio budget. And so we have to differentiate ourselves in ways that we can still reach community members. Who maybe are looking for more of a boutique experience. They're looking to have a conversation with the lawyer rather than the paralegal or an investigator. They want to talk to us. And so we really have to tailor our client experience so that it is a step above what they would be experiencing at those larger firms. I think those are some of the ways that we can set ourselves apart and, you know, stay relevant. Now, what does the future hold with you know, venture capitalists moving into the community with ai? I mean, that's terrifying. That's completely terrifying. So what does the future hold? I don't know. All we're, all we can control is the experience that we're providing to our clients now and being efficient and superior at our product.

Kerry:

I will say the ai, you know, is terrifying, especially like in the physician world, but you know, instead of. Pushing it away. I think adapting and adopting is really helpful. And I will give an example that a patient told me that she found me through chat, GPT. I was like, what? How does

Melissa:

That's fantastic.

Kerry:

I know. So who knows? I guess something is working. I get, I don't know if the SEO is different than the AI eo, but I

Melissa:

I don't know. I, we, that is the million dollar question and any, whichever one of us figures that out first, will be set for life. But I think we are gonna have to tailor the way that we market ourselves. We're gonna have to tailor everything, but if we stick our heads in the sand and ignore ai, we're just gonna become extinct. So we, we really, our people are not going to be replaced by ai, but uh, our people have to learn how to monitor and manage the AI to be able to help us continue to be efficient and provide the best product and the best service

Kerry:

Yeah, Yeah, exactly in whatever discipline we're in. Yeah, because we definitely need to adapt and adopt. So I don't know if you know these answers, but what are some of the biggest physical and emotional hurdles that your clients face after like an accident?

Melissa:

Oh goodness, that is such a good question. We speak with so many injured parties and a lot of them are families. Uh, maybe have young children, parents with young children, and they're hurting and hurting parents that are trying to juggle kids home for the summer and extracurriculars and picking up kids and getting'em to school. Juggling all those things when you're in pain takes it to a whole different level. So a lot of our clients are dealing with neck and back injuries, which makes it difficult for them to do their housework. Makes it difficult for them to care for their children. You know, they're just doing what they can to keep food on the table. But that pain makes it really hard to take that extra mile. So a lot of our clients are dealing with those neck and back issues. There a lot of clients, sustain traumatic brain injuries significant or minor brain injuries as a result of the accident. So that can impact everything the way that they approach life how well they're able to do their job.

Kerry:

Yeah, I, I mean, I was gonna follow that up with like, how important do you think mental health is in recovering.

Melissa:

Oh extremely. Oh clients, the anxiety that clients have, and it's not even just necessarily going through that same intersection again. I know that after I was involved in my accident, I was a stress ball. Anytime we were in Tampa, I. On the interstate specifically going through that intersection, I was just a nervous wreck. But it doesn't have to be just there. It becomes very traumatizing just riding in the car, even being a passenger in the car. Another area of law that we are particularly passionate about is working with DUI victims. So we partner with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Pinellas County, um, and the Tampa Bay area. To advocate for DUI victims. And I think there's a special level of trauma that you experience as a DUI victim because it's not just the thought that someone was being irresponsible and caused this accident or somebody, a mistake happened, accidents happen. It's not just that somebody chose to drink or do drugs and get behind the wheel and took away your safety. And so I think it's even an additional level of trauma that those DUI victims experience that really is, is rough and it's important that they have access to mental health treatment. And that's tough to find when it comes to doctors and medical providers. A lot of medical providers don't want to see auto accident victims. They're under the impression that they're going to have to testify that their bills aren't going to be paid regularly. I think a lot of medical providers are afraid of accident victims. It's another hoop that they're gonna have to jump through, and so a lot of them turn patients away. And so it's really important that we find quality medical providers out there who are willing to see auto accident victims in every specialty. We have a client right now who really needs to see an ENT for an injury that was caused by the accident and. It has been almost impossible to find an ENT who's also willing to see an auto accident victim. We have a client right now treating with a plastic surgeon because she sustained a horrible facial scar. Well, for her to find a plastic surgeon willing to see an auto accident victim, it's a whole nother level of trauma, just trying to find quality medical care after you've been involved in an accident and you're not just walking in with a, you know, health insurance card.

Kerry:

Interesting. So they, they take different insurance'cause they gotta take the. Auto insurance. Okay. So yeah, there's definitely people who have, you know, were at Cayman in our office advertising their business that they see auto injury, but I don't necessarily even know if they were medical doctors or what kind of people they are, to be

Melissa:

And you have to be careful. Yeah. You

Kerry:

so you have to, you have to accept the auto insurance.

Melissa:

Yes. So if you're involved in an accident in the state of Florida, we are a no fault state. That does not mean that people are not at fault for auto accidents. But what it means is that if you've been involved in an accident, your initial medical bills are gonna go through your auto insurance company regardless of fault. Okay? So your auto insurance coverage will cover some of those initial medical bills. And so the medical provider has to be willing to bill your auto insurance coverage after you've been involved in an accident. And 80% of those medical bills will be paid by your auto insurance rather than your health insurance. And then there's a cap on that money. And you also have to be careful with the medical providers that are marketing to auto accident cases. There's some out there that you know, as any profession, there's varying degrees of quality and levels of quality, so you have to be careful who you see after you've been involved in an accident. Make sure there's somebody out there really for your best interest and not someone who's just looking to make money.

Kerry:

yeah. What typical type of provider is needed, like on the most cases?

Melissa:

A lot of our clients will see a DO or a medical doctor right off the bat, and then that doctor will make a recommendation. Is chiropractic therapy best for you? Is physical therapy best for you? Should you go see a neurologist? Or should I order MRIs? So usually the medical doctor, nurse practitioner or DO will kind of quarterback the care, if you will, and then they'll make referrals and recommendations based off what is in the best interest of that client. Sometimes they need to see a dentist for TMJ, sometimes an ENT, maybe a plastic surgeon. It just kind of depends.

Kerry:

Wow. Interesting. I do think that there's gotta be a lack of medical care for patients because I don't know how many people actually take auto insurance. Yeah.

Melissa:

A lot of'em call their primary care doctors and their primary care doctors just say, you know, I'm not willing to see auto accident patients here go see this doc this, this chiropractic office. This was whoever was in my office most recently marketing, and that may or may not be in the client's best interest. So you really have to vet those providers. I had a conversation with my, primary care doctor 10 years ago, and I said, do you, do you realize who your office is referring to? Because they're not a quality medical provider and your patients trust you as their primary care doctor, that if you make the referral that's as good as gold. So make sure you know who your clients are being referred to, and don't just let your front desk decide based off who brought coffee and donuts in last time.

Kerry:

I, I typically find that the patient is coming in having already been referred by their auto insurance and that.

Melissa:

So auto insurance will not make referrals to medical providers. Workers' comp insurance can make referrals to medical providers, but auto insurance companies will not normally make referrals. So that's where auto accident victims get kind of stuck in this cycle of, okay, I called my PCP, I can't go there. Um, where do I go? And so a lot of times that's why they end up in our office because they can't figure out how to find a doctor.

Kerry:

Yeah, unfortunately with the insurance mess on the medical side, I can't even explain the adding the layer of the auto insurance too. Like we

Melissa:

I, completely understand why primary care doctors and a lot of your conventional medical facilities would be apprehensive to see auto accident patients. 100%. No judgment. I understand. It's just really important to help make sure that your patients end up at a quality medical provider if you're not willing to see them, rather than, you know, who has the shiniest pencils.

Kerry:

Yeah. Well, as always, I'm learning a ton. Okay. What any like wellness tips or anything do you share with your clients that kind of don't involve courtrooms basically after they've had sort of sort of accident or injury?

Melissa:

I encourage my clients to listen to their doctors, be compliant with what their doctors are asking of them. I'm a believer in chiropractic. It worked for me after my accident. And I'll tell my clients, if I do what my chiropractor tells me to do, I live a pretty good quality of life. If I stray from that and you know, he wants to see me monthly and it comes month nine and I haven't seen him, and things are starting to ache, well, then I've really kind of done that to myself and if I had listened to him from the get go. You know, I am, you know, on a health journey myself, working on fitness and, and diet and improving those things. So as you know, we go down that journey together. I think that always helps. An accident victim, you know, they're left with a permanent injury that they're gonna have to deal with forever. And so we have to take ownership of how we're going to manage our lives and what standard we want for our future. So I think it's important to stay in touch with your doctor, listen to your doctor, do what they tell you to do, and then, um, live a healthy lifestyle on top of that.

Kerry:

Do you work with other, like wellness providers, like physical therapists or mental health therapists or anything like that to help support your clients?

Melissa:

Yeah, you know, we know a lot of wonderful doctors in town. We know doctors that we think it's good for our clients to, um. It, they're safe people. They have the same value system about how they take care of their clients or patients. And so we know good doctors and we can encourage our clients to find a good doctor and what they need to look for. Read the Google reviews, talk to friends and family, you know, help find a good quality medical provider.

Kerry:

What well, what else would you like to kind of discuss in your expertise here? I don't wanna miss anything that you wanted to share with the listeners.

Melissa:

Well, you know, I think it's really important to make sure that you have proper auto insurance coverage. I mean, I know that as a Tampa Bay resident after those two hurricanes, I did a really thorough analysis of my homeowner's insurance coverage. So, you know, just the same thing for auto accidents. I think it's important to know what coverage you need know what coverage you have. And obviously we all have to make decisions based off budget. But I worked for a really brilliant man once who told me have as much UM coverage as you can afford to have, because someday when you need it. It will be there. So I think it's important to know what kind of auto insurance coverage you have. If you don't know or if you don't understand, reach out to me. I'm happy to help people. I love talking to people. I'm happy to sit on the phone or on a Zoom call, go through your auto insurance coverage with you, make sure you have what you need to protect yourself. If you don't, I can make some recommendations on some really great insurance agents that I've worked with personally. You know, but Google provides those recommendations as well. You know, and find the right person to give you counsel. You just wanna make sure that you are covered so that you're healthy financially. It's tough to take care of your body when you're, you're terrified of being broke, I guess.

Kerry:

Mm-hmm. Absolutely. And I mean, I was just speaking with, you know, pain management doctor, and we want to focus on the, the needs that you.

Melissa:

Mm-hmm.

Kerry:

to recover right from the injury or whatever. And if you're worried about financial stress or anything else, like it's not, it's not gonna help you recover as easily, like you were

Melissa:

Exactly. You have to manage that stress so that you

Kerry:

Mm-hmm.

Melissa:

And a lot of our clients we have to talk to about, you know, look, I really think you need to treat and speak with somebody about the psychological impact because that trauma is not freeing your body up to be able to heal. So I think that that's important. Get that care if you need it. Don't be too proud. Don't be afraid to do it. Don't be afraid to ask for recommendations and help.

Kerry:

Yeah. Literally had this discussion too, because it's so important. Like you can't recover without, you know, focusing on the mental health as well. Yeah. What, what, anything else you'd like to share with our listeners today?

Melissa:

I don't think so. I just, I think that we're blessed to be part of this community and blessed to be business owners and be able to reach our community and take care of our families.

Kerry:

We're happy to have you in the community obviously, and you know, with your new practice is very exciting. So where can people find you if they want to work with you or follow you or whatever?

Melissa:

So our office is located in Clearwater. Um, but we handle cases all over the state of Florida. And, you know, thanks to Zoom, we can be reached in a moment's notice for anybody in any area of Florida. Um, our phone number is 727 6 1 6 6 3 2 5. Our website is www dot neal NEAL. And a ND Solevilla, S-O-L-E-V-I-L-L a.com. So you can find us on our website follow our social media. We always appreciate those positive interactions or give us a call, anything that we can do to help, we're honored to honor, to serve our community.

Kerry:

Awesome. Well, we will include, include all of that in the show notes so everybody can find you. And I am, you know, excited to make this connection so that we can help everybody in our community too. Yes, it's great. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. You're very, you're very welcome. And, everybody, please Stay tuned for next week's episode.

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Dr. Kerry Reller

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