Florida Car Accident Law and Claims

A careless driver may cause a crash in Florida.  If so, the injured victim may have a case.

 I use the word “car” throughout this article.  However, this article also applies to Florida truck accident cases.

Which Factors Affect a Florida Car Accident Case?

Over 86 factors may affect a Florida injury claim.  These factors also apply to car accidents.  An additional 15 important factors may affect car wreck cases.

What Are the Most Common Injuries Claimed in a Florida Car Accident Case?

The most typical injuries claimed in a Florida car wreck case are:

• Rotator cuff injury, shoulder injury
• Herniated disc or bulging disc
• Wrist fracture or tear
• Ankle fracture or tear
• Broken hip
• Lower leg (tibia/fibula) fracture
• Neck injury or lower back pain
• Knee fracture or tear
• Broken femur (thigh bone) or quadriceps tear
• Broken nose
• Upper arm (humerus) fracture

How To Calculate a Florida Car Accident Injury Settlement

Calculating the possible payout in a Florida auto or truck crash case is similar to a Florida injury claim.  However, there are differences.

First, figure out the full value of the case.  Reduce this value by the percentage chance that a jury would find that the defendant is not negligent.

Reduce this value by the percentage of fault of the victim.  Discount this value by any difficulty proving that the liable party’s carelessness caused the victim’s injury.  Now you have the possible estimated compensation.

Do Florida Car Insurance Companies Look at Past Settlements When Making an Offer?

Yes. Car insurance companies keep track of past settlements and verdicts.  They focus on the amount awarded for the pain and suffering damages for a particular injury.

Sometimes an auto insurance claims adjuster cannot find a settlement or verdict for a particular injury in a Florida car wreck case.  They would then look at Florida injury settlements for all types of cases.

How Do You Get Your Medical Bills Paid After a Florida Car Accident?

Determining who pays your medical bills after a Florida car crash is difficult.  It depends on the type of vehicles involved and other factors.  Personal Injury Protection (PIP) may pay some medical bills.

Is State Farm a good Florida car insurer at paying bodily injury (BI) liability claims?

State Farm is Florida’s second largest personal auto insurer.

State Farm is below average in paying Florida car accident cases.  I am referring to cases where someone’s carelessness caused the victim to get hurt.

State Farm is financially strong.  This does not affect their valuation of auto injury claims.  The victim does not have to worry about State Farm going broke any time soon.

Will a Settlement Calculator Help You Figure Out a Car Accident Injury Compensation?

Probably not.  Auto insurers have access to Colossus.  It is the most popular claims evaluation software in Florida.  Injured victims do not have access to it.

Injured Florida car crash victims can find auto accident calculators all over the internet.  However, they are flawed.  They do not use Florida law.

They do not consider the No-Fault threshold.  They do not use out of pocket medical bills.  They use the total medical billed charges.

They do not account for the other driver’s fault or the victim’s fault.  They do not account for the victim’s failure to carry auto insurance.  The list of problems goes on.

I made a Florida car accident calculator.  However, it is very limited.  I make many adjustments when using it.

What are some Florida car or truck accident settlements?

Check out some Florida car accident settlements for injury victims.

My actual case: $210,000 Settlement for a shoulder injury (labrum tear) in a truck accident.  A truck driver crashed into my client’s truck.  My client had shoulder surgery.

All the settlements in this article are before deduction for attorney’s fees and expenses. Most cases result in a lower recovery. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.

What is the Full Settlement Value of a Florida Car Crash Injury Case?

Every Florida car wreck case has full value for settlement purposes.  The full value is the amount of all the damages combined. In Florida, damages include medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience.

There may be other damages as well.  The victim must know the exact injuries to calculate the full settlement value.  Full value is before reductions for any factors that reduce exposure.

Sometimes the full value can me be zero.  Other times it can $445,000 or more.

Will an Insurance Company Pay You for Pain and Suffering in a Florida Car Accident Claim?

Maybe.  It is not as easy to get as many victims think.  The law on pain and suffering damages in a Florida car crash case is complex.

It depends on the type of vehicles involved, the medical records and other factors.

Will a Florida hospital reduce the Injured Person’s Bill after a car crash?

Maybe.  The victim has the best chance of getting their bill reduced if they are uninsured.  The hospital may also reduce the bill they received a large PIP payment from an auto insurer.

Florida hospitals are less likely to reduce if the victim has Medicaid and the liable party has bodily injury (BI) liability auto insurance coverage.  In that case, the hospital may avoid billing Medicaid.  The hospital may try to get the bill paid from the victim’s settlement.

Florida Pedestrian Accident Cases

A car may hit a pedestrian in Florida.  If so, does the pedestrian have a case?  Maybe.

I have written extensively on Florida pedestrian car accident injury cases.  Check out my Florida pedestrian accident settlements.

How Much Money Can You Get for Pain and Suffering in a Florida Car Accident Case?

It depends on many factors.  You need to qualify for pain and suffering damages.  The amount of money for the pain and suffering component will depend on the extent of your injury.

All things equal, bigger injuries equal more pain and suffering damages.  Whether you will get money is a different story.

The defendant needs to be collectible.  This usually comes in the form of liability insurance coverage or a big company that is self-insured.

Examples of self-insured companies are Walmart Stores, Publix Supermarkets and Walt Disney World.

Does an injured car accident victim’s marital status affect the injury case?

A car accident victim’s marital spouse may affect the injury case in a couple of ways.

Settlement release and check

The auto or truck liability insurer will want to put the spouse’s name on the release and check.  I object to this.  If the case value exceeds the liability insurer’s policy limits, they usually cave in.

If the BI limits are greater than the case value, the auto insurer may insist on including the spouse’s name on the settlement check and release.  If they do, we file a consumer complaint with the Florida Department of Financial Services.

If true, I explain that I did not represent the spouse.  Thus, the settlement does not include the spouse.

If an injury victim is in a rush to settle, they may need to let the insurer list the spouse’s name on the release and check.  If they do, the spouse will need to sign both.

Loss of Consortium (Services) Claim

In Florida, a spouse of a car crash victim may bring a claim for loss of consortium.  In order to do so, the physically injured victim must qualify for pain and suffering damages.

Will a Property Owner’s Medpay Coverage Pay a Pedestrian’s Medical Bills?

Maybe.  A car or truck may hit a pedestrian on private property.  The property owner may have medical payments (Medpay) coverage.  It may pay for the pedestrian’s medical bills.

How is United Auto (UAIC) at paying BI claims?

Bad.  Each Florida auto insurer has its own reputation.  Few Florida auto insurers are worse than United Auto at paying injury claims.

However, United Auto may quickly pay if the damages are much bigger than its insured’s policy limits.  This is due to Florida’s insurance bad faith laws.

Most United Auto policies do not include BI coverage.  If so, the injured person may need to make a claim under his uninsured motorist (UM) coverage.

Did someone’s carelessness cause your injury in a Florida car crash or other type of accident?

See Our Settlements

I am a Miami car accident lawyer.  I have settled many Florida injury cases.  They include, but not limited to, car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, bike accidents, pedestrian accidents, taxi accidents, drunk driving (DUI) accidents.

I want to represent you!

My Miami law firm represents people injured anywhere in Florida in car accidents, truck accidents, slip, trip and falls, motorcycle accidents, bike accidents, drunk driving crashes, pedestrian accidents, taxi accidents, accidents involving an Uber or Lyft Driver, and many other types of accidents.

We want to represent you if you were hurt in an accident in Florida.  If you were injured in another state but live in Florida, we may also be able to represent you.

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Call us now at (888) 594-3577 to find out for FREE if we can represent you. We answer calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 

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