When an Amazon Delivery Truck Takes a Loved One, Your Family Doesn't Have to Face It Alone

When a Delivery Truck Crash Takes a Loved One in Florida

If a loved one died in a crash with an Amazon delivery truck or van in Florida, your family may have a wrongful death claim.

A wrongful death claim lets surviving family members seek compensation for their loss. It applies when someone’s wrongful act, negligence (carelessness), default, or breach of contract or warranty caused the death.

Florida law allows these claims. The claim is allowed when the person who died would have had a claim if they had lived.

Grief often arrives with phone calls, paperwork, and hard questions. This page explains Florida’s rules, deadlines, and next steps in plain language.

It is general information. It is not advice about your family’s own situation.

CHG Personal Injury Lawyers is a Florida firm. We represent families across Florida. This includes the Miami area and other Florida communities.

Who Can Be Responsible When an Amazon Delivery Vehicle Is Involved

Several parties may be connected to a delivery crash. The driver is only one of them.

Responsibility often depends on who hired, directed, and owned the driver and the vehicle.

• The driver. The person behind the wheel may be part of a claim if careless driving caused the crash.
• The delivery company. The company that hired the driver or directed the route may be part of a claim. Who controlled the route matters.
• The vehicle owner or maintenance provider. A company that owned the van or handled its repairs may also be part of the picture.

Families should not assume the answer from the name on the side of the truck. Each case turns on facts about hiring, control, and ownership.

Federal rules can affect these claims too. “Preempted” means blocked by federal law. See Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II.

Who Can Bring a Florida Wrongful Death Claim

The claim is brought for the survivors. Survivors are the people left behind by the person who died.

Under Florida law, survivors are the decedent’s spouse, children, and parents and, when partly or wholly dependent on the decedent for support or services, any blood relatives and adoptive brothers and sisters. The child born out of wedlock of a mother is included, but the child born out of wedlock of the father is not, unless the father has recognized a responsibility for the child’s support. The decedent is the person who died.

Blood relatives and adoptive brothers and sisters can also qualify. They qualify when they depended on the person for support or services.

The action is brought by the personal representative. This is the person who manages the deceased person’s estate. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.20, that person recovers for the benefit of the survivors and the estate.

Families can start by making a simple list:

• Every surviving spouse, child, and parent
• Any other relatives who relied on the person for support or help
• Children under 25, since Florida defines “minor children” as those under 25

Relationships matter. Each family’s situation is different. Bring this list to your first conversation with a lawyer.

Florida’s Filing Deadline and Why Early Contact Matters

Florida sets a time limit for filing lawsuits. Missing it can end a claim.

The general rules come from Fla. Stat. § 95.11. This is the state’s limitations statute. A limitations statute is the law that sets these time limits.

Deadlines can be hard to track during grief. That is why we encourage families to speak with a lawyer promptly. Waiting can cost time.

An early start also helps protect evidence. Crash reports, vehicle data, and witness memories can change or disappear over time.

Contacting a lawyer early does not promise any result. It gives your family more time to review its options while the records are still available.

What a Wrongful Death Claim Can Seek in Florida

Florida law lists the types of damages that survivors may recover. Damages are money awarded for a loss. Florida’s wrongful death law provides that damages may be awarded in several categories, including:

• Lost support and services. Survivors may recover the financial support and household help the decedent would have provided; blood relatives count as survivors only when they are partly or wholly dependent on the decedent for support or services.
• Medical and funeral expenses. A survivor who paid these costs may recover them.
• Companionship and mental pain. A surviving spouse may recover for lost companionship and protection. They may also recover for mental pain and suffering.
• Children’s losses.

Florida also requires personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. PIP is a type of no-fault insurance. It pays for medical and related costs.

Under Fla. Stat. § 627.736, the PIP death benefit is the lesser of $5,000 or the remaining unused PIP benefits. This applies to deaths arising from motor vehicle use. These benefits are limited.

No amount can be promised. Each case depends on its own facts, evidence, and insurance.

Steps Families Can Take Now to Protect the Claim

Some steps are time-sensitive. Acting early helps keep records in place.

• Request the crash report. Under Fla. Stat. § 316.066, the investigating officer must file the long-form crash report within 10 days after completing the investigation. Under Fla. Stat. § 316.066, crash reports are generally confidential for 60 days, but the parties involved in the crash and their legal representatives can obtain them immediately.
• Save what you have. Keep photos, witness names and phone numbers, and any notes about the vehicle or delivery route.
• Ask for digital records to be kept. Dashcam video, vehicle GPS data, and delivery app records can be overwritten or deleted over time.
• Gather paperwork. Keep medical, funeral, and employment records. Write down the decedent’s role in the family. Include household tasks and financial support.
• Be careful with insurers. Talk with a lawyer before giving a recorded statement to any insurance company.
• Follow official guidance. Work with the medical examiner or law enforcement agency handling the case.

How CHG Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help Your Family

Our team helps families identify who may be responsible. We also work to preserve the records and evidence described above.

Here is what the process can look like:

1. Free first consultation. We offer a free, confidential first consultation with no obligation to continue.
2. Case review. We review the crash report, the death records, and how the delivery was arranged.
3. Identifying responsible parties. We look at the driver, the delivery company, and the vehicle owner.
4. Dealing with insurers. We communicate with insurance companies on your family’s behalf.

CHG charges no attorney’s fees and no case costs unless there is a recovery. Some matters may be referred to, or handled together with, another law firm.

Igor Hernandez is the responsible lawyer for this page. He is one of the firm’s lawyers and is licensed to practice in Florida. Our lawyers handle wrongful death and catastrophic injury matters throughout Florida.

Frequently Asked Questions About Amazon Delivery Truck Wrongful Death Claims

Talk With a Florida Lawyer About Your Family’s Loss

If a loved one was killed in a crash with an Amazon delivery vehicle, you may be facing hard decisions while grieving.

Contact our team soon. We can review the crash records, the survivors, and the filing deadline with you.

Florida deadlines apply. Early contact can give your family more time to review options while crash records are still available.