Hurt in a Florida Car Accident? Your Back Injury Deserves a Full Answer.

A back injury after a car accident may lead to a claim for compensation. There is no single average amount for these claims. Each injury, bill, and set of facts is different. It also explains what to do next.

Written by Igor Hernandez, responsible lawyer, for CHG Personal Injury Lawyers, a Florida-based personal injury firm.

What Does a Back Injury From a Car Accident Mean Day to Day?

A back injury can affect your work, sleep, driving, and simple tasks. Even lifting a child can become hard. The location of the injury matters. The spine has several sections. Each one controls different parts of the body.

• Cervical (neck): Nerves here control the neck, shoulders, arms, and hands.
• Thoracic (mid-back): Nerves here control the chest muscles and some back muscles.
• Lumbar (lower back): Nerves here control the lower back, buttocks, and parts of the legs.
• Sacral (base of the spine): Nerves here control the thighs, lower legs, and feet.

These nerve levels come from the NINDS spinal cord injury overview.

Some back injuries stay in the muscles, discs, or ligaments. Others reach the spinal cord itself. Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of spinal cord injuries. This is according to the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission.

When the spinal cord is hurt, the effects can include paralysis. Paralysis means loss of muscle function in part of the body.

Only your doctors can tell you what your injury is and how it will heal. Follow your doctors’ care closely. Keep every appointment and test.

What Drives the Value of a Back Injury Claim?

Several facts affect the value of a claim. Insurers and courts look at these closely.

• Severity and permanence. A lasting injury usually carries more weight than a short one.
• Medical records and bills. Records show what was treated, when, and why.
• Lost income. Missed work and lower earning ability count as economic losses. Economic losses are money losses you can measure, like wages.
• Fault. Florida reduces damages by the injured person’s share of fault.
• Insurance limits. The available coverage can cap what you can collect from the at-fault driver.

Florida also limits what medical bills can count. The court reduces a damages award by collateral sources. These are payments you have received or can get from other sources. The reduction applies unless a reimbursement right exists. See Fla. Stat. § 768.76.

A letter of protection is a promise to be paid from any settlement or judgment. See Fla. Stat. § 768.0427.

Published averages mix very different cases together. A number taken from other people’s cases rarely fits one person’s injury.

How Does Florida No-Fault Insurance Help in the First Weeks?

Florida’s no-fault system pays certain early benefits.

Under Fla. Stat. § 627.736, personal injury protection (PIP) must provide up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits. PIP is the no-fault coverage in your own policy. Under Florida’s personal injury protection law, medical benefits cover eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services, subject to the statute’s conditions and limits (Fla. Stat. § 627.736).

This coverage applies when you get initial care within 14 days after the accident. Prompt care protects both your health and your benefits. Waiting weeks to see a doctor can create gaps. Insurers may later question those gaps.

When Can You Recover Pain and Suffering Damages?

Florida limits pain-and-suffering claims in motor vehicle cases. Under Fla. Stat. § 627.737, you may recover pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience only if your injury includes:

• A significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
• A permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement
• Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
• Death

Many back injuries are tested against this permanent injury standard. Whether your back injury meets it depends on the facts and the medical evidence.

How Does Fault Affect Your Claim?

Fault matters in two ways: deadlines and percentages.

Filing deadline. For most Florida personal injury claims that accrue after March 24, 2023, the general deadline is two years. “Accrue” means the point when the claim legally begins. See Fla. Stat. § 95.11. Deadlines can be strict. Contact a lawyer early.

Shared fault. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, your damages are reduced by your share of fault. If you are found more than 50 percent at fault for your own harm, you may not recover damages. The rule in Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6) that bars recovery for a party found greater than fifty percent at fault does not apply to an action for personal injury or wrongful death arising out of medical negligence pursuant to chapter 766 (Fla. Stat. § 768.81).

Many people believe a small share of blame ends a case. That is not how Florida’s rule works. A partial share reduces the award. It does not block recovery unless it passes 50 percent.

What Insurance Information Can You Request?

Florida gives injured people tools to learn what coverage exists. Under Fla. Stat. § 627.4137, each liability insurer must provide a sworn statement. The insurer must do so within 30 days of your written request, and the statement must include the insurer’s name, each insured, the coverage limits, any policy or coverage defense the insurer reasonably believes it has, and a copy of the policy.

• The insurer’s name
• Each insured person
• The coverage limits
• A copy of the policy

If the at-fault driver’s limits are too low, Fla. Stat. § 627.727 sets out a process. It covers underinsured motorist coverage. This is your own coverage for drivers with too little insurance. A settlement may require written notice to underinsured insurers. Those insurers then have 30 days to respond.

What Happens After You Contact a Lawyer?

Most back injury claims follow a similar path. Timing varies by case.

1. Medical care and records. Follow your doctors’ plan. Keep every bill and record.
2. Accident details. Write down the date, place, other driver, and witnesses while they are fresh in your memory.
3. Free first consultation. A lawyer reviews your facts, injuries, and deadlines.
4. Insurance disclosure. Insurers provide policy information. The team reviews the coverage.
5. Negotiation or lawsuit. Many claims settle. Others go to court. In motor vehicle cases, a judge may review a jury award. The judge decides whether it is clearly excessive or inadequate under Fla. Stat. § 768.043.

Common Mistakes That Hurt Back Injury Claims

• Waiting to get care. Gaps in treatment give insurers an argument to use.
• Missing the PIP window. The 14-day rule for initial care is short.
• Giving statements too quickly. Early comments to the other driver’s insurer can be used later. This can happen before the full medical picture is known.
• Ignoring the deadline. Florida’s two-year rule for most claims is firm.

Why Florida Families Bring These Claims to CHG

CHG Personal Injury Lawyers is a Florida-based firm. Igor Hernandez is the responsible lawyer for this page. Our lawyers are licensed in Florida. The firm serves people across Florida, from Miami to Jacksonville. It handles car accident cases. It also handles catastrophic injury claims, such as spinal cord injuries, paralysis, and catastrophic back and neck injuries.

Your first consultation is free and confidential. It carries no obligation to continue. CHG charges no attorney’s fees and no case costs unless there is a recovery.

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