Florida Car Accident Damages: How They Are Calculated

Damages are the money an injured person may recover for losses a crash caused. In a Florida car accident, damages fall into two groups:

• Economic losses you can count, such as bills and lost pay
• Non-economic losses, such as pain and changes to daily life

This guide explains how damages are calculated in a Florida car accident, including Uber and Lyft crashes. It is general information. It is not a prediction about any claim.

Who Pays After an Uber or Lyft Crash in Florida

Several insurance policies can apply after a rideshare crash. The facts of the trip decide which ones matter.

Which coverage applies depends on three things:

• Who was driving
• Whether the app was on
• Whose vehicle was involved

A car insurance policy that meets Florida’s security requirements must include Personal Injury Protection, or PIP. PIP is insurance that pays some early medical bills and lost income. PIP must cover the named insured, relatives residing in the same household unless excluded under s. 627.747, persons operating the insured vehicle, passengers, and other persons struck by the vehicle and suffering bodily injury while not an occupant of a self-propelled vehicle, subject to permitted exclusions and up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits and $5,000 in death benefits.

That means a rider, a driver, or a pedestrian may each have a path to PIP benefits. Other drivers’ insurance can also matter. If an at-fault driver has no insurance, uninsured motorist coverage may apply. This coverage pays when the at-fault driver cannot.

Our team can review the trip details, the policies, and the crash facts. We can show which coverage may apply.

How Damages Are Calculated in a Florida Car Accident

Damages are calculated by adding up economic losses. Where the law allows, non-economic losses are added too.

• Economic losses have bills and pay records behind them.
• Non-economic losses, such as pain, mental anguish, and inconvenience, are harder to put a number on.

No single formula sets the total. Three things shape the result:

• The medical record
• How severe and permanent the injury is
• The proof of fault

The facts of each case drive the outcome. Examples in any guide, including this one, show how the law works. They are not predictions of what any claim is worth.

Florida law also limits some claims. It sets its own deadlines. The sections below cover those rules.

Medical Bills, Lost Wages and Other Economic Losses

Economic damages are losses you can prove with bills, pay records, and receipts. Florida’s comparative-fault statute lists them. They include:

• Past and future lost income, reduced to present value (today’s dollar value)
• Medical and funeral expenses
• Lost support and services
• Other economic loss that would not have occurred but for the injury

Florida also sets rules for how medical bills are proven at trial. Florida law (Fla. Stat. § 768.0427) sets specific rules for how medical bills are proven, and those rules depend on how the treatment was paid and whether the claimant has health coverage. Fla. Stat. § 768.0427 Unpaid bills follow other measures tied to health coverage.

PIP can help with early bills. It provides up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits. Under Florida’s personal injury protection statute, eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services are payable, subject to the statute’s terms. Initial care must start within 14 days of the crash.

Keep every bill, pay stub, and log of missed work. Records made close to the crash help show how the injury changed your income and daily life.

Pain, Suffering and Loss of Enjoyment

Non-economic damages cover pain, mental anguish, and inconvenience. They have no bill attached.

In a Florida car accident claim against the owner, registrant, operator, or occupant of a motor vehicle with respect to which required security has been provided, or against anyone legally responsible for their acts or omissions, you can seek pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience damages only if the injury or disease consists in whole or in part of the following: Florida’s car accident statute

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

Treating doctors document whether an injury is permanent. That record matters. Anxiety, sleep loss, and post-traumatic stress can also be part of a claim. This is true when a doctor documents them. Follow your doctors’ care. This is not medical advice.

Judges also review verdicts in motor vehicle cases. A court can order a remittitur (a reduction) or an additur (an increase). It can do this if an award is clearly excessive or inadequate.

When a crash causes a death, the Florida Wrongful Death Act lets certain family members bring a claim. Fla. Stat. § 768.21 The surviving spouse may also recover for loss of the decedent’s companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. Fla. Stat. § 768.21 Survivors who paid medical or funeral bills may recover those costs too.

Florida’s 51% Rule and Shared Fault

Under Florida law, in a negligence action, a person found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm may not recover any damages, though this bar does not apply to personal injury or wrongful death actions arising out of medical negligence. The statute says that in a negligence action to which it applies, “any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages,” but this does not apply to personal injury or wrongful death actions arising out of medical negligence under chapter 766.

Florida calls this comparative fault (Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6)). Fault is measured as a percentage.

• Under Florida’s comparative fault statute, in a negligence action, any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages. Fla. Stat. § 768.81 reads: “This subsection does not apply to an action for damages for personal injury or wrongful death arising out of medical negligence pursuant to chapter 766.”
• Under Florida’s comparative fault statute, contributory fault chargeable to you diminishes proportionately the amount awarded as economic and noneconomic damages for an injury attributable to your contributory fault, but does not bar recovery, subject to the greater percentage of fault rule.

Insurers and defendants often argue about who caused a crash. Fault is a common point of dispute in rideshare claims. Keep evidence safe from the start. This keeps the facts clear.

How to File an Uber or Lyft Injury Claim

To file, get medical care, keep evidence, identify each insurer, and act before the deadline runs.

1. Get medical care now. Follow your doctors’ treatment plan. Under Fla. Stat. § 627.736, medical benefits cover eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary services, provided the individual receives initial services and care within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident.
2. Write down the details. Note the time, the route, whether the app was on, and any witness names.
3. Save the evidence. Keep app screenshots, trip receipts, photos, dashcam video, and text messages.
4. List every insurer. Include the driver’s personal policy, any rideshare coverage, and any other driver’s policy.
5. Be careful with recorded statements. Talk with a lawyer before you give any insurer a recorded statement.
6. Watch the clock. Florida generally allows two years to sue for negligence. Fla. Stat. § 95.11 Other deadlines can apply. Act promptly.

Why Clients Work With CHG Personal Injury Lawyers

CHG Personal Injury Lawyers is a Florida-based personal injury firm. It serves people throughout Florida. The firm handles car accidents, truck accidents, catastrophic injury claims, and rideshare cases.

Igor Hernandez is the responsible lawyer for this page. Our lawyers are licensed attorneys admitted to The Florida Bar.

• A free, confidential initial consultation, with no obligation to continue
• CHG charges no attorney’s fees and no case costs unless there is a recovery
• Bilingual English and Spanish guides for Spanish-speaking families
• Some matters may be referred to, or handled together with, another law firm. If yours is, we will tell you.

Frequently Asked Questions