Hurt Your Back or Neck in Jacksonville? You Do Not Have to Face the Claim Alone

Jacksonville Back and Neck Injury Lawyer: What to Know After an Injury

If you were hurt in Jacksonville and your back or neck still hurts, you may have a legal claim. The claim would be against the person or company that caused your injury.

Florida has firm deadlines and fault rules. It helps to understand them early.

CHG Personal Injury Lawyers represents people throughout Florida, including Jacksonville and Duval County. The firm offers a free first consultation.

What Is a Back or Neck Injury Claim?

A back or neck injury claim asks the at-fault person, or their insurer, to pay for losses caused by the accident. Our lawyers handle these claims for people hurt in many kinds of accidents.

Common causes include:

• Car and truck crashes
• Motorcycle and ATV accidents
• Slip-and-fall accidents on wet floors or unsafe property
• Accidents at construction zones
• Rideshare crashes

Some back and neck injuries are catastrophic. A spinal cord injury can cause paralysis. Paralysis includes:

• Paraplegia: loss of use of the legs
• Quadriplegia: loss of use of the arms and legs

These injuries can change how a person works, sleeps, moves, and cares for their family.

What Can a Back or Neck Injury Claim Cover?

A claim can seek money for economic losses. Economic losses are measurable costs, such as bills and lost pay. In some cases, a claim can also seek money for non-economic losses. These are harms that are harder to put a number on.

Florida law defines economic damages. They include past and future lost income, medical and funeral expenses, and other losses that would not have happened without the injury. Florida Statutes § 768.81 sets out these definitions.

Economic losses in a back or neck case often include:

• Doctor, hospital, imaging, and therapy bills
• Lost wages and lost ability to earn in the future
• Costs of help at home while you recover

Pain, suffering, and mental anguish (emotional distress) are also part of many claims. In a car or other motor vehicle case, these damages have a special test. That test is explained below.

How Florida’s No-Fault Insurance Affects Early Bills

Florida’s personal injury protection (PIP) coverage pays some bills first after a motor vehicle crash. PIP is a type of no-fault car insurance. “No-fault” means your own policy pays first, no matter who caused the crash.

Under Florida Statutes § 627.736, personal injury protection must provide eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services, up to a limit of $10,000 in medical and disability benefits, if the individual receives initial services and care within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident.

PIP also pays 60 percent of lost income. The basic limit is $10,000 for medical and disability benefits.

Timing matters. Under the statute, the medical benefit for these services applies if the individual receives initial services and care within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident.

Did a qualifying provider find an emergency medical condition?

• Florida’s personal injury protection (PIP) benefits are set out in § 627.736, which describes the benefit limits and the providers who may qualify for them.

Follow your doctors’ care. We do not give medical advice. Early records help show how the injury started.

When Can You Seek Pain and Suffering Damages in a Florida Car Crash?

In a car crash, pain and suffering damages are limited. Florida Statutes § 627.737 allows these damages only if the injury is one of these:

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

Many back and neck injuries are tested against these categories. Medical records play a central role. So does a doctor’s opinion about whether the injury is permanent.

Each case depends on its own medical facts.

How Fault Is Divided in Florida

This means each person’s share of blame is weighed.

Florida Statutes § 768.81 says contributory fault (fault of the injured person) reduces an award. It does not bar recovery. There is one important limit.

Here is a simple example. Say a jury found you 20 percent at fault. Your award would be reduced by 20 percent.

The statute says that, in a negligence action to which this section applies, a party found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm may not recover any damages. This rule does not apply to medical negligence claims under chapter 766.

Florida Filing Deadlines Apply

Deadlines apply. They can be shorter than people expect.

Florida Statutes § 95.11 sets the time limits for filing most injury lawsuits. For most negligence claims, the deadline is two years.

Medical malpractice claims have their own rule. Under Florida law, a medical malpractice lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of when the harm was discovered or should have been discovered, but in no event more than four years after the incident, with a limited exception for minors. Fla. Stat. § 95.11 reads: “In those actions covered by this paragraph in which it can be shown that fraud, concealment, or intentional misrepresentation of fact prevented the discovery of the injury the period of limitations is extended forward 2 years from the time that the injury is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence, but in no event to exceed 7 years from the date the incident giving rise to the injury occurred, except that this 7-year period shall not bar an action brought on behalf of a minor on or before the child’s eighth birthday.”

Claims against a state or local government agency are governed by Florida’s sovereign immunity statute, § 768.28, which sets notice requirements and limits on the amount that can be recovered. Section 95.11 covers actions founded on the design, planning, or construction of an improvement to real property. Fla. Stat. § 95.11 reads: “(b) An action founded on the design, planning, or construction of an improvement to real property, with the time running from the date the authority having jurisdiction issues a temporary certificate of occupancy, a certificate of occupancy, or a certificate of completion, or the date of abandonment of construction if not completed, whichever date is earliest; except that, when the action involves a latent defect, the time runs from the time the defect is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence.” It does not mention public transit vehicles. Section 768.28 makes a municipality civilly liable for damages proximately caused by its breach of duty to protect persons and property during a riot or unlawful assembly, and the sovereign immunity recovery limits do not apply to that action (Florida Statutes § 768.28).

If a government vehicle or property hurt you, contact us promptly. We can review these rules for you.

What Evidence Matters Early?

Early evidence helps protect a claim. Three records are especially useful.

• The crash report. Under Florida Statutes § 316.066, a Florida Traffic Crash Report, Long Form must be submitted within 10 days after the investigating officer completes the investigation for crashes that resulted in death, personal injury, or any indication of complaints of pain or discomfort, or that involved a commercial motor vehicle. The report lists insurance companies for the parties.
• The insurance information. Under Florida Statutes § 627.4137, a liability insurer must provide a sworn statement (a statement made under oath) within 30 days of a written request. Under Florida Statutes § 627.4137, the sworn statement an insurer must provide within 30 days of the claimant’s written request includes the name of the insurer, the name of each insured, the limits of the liability coverage, any policy or coverage defense the insurer reasonably believes is available, and a copy of the policy.
• Letters of protection. A letter of protection is a promise to pay a provider from any settlement. Some providers treat patients this way. Under Florida Statutes § 768.0427, a claimant must disclose a copy of any letter of protection before asserting those medical expenses. Tell us if you signed one.

How Working With CHG Personal Injury Lawyers Works

1. Free first consultation. Contact the firm to talk through what happened. The first consultation is confidential. It carries no obligation to continue.
2. Review of facts and records. We look at the crash report, medical records, bills, and insurance information.
3. Investigation and claims. We work to identify responsible parties and their insurers. If needed, we file a lawsuit within the Florida deadlines.
4. Care and communication. You focus on your treatment. We keep you informed about each step.
5. Resolution. CHG charges no attorney’s fees and no case costs unless there is a recovery.

Timelines vary from case to case. Each one turns on its own facts.

Why Clients Choose CHG Personal Injury Lawyers

• Florida-based. The firm represents people across Florida, including Jacksonville and Duval County.
• Licensed attorneys. Our lawyers are admitted to The Florida Bar.
• Responsible lawyer. Igor Hernandez, one of the firm’s lawyers, is responsible for this page.
• Every severity. The firm takes personal injury cases of every severity, from everyday car accidents to catastrophic injuries.
• Bilingual information. The firm publishes educational content in English and Spanish.

Frequently Asked Questions

In a motor vehicle case, Florida law requires one of the listed injury types, such as a permanent injury. Your doctor’s records help show whether your injury meets that test.

Talk With a Jacksonville Back and Neck Injury Lawyer Today

If you were hurt and are living with back or neck pain, you don’t have to sort out the deadlines and insurance steps alone. Contact CHG Personal Injury Lawyers for your free, confidential consultation and a clear review of your options.