These damages are listed in the Florida Standard Jury Instruction for Civil Cases 501.2. You may also be entitled to other damages, but those are outside the scope of this article.
Even if you are entitled to pain and suffering damages, to get paid there needs to be a collectible defendant. One of the biggest challenges in most Florida auto accident cases is that the 11 or more parties who may be liable may have no or limited bodily injury liability insurance.
In most injury cases, you must have sustained some impact in order to argue that you can get money for pain and suffering, disability and physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience or loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life experienced in the past or to be experienced in the future. In many types of injury claims, having psychological issues (distress) without a physical impact is not enough.
There is no exact standard for measuring such damage. This is one of the reasons that unless you understand how over 37 factors affect the settlement value of an injury claim, you should not think that you are going to get the same settlement as someone you know or another’s settlement that you read about in the media.
The pain and suffering amount should be fair and just in the light of the evidence. Pain and suffering damages are often the largest part of a settlement.
“Motor vehicle” type accidents
An injured person should know when they can recover damages in tort for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience in an auto accident case. Some Florida auto cases may have certain limitations that do not apply in other types of Florida injury cases. That is outside the scope of this article.
Non-“motor vehicle” type accidents
In the following types of non-motor vehicle accidents, the injured person needs to prove that another’s negligence caused the injury in order to recover damages for bodily injury and any resulting pain and suffering, disability and physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience or loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life experienced in the past or to be experienced in the future.
- Slip and falls
- Cruise ship accidents
- Boat accidents
- Negligent security
- Wrongful death
In these types of accidents, you do not have to prove that you have a permanent injury in order to recover damages for pain and suffering. As I said above, you may also be entitled to other damages, but those are outside the scope of this article.
Example – Pain and Suffering from Slip and Fall
Mike slip and falls in a supermarket in Miami, Florida. He aggravates his Achilles tendon that was recovering from a prior surgery. Now he requires and has 2 skin grafts to repair his achilles tendon. If Mike can show that the supermarket’s negligence caused the need for the 2 skin grafts, Mike can recover damages for bodily injury and any resulting pain and suffering, disability and physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience or loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life experienced in the past or to be experienced in the future.
Mike does not have to show that he has a permanent injury in order to recover damages for pain and suffering. The above facts are from my actual case which I settled for $300,000. The settlement is 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.
You are usually not entitled to money for pain and suffering against your employer if you are injured while working in Florida, but there are rare situations when a worker can sue for pain and suffering.
You have rights if your family member is killed in an accident in Florida but that is outside the scope of this article.
Did someone’s carelessness cause your injury in an accident in Florida, or on a cruise or boat?
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2013 and has been completely revamped and updated.