Bodily Injury

Bodily Injury or Personal Injury

Also known as “third party” claims, these claims are brought by someone not a party to the insurance agreement/policy (not an insured) who makes a claim against a person or business insured under a particular insurance policy.  In third party claims, if litigation (a lawsuit) follows, the defendant will be the insured and not the insurance company.

Bodily Injury or Personal Injury

In many cases it is an injured person who is making a “personal injury” claim against an insured person, claiming the right to recover bodily injury damages for the negligent acts of an insured person or business.  In Florida bodily injury liability (BI) coverage is not mandatory for private passenger automobiles.  Commercial vehicles, as defined under the Florida Financial Responsibility Law may, depending on their length, weight, cargo or use may be required to have bodily injury liability coverage. (see, Florida Statutes, Section 324.021)  Federal law sets forth insurance requirements for interstate trucking.

Florida is a “comparative negligence” state, meaning that where the injured person or property owner was themselves at fault (negligent), which fault or negligence caused or contributed to the injury or damage complained of, such degree or percentage of negligence (fault) will reduce any monetary recovery by that percentage, but will not preclude or prevent a recovery of damages altogether.  (Many other states prevent any financial recovery by a plaintiff or claimant where that person was themselves partially at fault for their own injury or property damage.)

Damages recoverable in a Florida personal injury claim include the following:

Past Medical Expenses – This includes those incurred from the time of the accident onward, if related to the care and/or treatment of an accident related injury.

Future Medical Expenses – This includes those expenses reasonably certain to be necessary in the future for the care and treatment of accident related injuries.

Past Wage Losses –  This includes those wage losses from the time of the accident onward, if related to the care and/or treatment of an accident related injury.

Future Lost Earning Capacity – This includes the lost earnings from the time of trial or settlement onward.

Past Pain and Suffering – These “special damages” are recoverable for the pain and suffering experienced by the accident victim from the time of the injury until the time of a trial of the lawsuit, or from the time of injury until the settlement of the claim.  By definition, pain and suffering damages in Florida include “

For an automobile claim or case in Florida an injured person must suffer a “permanent” injury in order to recover pain and suffering damages IF the injured person was, at the time of the accident, the owner of a vehicle required to have PIP (No Fault) coverage per the Florida Statutes, Section 627.733.  This requirement of a permanent injury under the Florida No Fault law is known as the “tort threshold”, which must be crossed or surpassed in order to recover pain and suffering damages for and most automobile accident claims or cases.

(Notable exceptions to the required permanent injury for the recovery of pain and suffering damages exist under Florida Statutes, Section 627.733 (1),(2) for bus passengers, motorcycle occupants, taxi cab occupants, occupants of vehicle only temporarily  in the State, as defined by F.S. subsection 627.733 (2), or occupants of school buses, as such vehicles are not required to “maintain security” by having PIP / No Fault coverage. Further, if a vehicle occupied by an accident victim does not meet the statutory definition of a motor vehicle, under F.S. 627.732 (3), that person also does not need to have a permanent or threshold injury to recover pain and suffering damages, unless they themselves own another “motor vehicle” for which PIP – No Fault coverage is required.)

Future Pain and Suffering – These special damages are recoverable for pain and suffering from the time of trial for the remainder of the injured person’s life expectancy. As with past pain and suffering damages, future pain and suffering damages are awardable or recoverable if a “permanent injury” has resulted because of the accident related injury or injuries, as defined by Florida Statue, section 627.737(2).   Also, as with past pain and suffering damages, no threshold or permanent injury is necessary if the injured person did not own, and was not occupying a motor vehicle required to have PIP coverage in place.

Past loss of consortium – The spouse of an injured person, if married before the time of injury, is allowed to recover damages for the diminished marital relationship.  As with pain and suffering damages, for motor vehicle related accident injures in Florida, the injured person must suffer a permanent injury before the spouse may collect for any loss of consortium.

Future loss of consortium – These damages are those projected into the future for the life expectancy of the injured person, and represent the value attributed to the diminishment of the marital relationship for that time period.  As with past lost consortium, future lost consortium is only awardable for a Florida motor vehicle accident related injury if the physically injured spouse suffered a permanent injury.

NOTE:  From any award of damages is subtracted the amount an accident victim collected or is paid from a source other than the person or entity responsible for causing the injury to the victim, and include No Fault – PIP benefits, disability insurance benefits, health insurance benefits. (In Florida these payments are known as “collateral sources” of indemnity, and defined in Florida Statute, Section 768.76, as interpreted by judicial decisions or case (common) law) The goal of the tort law of Florida is to make an injured person whole, by a single, full recovery for damages suffered, but not to allow for a “windfall” or duplicate recovery for any loss.