When a car accident occurs, you want to learn everything that you can about the claims process. An important part of knowing about car accident claims is learning about average car accident settlements in Florida. Of course, each case is unique.
However, learning what’s normal and what to expect can help you form realistic expectations and pursue your case in the best possible way. Here’s what you need to know about average car accident settlements in Florida from experienced Tampa car accident lawyers.
What Is the Average Car Accident Settlement in Florida?
The average accident settlement in Florida is about $15,000. When injuries are severe, the average settlement is higher. Your car accident settlement in Florida may be higher or lower than $15,000 depending on the severity of your injuries, legal fault in the case, and the ability of the responsible party to pay your claim.
Florida Average Car Accident Settlements
The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reports that the average car accident settlement is $15,443. You might hear about cases that settle for millions of dollars. However, the average car accident settlement is much smaller than that. Cases with serious injuries settle for higher amounts than cases with minor injuries.
What Is the Average Settlement for a Car Accident With Whiplash?
The average settlement for a car accident with whiplash is $10,000 – $20,000. Whiplash is soft tissue damage. It is a significant and painful injury that deserves compensation. Your compensation for a car accident with whiplash is based on your medical bills, the severity of your injuries, and the other losses that you have in the crash.
Florida No-Fault Average Car Accident Settlements
Because Florida is a no-fault state, accidents with only minor injuries are resolved in the no-fault system. Only accidents with serious injuries result in traditional lawsuits in courts. For the rest of Florida car accidents, the injured parties resolve their case directly with their own insurance company.
All Florida drivers have mandatory insurance policies that pay them directly for minor accidents. To recover from your own insurance company for a minor accident, you don’t have to prove who caused it. With small car accident settlements going through the no-fault system, the average car accident settlement in Florida is higher than it is in states that use an at-fault system for all accidents because there aren’t many lawsuits for small amounts. As long as you meet the serious injury threshold to bring your claim, you can recover or the full amount of your damages.
How Much Should I Ask for Pain and Suffering From a Car Accident?
You should ask for pain and suffering from a car accident that’s proportional to your injuries. If you have severe injuries that will last for the rest of your life, you might ask for pain and suffering that is equal to five times your medical bills and other financial losses.
In cases with minor injuries and an anticipated recovery period of days or weeks, you might ask for pain and suffering compensation that equals your medical bills. Most car accident victims ask for 1.5 times their monetary damages in pain and suffering compensation.
Average Pain and Suffering Compensation From a Car Accident
An important part of determining an average car accident settlement is determining what part of the settlement is for pain and suffering. Pain and suffering is a type of compensation that pays you for the physical, mental, and emotional pain that you have to endure because of an accident. But you can’t simply determine your pain and suffering compensation by using a calculator to total up all of your bills. To an accident victim, it might look like pain and suffering compensation has a lot of gray areas.
Typical pain and suffering payments are in proportion to the severity of an accident. The law presumes that a person with more severe injuries has more severe pain and suffering than a person with minor injuries. Of course, the more you’re able to prove your pain and suffering with expert testimony, documentation, and testimony from lay witnesses, the stronger your case will be for a high pain and suffering car accident settlement.
What Is the Average Florida No-Fault Settlement?
In Florida, the no-fault system has rules for what levels of compensation you get for each type of injury. Your no-fault insurance pays 80 percent for your medical bills. You get 60 percent of your lost wages. You may also get compensation for travel to your medical appointments.
Florida no-fault insurance pays you up to your policy limit. Most people have a $10,000 limit. In cases where there’s no emergency medical condition from the accident, the most that you can recover is $2,500. The average Florida no-fault settlement is the standard payment based on the allowances for each type of loss and the policy limits of the insured.
Is My Car Accident Settlement Average in Florida?
According to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there are 17 million licensed drivers in the state of Florida. There are also 17 million licensed vehicles in the state. With more than 400,000 motor vehicle crashes in Florida each year, causing 254,000 injuries, it can be hard to know if your car accident settlement is average.
Each Florida car accident settlement is an individual determination based on the actual losses in the case. In that sense, there’s no such thing as an average car accident settlement. Each settlement depends on the facts of that case. It’s almost impossible to compare one accident to another. There are a lot of different things that can factor into a car accident settlement. Whether you get a reasonable settlement depends on the specific facts of the case.
Our Tampa Car Accident Attorneys
Do you want to know if you’re getting a good car accident settlement? Is your settlement average? Our Tampa attorneys can help. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case to see what a good settlement is for you. We can help you take all of the essential steps to get the compensation that you deserve.
Whether your case is simple or complex, we don’t stop until you have a payment that’s fair and fully represents your losses under Florida law. Call us today for a free conversation with our team about your case and your rights. We look forward to working with you.