Can I get compensation for whiplash after a car accident in Florida?

Can you make a whiplash injury claim in Florida?

Yes, you can make a whiplash injury claim in Florida. Florida's no-fault law is meant to pay PIP (personal injury protection) benefits without regard to fault, and pain and suffering damages from the driver of a PIP-insured car need an injury that meets Florida's permanent injury threshold.

According to MedlinePlus, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, car accidents are a common cause of neck pain, and whiplash is a soft tissue injury to the neck, also called neck sprain or strain.

PIP medical benefits pay 80 percent of reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services if you get initial care within 14 days after the crash from a provider type the law lists. PIP disability benefits pay 60 percent of lost gross income and lost earning capacity when the injury keeps you from working.

PIP pays up to $10,000 for covered care if a physician, dentist, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse (as listed in the statute) has determined you had an emergency medical condition. If a listed provider determines you did not have an emergency medical condition, PIP reimbursement for that care is limited to $2,500. If no physician, dentist, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse has found that you had an emergency medical condition, PIP may pay only up to $2,500.

For more on Florida crash claims, see car accident lawyers in Melbourne.

What Florida law says about whiplash compensation

The purpose of the no-fault law

Section 627.731, Florida Statutes, says Florida's no-fault law is meant to provide benefits "without regard to fault," along with "a limitation on the right to claim damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience."

What PIP pays

Section 627.736, Florida Statutes, sets a limit of "$10,000 in medical and disability benefits and $5,000 in death benefits." Medical benefits pay "Eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services," if you receive initial care "within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident," and they "do not include massage therapy" or acupuncture. Disability benefits pay "Sixty percent of any loss of gross income and loss of earning capacity" when the injury keeps you from working.

For PIP medical benefits to pay for initial care, it must be lawfully provided, supervised, ordered, or prescribed by a medical or osteopathic physician (licensed under chapter 458 or 459), a dentist, a chiropractic physician, or an advanced practice registered nurse registered under section 464.0123, or be provided in a hospital or in a facility that owns, or is wholly owned by, a hospital. A licensed provider of emergency transportation and treatment may also provide initial care.

PIP medical benefits reimburse follow-up care only upon referral by one of those initial-care providers, and the follow-up care must be consistent with the diagnosis made at the initial care.

The emergency medical condition rule

Section 627.732(16), Florida Statutes, defines an emergency medical condition as a medical condition shown by "acute symptoms of sufficient severity, which may include severe pain," such that going without immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in serious jeopardy to the patient's health, serious impairment to bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.

The injury threshold

Subsection (2) of section 627.737, Florida Statutes, says that in a lawsuit against the owner, registrant, driver, or occupant of a PIP-insured vehicle, you may recover damages "for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience" only if the injury or disease "consists in whole or in part of":

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

Shared fault and the 2023 change

Under section 768.81, Florida Statutes, in a negligence case (a case about careless conduct) your own share of fault "diminishes proportionately" your damages but does not by itself bar recovery, subject to the more-than-50-percent rule. Subsection (6) says "any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages." That bar does not apply to personal injury or wrongful death claims arising out of medical negligence. The more-than-50-percent bar was added by Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida, which took effect March 24, 2023, and it applies to lawsuits filed after that date. Judges decide how the law applies to the facts of each case, and some have ruled differently for injuries that happened before the change, but the law on the books stands.

What affects a whiplash settlement in Florida?

A settlement is an agreement that resolves your claim. Each claim turns on its own facts, so no amounts are given here. For more, see How much is my personal injury case worth?

The claim against the driver who caused the crash

Under section 627.736(3), a lawsuit against that driver cannot recover any damages for which PIP benefits are paid or payable. Pain and suffering damages from the driver of a PIP-insured car need one or more of the four kinds of injury in section 627.737(2). For more on suing, see Can I sue the other driver after a Florida car accident if I have PIP?

Laws that change what can be recovered

• Shared fault. As explained above, your own share of fault reduces your damages proportionately, and being found more than 50 percent at fault for your own harm bars any recovery.
• Medical bills that were paid. For past medical bills that have been paid, evidence of the amount of damages is limited to the amount actually paid, no matter who paid it. This rule is in section 768.0427, Florida Statutes, added by the same 2023 law, and it applies to lawsuits filed after March 24, 2023.

More questions about whiplash injury claims

Does PIP pay for a chiropractor or physical therapy for whiplash?

It may, depending on who gives the care and when. A chiropractic physician is one of the providers who can give initial care, which must come within 14 days after the crash for PIP medical benefits. PIP reimburses a licensed physical therapist for follow-up care only on referral from a provider who can give initial care. PIP medical benefits do not pay for massage therapy or acupuncture. For more, see Who pays my medical bills after a car accident in Florida?

What if my neck pain started days after the crash?

You may still be able to get PIP medical benefits, depending on when you get care. MedlinePlus says the pain of whiplash may not appear right away after an accident and sometimes may take hours to weeks to develop. Symptoms include dizziness, headache, and pain or stiffness in the neck, jaw, shoulders, or arms. PIP medical benefits require initial care within 14 days after the crash from a provider type the PIP law lists, so getting checked within 14 days matters even if your pain is mild.

Is whiplash considered a permanent injury in Florida?

Florida's threshold lists four kinds of injury, quoted above, not named diagnoses; one is "permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement." Whether a particular neck injury fits is decided case by case, and a lawyer can go over your medical records with you.

What if the driver who hit me has no insurance?

Your own uninsured motorist coverage may help, if your policy includes it. A Florida auto policy that includes bodily injury liability coverage must include uninsured motorist coverage, unless a named insured rejects it in writing on behalf of everyone insured under the policy. Under section 627.727(7), Florida Statutes, an uninsured motorist insurer does not owe damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience unless the injury is one described in the same threshold, section 627.737(2). For more, see What if the driver who hit me has no insurance or not enough?

What should you do after a whiplash injury?

• Report the crash. Under section 316.065, Florida Statutes, a driver in a crash that causes injury, death, or apparent damage to any vehicle or property of at least $2,000 must immediately notify the local police (inside a city), or otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest Florida Highway Patrol station, by the quickest means. The $2,000 amount took effect October 1, 2026.
• Get initial care within 14 days after the crash from a provider type the PIP law lists, even if your pain is mild or has not started; PIP medical benefits require it.
• Follow your referrals and keep them. PIP reimburses follow-up care only on referral from an initial-care provider.
• Keep records: visits, referrals, any emergency medical condition determination, bills and what was actually paid, and proof of lost income.

Your deadline to sue

Under section 95.11, Florida Statutes, a lawsuit for an injury caused by negligence must be filed within two years. That two-year rule applies only to claims that arose after the 2023 change took effect on March 24, 2023, and under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, a negligence lawsuit against a Florida state or local government agency must be filed within 4 years after the claim arises, except medical malpractice and wrongful death claims, which follow the deadlines in section 95.11(5). Before you can sue a government agency, a written claim generally must be presented within 3 years after the claim arises (2 years for wrongful death) and then denied, or left without a final decision for the time the law allows. Older claims follow different rules, explained in How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Florida?

Talk to a Melbourne car accident lawyer

Douglas R. Beam, P.A. is a personal injury law firm in Melbourne, Florida. If you have a whiplash injury from a crash and want to know how these rules may apply to you, you can talk with us in a free consultation.

Call us at (321) 723-6591, or send us a message through our website. Our office is at 25 West New Haven Avenue, Suite C, Melbourne, FL 32901.

Sources

• Section 627.731, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.732, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.736, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.737, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.727, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.81, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.0427, Florida Statutes
• Section 316.065, Florida Statutes
• Section 95.11, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.28, Florida Statutes
• Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida
• MedlinePlus: Neck Injuries and Disorders
• MedlinePlus: Whiplash