Personal Injury claims that arise from rear-end auto accidents in Florida fall under a theory of negligence. In order to prove negligence, a claimant, the person bringing the lawsuit, must prove all the elements needed to show that a person was negligent. One of the elements that must be shown in order to prove that a person was negligent is that the claimant actually suffered damages due to the accused person’s negligent act. This is a significant piece of the puzzle when seeking money in a personal injury claim.

Victims of rear-end auto accidents in Florida are entitled to just compensation of damages for things such as:

• Medical Expenses
• Lost Earnings
• Future Earnings
• Damage of Property
• Pain and Suffering

What many people may not be aware of is that without an actual showing of a monetary loss, regardless of every other element of negligence being proved, there is nothing for a plaintiff to recover. There must be proof that a plaintiff lost money because of a person’s negligent conduct.

SHOWING TANGIBLE DAMAGES

The damage to a person’s automobile is generally easy to demonstrate with an estimate from an auto body shop. If a person receives an injury due to a rear-end auto accident, then medical bills can serve to show out of pocket expenses. When there is lost time from work, an employer can provide documents showing the amount of money that the victim was unable to earn because of their time away from the job. After a person returns to their employment, if they are unable to perform in the ways that they were able to prior to the collision, that evidence can be submitted to show a potential future earnings lost.

DAMAGES FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING

Pain and suffering damages are often times the most tricky dollar amount to calculate. Placing a value on a person’s feeling is just not something that is easy to do. The common misconception of this area of law is that they value given for pain and suffering is based on how a person is feeling after an auto accident.

Factors considered by insurance adjusters, attorneys and other legal professionals include:

• How severe an injury is (scraps vs. broken bones)
• Gaps in medical treatment from the day of the accident
• Similar injury previously sustained
• Gender and Age
• Medical treatment for an injury
• Pain that is attributed to a particular type of medical treatment
• The following of a Medical Professional’s treatment plan for an injury
• Medications needed to minimize pain
• Employment History
• Prior insurance claims
• Permanency of the injury

Given these factors, and depending on the circumstances of a particular accident and injury, a formula is available to produce a concrete number for pain and suffering. Generally, the total amount of bills associated with the accident and injury are multiplied by a number ranging from one and a half, up to four. This, again, will depend on the specific circumstances of the particular accident and injury.

Damages must be present in order to recover compensation in a personal injury claim due to a rear-end auto accident. If you would like to be fully aware of everything that can be used as evidence for damages in your case, you can contact the car accident law firm of Madalon Law for a free consultation.