Florida head injury claims

How Much Is a Head Injury Claim Worth?

By Miller & Jacobs Accident Attorneys

There is no fixed dollar value for a head injury claim. An estimate depends on the losses the evidence supports, who is legally responsible and what money can be recovered. A diagnosis or a bill total alone cannot tell you what an offer should be.

If you are deciding whether to settle, check what the offer covers: past bills and lost pay, future needs and the injury's effect on daily life. Ask what remains uncertain and what would be deducted from the payment. Get needed medical care before working on the claim.

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A gavel and a one-hundred-dollar bill over images of a brain scan

Use the records of what changed

Start with the diagnosis, care and the tasks you can no longer do as before. Keep records from before and after the injury if you have them. Work limits, notes from family and care records may show change. They still need to be linked to the incident.

The CDC's mild TBI guidance explains that a care provider may check symptoms, memory and other skills. A mild traumatic brain injury can be present even if those tests do not show it. A scan alone is not the whole review. Your care provider must assess the injury. A claim review cannot diagnose it.

Describe what changed rather than giving each symptom a dollar value. Note when you need help following a set of steps, keeping appointments or doing a work task. Tell your care team about earlier symptoms too. A diary can record what happened. It does not prove a diagnosis or the cause of every problem.

Wooden blocks labeled Damages and Claim on a table

Separate the bill, the payment and what is still owed

Keep itemized bills, health-plan statements, payment records and unpaid balances. A bill's full price is not automatically what you can recover.

Under Florida section 768.0427, evidence of the amount for past bills already paid is limited to what was actually paid. Unpaid bills and future care follow separate proof rules. Health-plan payments and your share may matter. For people without coverage or with Medicare or Medicaid, the law also uses defined rate benchmarks as part of the proof. Reasonable billed amounts may be evidence too. For future care, review coverage you have or may qualify for. The law also limits medical damages to the admitted proof and the sum of paid, still-owed and needed future care costs.

If you promised a provider payment from a settlement through a letter of protection, keep it and the bills. The law requires details about these agreements, including coverage and referrals. The agreement does not make every charge recoverable.

These rules generally apply to suits filed after March 24, 2023 under the 2023 law's filing transition. Older filed cases need their own review. The review must also account for losses that cannot be paid twice.

Base future care on the medical plan

A future-care estimate needs proof of both the care and its cost. Ask your care team what help is expected and why. Separate the recommended plan from options still being considered.

Florida's civil jury instructions address reasonable care and treatment needed because of an injury. Future costs need proof. People with the same diagnosis may need different help.

What care or help?

Name the treatment, therapy, equipment or help with daily tasks in the medical plan. Explain how it relates to the injury.

How often and for how long?

Weekly care and occasional follow-up have different costs. Note how often care is expected, for how long and when the plan will be reviewed.

What supports the cost?

Note who made the estimate and when. Whether you qualify for coverage, and Florida's medical-expense proof rules, may affect the amount used.

When the injury involves a TBI, our Pompano Beach TBI team can review the care and work records that may support the claim.

Show missed pay and changes in your ability to earn

Past missed pay and a future loss of earning ability are different questions. Keep pay records, time off, lost shifts and the reason you could not work. If you work for yourself, keep invoices and business records that explain the work and pay lost.

For future earning ability, keep a record of job duties, work limits and how the injury affects those duties. Going back to work may mean fewer hours, different tasks or new support. Evidence from care providers, work specialists or financial experts may help show a lasting loss, depending on the facts.

MSKTC's employment guidance advises working with the care team on a return-to-work plan. Its examples include shorter hours or rest breaks. Those are possible supports. They do not show that everyone with a TBI needs them or has the same earning loss.

Explain the effect on daily life with concrete examples

Pain, discomfort and lost activities may matter as well as bills. Florida's civil jury instructions give no exact dollar standard for these losses. The proof must show the injury's actual effects.

Describe what changed and how often it happens. Examples might include needing help with a task, leaving an activity early or being unable to do it safely. Keep the dates and explain how you know what happened. Do not assume that every difficulty after the incident was caused by it or will last forever.

Check responsibility, coverage and the rules for this claim

Proving a loss does not, by itself, show who must pay it. The proof must also support your legal claim against that party. A policy has its own coverage terms.

Under Florida's comparative-fault rule, more than 50% fault for your own harm bars damages in a covered negligence suit. Exactly 50% does not trigger the bar. Any share of fault assigned to you reduces an award. This change generally applies to suits filed after March 24, 2023. The more-than-50% bar does not apply to medical-negligence cases under chapter 766.

A policy limit affects what that policy can pay. Review whether other parties, policies or funds may cover a proven loss. A legal claim can exceed the policy limit, but a right to a judgment does not ensure you can collect the money.

For some motor-vehicle claims, section 627.737(2) limits pain-and-suffering damages to these injury categories:

Loss of function: Significant permanent loss of an important bodily function.

Permanent injury: A permanent injury within reasonable medical probability, apart from scarring or disfigurement.

Scarring or disfigurement: Significant permanent scarring or disfigurement.

Death.

Whether that tort limit applies depends on the vehicle and coverage.

Section 627.727(7) generally applies that test to uninsured or underinsured motorist pain-and-suffering claims, although a policy may provide broader coverage. Dauksis illustrates why the policy wording matters. Workplace, government and other types of claims can have different limits and procedures.

Punitive damages are separate. A request to include them needs an evidence-based reasonable showing under section 768.72. Liability requires clear and convincing proof of intentional misconduct or gross negligence. A serious head injury alone does not meet that test.

Ask what a settlement payment would resolve

Put the proposed release beside the offer. Check which parties and claims it would release, whether future losses are included and which questions are still open. A final settlement may close claims even though treatment continues.

Ask for a written estimate of what you would receive after agreed legal fees, case costs and any medical repayment amounts. Those are separate items. Florida's collateral-source law has rules and exceptions for payments and reimbursement rights. Do not assume every earlier payment will be subtracted or every repayment claim waived.

If the dispute is about coverage, injury cause or a particular record, our TBI insurance-dispute guide addresses that separate task. An offer's size alone does not tell you whether it resolves the right losses.

Speak With Our Head Injury Lawyers

Mark J. Miller, partner at Miller & Jacobs

Mark J. Miller, Partner, Head Injury Lawyer

Rick S. Jacobs, Partner, Head Injury Lawyer

Start with care records, itemized bills, payment statements, work records, policies and any offer or release. Note what is missing and which future needs your care team is still reviewing.

For an Orlando injury, the Orlando personal injury team can review how those records relate to a claim. The incident matters too. Our Pompano Beach car accident team and Pompano Beach slip-and-fall team explain those claim settings.

Have timing checked while the assessment is underway. A general Florida negligence injury claim has a two-year period under section 95.11(5)(a) for claims that legally arise after March 24, 2023. Older claims and exceptions need separate review. Do not assume that an unfinished treatment plan or settlement talks keep a filing deadline open.

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Questions when you are weighing a head injury offer

Can an online average tell me what to accept?

No average can replace a review of your records, claim rules and available funds. Cases grouped under "head injury" may involve different care, work losses, fault and coverage. Ask what proof supports an estimate and what it leaves uncertain.

Does a normal scan mean the claim has no value?

A scan alone cannot set the claim's value. A clinician must assess the injury and its effects. The claim still needs evidence linking the incident to the losses. Neither a normal scan nor a diagnosis alone decides the amount.

Does returning to work end a claim for earning loss?

Returning to work does not, by itself, resolve every loss. Review hours, pay, duties, restrictions and support needed. A claimed future loss still needs evidence of how the injury affects earning ability.

Is the settlement amount the money I take home?

Not necessarily. Ask for a written breakdown of fees, case costs and medical repayment amounts before agreeing. Review the release as well as the proposed net payment so you know which claims would end.