March 9, 2020

You’re in real pain after your Tampa car accident, but the insurance adjuster keeps acting like it’s no big deal. They weren’t in the crash. They don’t feel your back seize up every morning. To them, you are a stack of paper, and if that paper doesn’t tell the right story, they will value your pain at close to nothing. Here’s why that happens, and how to make sure your pain is taken seriously. TL;DR — QUICK SUMMARY Insurance companies undervalue pain because it is subjective, and Florida’s no-fault law only makes them pay for it when your injury is permanent. Your PIP coverage pays 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages up to $10,000, but it pays nothing for pain and suffering. To recover pain and suffering from the at-fault driver, your injury must meet one of four permanency categories under Florida Statute 627.737. Gaps in treatment and old injuries are the two tools insurers use most to argue your pain is not real or not from the crash. You have two years from the crash to file a lawsuit under Florida Statute 95.11(3)(a), and consistent medical proof is what protects your claim’s value. The Reyes Firm Is the Insurance Company Downplaying Your Pain? Get your Tampa injury claim valued fairly. Had a bad day? Contact Us Now 4 Injury categories that allow pain & suffering Fla. Stat. 627.737(2) $10,000 Standard Florida PIP limit Fla. Stat. 627.736 80% Of medical bills PIP pays, none for pain Fla. Stat. 627.736 2 Years To file an injury lawsuit Fla. Stat. 95.11(3)(a) Why do insurance companies undervalue your pain after a car accident? Insurance companies undervalue your pain because pain is subjective, hard to measure, and easy to dispute, and because Florida law only forces them to pay for it under specific conditions. A broken bumper has a price tag. The ache that keeps you from lifting your child or sleeping through the night does not, so the adjuster treats it as negotiable, then looks for reasons to push its value down. The deeper problem is that the insurer only knows you on paper. It has never met you and does not feel what you feel, so it judges your pain entirely by your medical records. If those records show consistent treatment and a clear diagnosis, your pain looks real. If they show gaps, missed appointments, or no imaging, the insurer will argue you must not be hurting much at all. Understanding how that paper trail is read is the first step to protecting what your claim is actually worth. What does Florida’s no-fault system actually pay for your pain? On its own, your no-fault coverage pays nothing for pain and suffering. Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage under Florida Statute § 627.736 pays 80% of your medical bills and 60% of your lost wages, up to a standard limit of $10,000, and that money covers economic losses only. Pain, suffering, mental anguish, and the loss of enjoyment of your life are non-economic damages, and you can only recover them by stepping outside the no-fault system and pursuing the at-fault driver directly. Florida does not let you do that for every injury, which is exactly the gap insurers rely on. To reach your pain and suffering, you first have to clear a legal bar called the permanency threshold. When can you recover pain and suffering in Florida? You can recover pain and suffering only when your injury meets Florida’s permanency threshold. Under Florida Statute § 627.737(2), you may pursue non-economic damages from the at-fault driver only if your injury involves one of four things: significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. The phrase that decides most cases is “permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability.” Proving it usually takes more than your word. It takes the right imaging, the right specialist, and a doctor willing to state that your injury is permanent. This is why a thorough diagnosis matters so much, especially for back, neck, and spine injuries where an MRI can reveal disc damage that an X-ray misses, or for head injuries where a traumatic brain injury may need a neurologist rather than a general doctor to document. 💡 Did You Know? Under Florida’s no-fault law, you cannot recover a dollar of pain and suffering from the at-fault driver unless your injury meets one of four permanency categories in Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2), and the permanency normally has to be confirmed by a doctor to a reasonable degree of medical probability. This single requirement is why proper diagnosis can change a claim’s value dramatically. Source: Fla. Stat. § 627.737, leg.state.fl.us. Watch: Why the insurance company says you’re not really in pain In this short video, attorney Edward Reyes explains how insurers use your medical records to argue your pain isn’t serious, and what you can do about it. Tampa personal injury lawyer Edward Reyes represents people in Tampa and Hillsborough County, Florida who have suffered an injury in an incident or accident type of accident. Speak Directly to Me, At No Cost, Today 813.421.3411If an adjuster is downplaying what you’re going through, The Reyes Firm offers free consultations and can review your situation at no cost. How gaps in treatment lower the value of your pain Nothing hands an insurer more ammunition than a gap in your treatment. When weeks or months pass with no doctor visits, the adjuster’s argument writes itself: if you were really in pain, you would have kept seeing someone about it. A long delay between the crash and your care, or a stretch where you simply stopped going, becomes their reason to discount how you feel. Consistency is your best answer. Steady, documented treatment shows that your pain is ongoing and real, builds the medical record needed to prove permanency, and removes the insurer’s favorite excuse. The same urgency applies to