When an auto accident occurs and people are injured, there are several issues to take in to consideration, like Florida auto insurance.  The first question that is often asked after an auto accident relates to liability, in other words, which driver is at fault for the accident.  In most cases, this can be determined clearly.  If someone fails to yield an established right of way and a collision occurs, the common determination is that the person who disobeyed the rules of the road is at fault.  In some cases however, liability is unclear.  For example, if two drivers collide at an intersection controlled by a standard stoplight, and both drivers claim they had the green light, and no witnesses are available, suddenly it becomes very difficult to determine liability.  Cases such as this that involve serious injury gave rise to the notion of “no fault” insurance coverage.  This section of Florida auto insurance law requires that each policy pay directly for medical bills incurred by the occupants of the insured vehicle only. 

One of the motivations behind the development of no-fault automobile coverage was to eliminate delays in the payment of medical benefits due to disputes over liability.  Delays could cause a problem for a victim of an auto accident that suffered severe injuries, as medically relevant decisions would need to be made based on the cost of treatment. 

Florida auto insurance has a no-fault component that attaches to the personal injury protection of your policy.  The personal injury protection section of an auto policy is designed to pay for medical bills associated with an auto accident.  This section of the policy will not cover other damages such as pain and suffering.  The bodily injury liability component of the policy was designed for those types of damages. 

When a state utilizes a no-fault concept for injury claims, there are usually a handful of methods that state can use to allow for payments under the program for medical bills without fault, but allow damages to be paid in instances of severe injury for pain and suffering.  Various injury thresholds evolved among the states and in Florida, this threshold is described as a qualitative threshold.  In this model, the injuries sustained must fill a certain descriptive requirement before the victim is allowed to make a claim in tort against the driver that caused the accident.  This threshold is often referred to as the “tort threshold” and in Florida, this means that the injury must result in one of the following:

(a) Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function

(b) Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability

(c) Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement.

If the injuries meet one of the above noted thresholds, then the victim is in a position to collect damages from the at-fault driver for pain and suffering, lost wages, or even loss of consortium.  These thresholds are by design somewhat vague and left to interpretation by a medical professional.  For those who are injured in a state that subscribes to a no-fault insurance plan, it is of great importance to learn what the thresholds are.