{"id":372664,"date":"2016-10-18T13:07:16","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T18:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/florida-law\/pain-and-suffering-damages-in-florida.html"},"modified":"2018-12-06T15:45:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T20:45:57","slug":"pain-and-suffering-damages-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/florida-law\/pain-and-suffering-damages-in-florida.html","title":{"rendered":"Pain and Suffering Damages in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pain and Suffering Damages in Florida<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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While lounging on Miami Beach or vacationing in Orlando, you’re probably not thinking about the words "pain and suffering." But injuries can happen anywhere, and like all states, Florida treats "pain and suffering" as a legal term for the physical and emotional distress caused by an injury. If you’ve been injured in the Sunshine State, you may need to know how courts treat pain and suffering damages in Florida.<\/p>\r\n

Below is a table with laws relevant to pain and suffering damages in Florida, including damages caps and the statute of limitations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Statute of Limitations<\/b><\/td>\r\n
Limits on Damages<\/b><\/td>\r\nNo cap on pain & suffering damages, generally; $500,000 cap on non-economic damages in most medical malpractice cases; $200,000 cap on most claims against state & local governments (Sec. 768.28(5)<\/a>)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>
Other Limits<\/b><\/td>\r\nNo-fault rule (for car accidents) and pure comparative negligence rule may limit recovery of damages (Sec. 768.81(2)<\/a>)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\r\n

The Different Types of Damages in Florida<\/h2>\r\n

In a claim for damages after an accident, there are usually two types of damages<\/a> to consider: economic (or "special") and non-economic (or "general"). Economic damages refer to the more concrete costs of an injury, such as medical expenses and lost wages. Non-economic damages are the more abstract, subjective costs of an accident, including past and future pain and suffering. A few examples of these types of injuries are depression, insomnia, and the loss of enjoyment of life.<\/p>\r\n

How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Measured in Florida?<\/h2>\r\n

Damages for pain and suffering are difficult to measure<\/a> because the experience is so subjective and there is no universal standard of measurement. Courts often instruct juries to use their best judgment in deciding how much pain and suffering damages to award a plaintiff, and attorneys and juries use a number of factors to assign value to these types of damages.<\/p>\r\n

Some examples of factors courts consider in determining damages for pain and suffering are:<\/p>\r\n