How Florida’s “Collateral Source” Rule Could Reduce Your Compensation from a Car Accident
When you file a personal injury lawsuit, you have the right to seek financial compensation for any losses you suffered as a result of the defendant’s negligence. For example, if you are seriously injured in a car accident, you can sue the negligent driver for economic damages such as your past and future medical expenses. But what if you have already been compensated for such damages, say by your auto insurance policy’s personal injury protection (PIP) benefits or even your own health insurance coverage?
The short answer is that any personal injury award you obtain from a Florida court must be reduced to account for these “collateral sources” of compensation. Basically, you cannot be paid twice for the same loss. So if a jury finds you incurred $100,000 in medical bills due to your car accident but your health insurance carrier paid for $40,000 of that bill, the judge would have to offset that amount, reducing the defendant’s responsibility to $60,000.
Florida Appeals Court Reverses Trial Judge’s “Offset” in Personal Injury Case
The Florida Second District Court of Appeal recently addressed a personal injury case, Buchman v. McDonald, where there was a dispute over whether the collateral source rule should apply to a jury’s award of damages. The underlying case involved a 2015 car accident where the defendant admitted fault. The case therefore proceeded to a jury trial solely to determine the plaintiff’s damages.
At trial, the plaintiff presented evidence that she incurred $114,973.75 in medical expenses related to the accident. This included medical treatment she received shortly after the accident in Florida, as well as years later in her home state of Massachusetts. The defense argued that the Massachusetts expenses were the result of an unrelated accident and that one of the plaintiff’s Florida medical bills was for treatment she never actually received.
The jury ultimately returned a verdict awarding just $24,482.90 for past medical expenses incurred in Florida, which was exactly the amount the defendant’s attorney suggested during their closing arguments. But the judge then applied Florida’s collateral source rule and imposed an offset of more than $44,000, reducing the jury’s award to zero.
On appeal, the Second District held the trial judge incorrectly applied the collateral source rule. As the appellate court explained, the jury’s $24,482.90 award only reflected medical treatment the plaintiff received in Florida. Yet the primary “collateral source” cited by the trial judge was health insurance benefits that the plaintiff received for her Massachusetts treatment, for which the jury awarded no damages. The other offset was for Florida PIP benefits related to the treatment that she never received. Since neither offset applied to the damages actually awarded by the jury, the Second District said there was no basis for reducing those damages.
Contact a Miami Car Accident Attorney Today
The legal rules governing car accident compensation in Florida can be quite complicated. That is why it is in your interest to work with an experienced Miami car accident lawyer. Contact Pita Weber Del Prado in Miami today at 305-670-2889 to schedule a free consultation.
Source:
2dca.flcourts.gov/content/download/2456858/opinion/Opinion_2024-1121.pdf
