If you suffered permanent injuries in a Florida car crash, you face a challenging future. You might require long-term treatment and in-home or residential care. If your injuries prevent you from performing your work duties, you could be facing a lifetime of inability to even earn a living. You might never be able to enjoy your favorite activities or interact with your loved ones in the same way you did before.

Nothing can undo the damage you have suffered. However, you can hold the at-fault party financially responsible for their negligence by pursuing legal action. An experienced personal injury attorney can help you get the justice and financial compensation you deserve.

The Florida car accident lawyers of Abrahamson & Uiterwyk are here to help. We understand how incredibly frightening and confusing your situation is. We will fight to get you the car accident settlement you deserve for your injuries. Because it can be difficult to identify an average car accident settlement value in any case, we offer a free consultation and case analysis for injury accident victims. Our compassionate and knowledgeable attorneys can provide you with the answers and information you need to take the next step.

permanent injury settlement

What Is the Average Car Accident Permanent Injury Settlement in Florida?

The settlement you need—and deserve—will include compensation for all your damages, both economic (for example, medical expenses and lost wages) and non-economic (for example, pain, suffering, and emotional distress). Unfortunately, it’s virtually impossible to identify any average permanent injury car accident settlement amount. The nature of your injuries will determine the type of treatment and care you need. The value of your injuries depends on how they have changed your life now and how they will impact your life in the future.

The best way to determine what your settlement value might be is to contact our office. Once we understand the details of your accident and what you are going through, we can provide you with an estimate of your claim’s value. We can also provide you with our opinion of how long it could take to negotiate a settlement and get a check in your hand.

Car Accident Permanent Injury Settlement Examples

How much compensation you get for a car accident permanent injury settlement in Florida varies based on the unique circumstances of each situation and the severity of your injuries. Based on our own settlement data on this page, the average car accident permanent injury settlement is between $11,000 to $85,000.

$11,000 Car Accident Permanent Injury Settlement

Our client was out with friends in South Tampa on the evening of January 30, 2025. While the group was crossing Azeele Street, an eastbound vehicle struck all three of them in the middle of the road. Police later determined that our client and his friends had been crossing in an area without a crosswalk and concluded that they were at fault for the accident.

Our client injured his lower back in the collision and went to the emergency room shortly afterward, where he was treated and released. A couple of weeks later, he followed up with a physician and received limited additional treatment. Fortunately, his back pain continued to improve and eventually went away completely.

This created a significant challenge for his car accident permanent injury settlement claim. Under Florida law, a person seeking damages for pain and suffering must be able to show that the accident caused a permanent injury. Because our client’s lower back injury had resolved, he could not meet the permanent injury threshold. His limited medical expenses also affected the value of his claim.

The case was further complicated by the difficulty of proving that the driver was at fault for the accident. Despite these challenges, we continued negotiating with the defendant’s insurance company and ultimately secured an $11,000 settlement for our client.

Considering the issue of proving a permanent injury and the difficulty of establishing fault, the $11,000 settlement was a good result for the case.

$4,000 Car Accident Permanent Injury Settlement

Our client was driving south on 9th Street in St. Petersburg, Florida, when a vehicle in front of him stopped to make a U-turn. Our client slowed down, but the defendant driving behind him failed to stop and rear-ended his vehicle. After the accident, the defendant admitted that he had been looking down at his phone instead of watching the road.

About 10 days after the accident, our client went to a clinic for neck and lower back pain. An MRI of his lower back showed degenerative changes in his lumbar spine. He was prescribed pain medication and returned for a follow-up appointment a few days later. By then, his pain had improved significantly, and he ended his treatment.

After several weeks, our client’s pain had subsided. This became an important factor in his car accident permanent injury settlement claim. Under Florida law, an injured person in a car accident must prove a serious injury to recover noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering. Because our client did not suffer a permanent injury, he was not entitled to noneconomic damages.

Most of his medical expenses had also been covered by his personal injury protection insurance, leaving his claim with essentially no value. Despite these challenges, we prepared a demand letter and negotiated with the defendant’s insurance company through several rounds of discussions.

Ultimately, we were able to recover several thousand dollars for our client, even though he did not have a permanent injury and most of his medical expenses had already been covered.

$85,000 Car Accident Permanent Injury Settlement

Our client was involved in a rear-end collision on U.S. 192 in Kissimmee, Florida, on December 26, 2022. The defendant driver was found to be at fault for the accident and was cited for careless driving.

Our client suffered back injuries in the crash and began treatment with a local chiropractor. She was also evaluated by a neurologist and an orthopedic surgeon, who performed a series of epidural steroid injections. Her physicians determined that she had suffered a permanent injury as a direct result of the accident and would require future medical care and treatment.

The defendant was insured by GEICO with $10,000 in coverage. After we sent a demand package detailing our client’s claim, GEICO tendered the full $10,000.

Because the value of our client’s car accident permanent injury settlement claim exceeded the defendant’s available insurance coverage, we then pursued her underinsured motorist coverage with Progressive. Progressive initially offered just $2,500.

We provided additional medical records and continued negotiations, insisting that our client receive reasonable compensation for her injuries. Ultimately, Progressive agreed to pay $75,000, bringing our client’s total settlement to $85,000.

How Are Permanent Injury Settlement Amounts Calculated?

In a typical personal injury case, victims may be entitled to recover compensation for some or all of the following.

  • Emergency medical treatment costs,
  • Doctor and surgeon costs,
  • Hospital costs,
  • Medical imaging and testing,
  • Prescription medications,
  • Medical devices,
  • Lost income,
  • Lost benefits,
  • Emotional trauma, and
  • Pain and suffering.

If you require future medical treatment or you won’t be able to return to work right away, your attorney might also seek damages for the estimated cost of future damages, such as medical treatment and future lost income.

However, anyone who suffers permanent damage, disfigurement, scarring, etc. could be entitled to compensation for additional damages. If your permanent injury involves facial scarring, for example, several factors will influence the monetary value of the corresponding damages. This might include the extent of the scarring, your age, and how possible it might be to surgically correct or improve the scarring. 

As you might have determined, calculating the settlement value for any type of long-term or permanent injury is highly complex. To obtain an accurate assessment of your case value, you need to speak to an experienced attorney who understands this complex facet of the law.

How Do Car Accident Settlement Calculators Work?

If you spend any time searching online for the average car accident settlement with permanent or long-term injuries, you have likely discovered multiple personal injury settlement calculators. These tools promise to calculate the potential value of your claim in a matter of moments.

Settlement calculators typically ask you to enter information such as the following:

  • The amount of your medical bills,
  • The amount of your personal property damage,
  • The amount of your lost income,
  • The estimated cost of future medical care, and
  • The value of your future lost wages.

Some calculators also ask you to identify a multiplier for general damages or pain and suffering. You click on the “Calculate” button and you essentially get a total of the damage values you entered times the multiplier you provided.

The problem with this process is that few serious or permanent injury accident victims have any idea what the true value of their damages are or will be.

In some cases, settlement calculators won’t even give you an immediate response. Instead, you will be asked to provide your name and contact information so that someone can reach out to you. At that time, you will hear a pitch about why you should choose that law firm to handle your case.

The bottom line regarding permanent injury settlement calculators is that—without all the details of your case—no calculator or individual can provide an accurate estimate of your claim’s value. In most cases, these calculators primarily serve as marketing tools for law firm websites.

How Our Car Accident Attorneys Can Help You Get a Permanent Injury Settlement

Getting a fair financial settlement is critical for permanent injury victims. You will face injury-related challenges for the rest of your life. You may need financial resources for medical treatment or care. You might need to make accessibility modifications to your home or vehicle. If you can’t work, you will need money to pay for your home, utilities, and living costs.

You simply cannot leave your future to chance. Insurance companies will attempt to deny or undervalue injury accident claims, even when the victim has suffered permanent disability, disfigurement, scarring, or other serious and long-lasting injuries. If they succeed in denying your claim or get away with giving you a token settlement, you won’t get the resources you need for future damages.

Working with our experienced attorneys provides multiple advantages. We know how to calculate the value of your claim and document it persuasively. We level the playing field with the insurance company, forcing them to deal with your case in good faith. We investigate your case to demonstrate the at-fault party’s liability for your damages. We stand by your side and fight tirelessly to get you the outcome you deserve.

Contact a Florida Car Accident Injury Lawyer Now

What you’re going through right now is virtually unthinkable. You may be frightened and overwhelmed and likely have no idea where to turn.

If your accident took place in Florida, talking to a personal injury lawyer from Abrahamson & Uiterwyk is a great place to start. We have spent our careers fighting for the wrongfully injured, as you will see if you browse our past case results. In the past three decades, we have assisted thousands of clients—over 20,000, in fact—and recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on their behalf.

We are proud of what we have accomplished for our clients. However, the only thing you need to consider is what we can do for you, today.  

We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help you. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation at a location of your choice and convenience—including the ability to meet via phone or video conference. We will take on your case with no fees unless we recover compensation. Throughout the process, we will be there for you, handling everything so you don’t have to.

To schedule a consultation, call us at 800-538-4878 or contact us online. We look forward to helping you get the Florida car accident settlement you deserve.