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- Personal Injury
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- Practice Areas
- About
- News & Resources
- Contact
Se Habla Español
In most rear-end collisions, the law presumes the driver in the back is responsible. But the answer to who pays is a layered process involving your own insurance, the other driver’s coverage, and sometimes, your own foresight in selecting the right policy.
The idea of automatic fault is a common misunderstanding. While Florida law starts with a presumption that the rear driver was negligent, this may be challenged and overturned. Achieving full compensation is possible when you have a strategic legal approach from the outset. We handle these disputes daily and understand how to build a case that accounts for every loss you have suffered.
If you have questions about a recent collision in Pensacola or the surrounding area, call a car accident attorney at Emmanuel Sheppard & Condon for a free consultation.
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After a rear-end collision, the legal system doesn’t start with a blank slate. Instead, it begins with a concept known as the Rebuttable Presumption of Negligence. This is a legal starting point where the courts presume the rear driver was at fault.
The reasoning is straightforward: every driver has a duty of care to maintain an assured clear distance from the vehicle ahead, allowing enough time and space to stop safely if traffic slows or halts.
This presumption shifts the initial burden of proof. The person hit from behind doesn’t have to immediately prove the other driver was careless; the law assumes it. The rear driver must then produce significant and reasonable evidence to rebut, or disprove, this presumption.
A rear driver may challenge it by proving the lead driver acted in a way that made the collision unavoidable. Legitimate defenses include:
Many drivers are understandably confused by Florida’s No-Fault insurance laws. The name suggests that fault doesn’t matter, but that’s only true up to a certain point. The system was designed to streamline payment for minor injuries, but it usually falls short when damages become serious.
The payment process after a crash is tiered. Think of it as a sequence of who pays, and when.
Regardless of who caused the collision, the first source of payment for your injuries comes from your own insurance policy. This is called Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Under Florida Statute 627.736, your PIP coverage pays for:
This is why Florida is called a No-Fault state. You turn to your own insurer first to get immediate medical needs met without having to wait for a lengthy fault investigation. However, there’s a catch. To be eligible for these benefits, you must seek initial medical treatment within 14 days of the accident.
The $10,000 PIP limit is usually exhausted quickly with a single emergency room visit, an MRI, or a few weeks of therapy. Once your PIP benefits run out, or if your injury is deemed permanent, you may step outside the No-Fault system. At this point, you may pursue a claim against the at-fault driver’s Bodily Injury (BI) liability insurance. This is where the question of who pays for the rear-end collision becomes about proving the other driver’s negligence.
The BI policy is responsible for covering the costs that PIP does not, including:
What happens if the driver who rear-ended you argues that you were partially responsible? In these situations, Florida’s laws on shared fault become central to determining who pays, and how much.
Florida uses a legal doctrine called modified comparative negligence to assign financial responsibility when more than one person is at fault. The law states that if you are found to be more than 50% responsible for the accident, you are barred from recovering any damages from the other driver.
If your portion of fault is 50% or less, you may still recover compensation, but your final award is reduced by your percentage of fault.
Insurance companies for the rear driver will look for any evidence to assign a percentage of fault to you. Our role is to build a case that protects you from unfair allocations of blame and ensures the responsible party is held accountable.
Modern vehicles are packed with sophisticated technology housed directly in the areas most likely to be hit—the bumpers and rear panels. This has fundamentally changed the nature of collision repair and what it costs to make a vehicle whole again.
Rear bumpers now contain:
Repairing the vehicle requires precise calibration of these systems to ensure they function correctly. Any error in this process could compromise your vehicle’s safety features. This technological complexity is a primary reason why repair costs have steadily climbed.
Because of these high repair costs, insurance companies are declaring vehicles a total loss more frequently. An insurer will total a car when the cost to repair it approaches or exceeds its market value before the crash. While this might seem straightforward, it creates a new financial challenge.
The insurance company is only obligated to pay you the vehicle’s Actual Cash Value (ACV), not what it will cost to buy a new one. ACV is the pre-accident market value, accounting for depreciation, mileage, and condition. For many people, especially those with older cars or existing auto loans, the ACV check is not enough to pay off their loan and purchase a comparable replacement vehicle, leaving them in a difficult financial position.
Even after your car is perfectly repaired, its resale value has dropped. A vehicle with an accident history is worth less than one without, and this loss is known as diminished value.
Under Florida law, you are entitled to recover this loss from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. It is a legitimate, recognized damage, but one that insurers rarely volunteer to pay. Pursuing a diminished value claim requires a formal demand supported by an appraisal, documenting exactly how much value your vehicle has lost due to the collision.
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While vehicle repairs are a major concern, the most serious costs from a rear-end collision are almost always related to bodily injuries. Insurance companies will sometimes try to downplay so-called soft tissue injuries, but the reality is that the forces involved in these crashes frequently cause lifelong medical issues.
The sudden backward-and-forward motion of the head and neck in a rear-end collision could lead to a range of injuries, including:
These are serious medical conditions that require proper diagnosis and treatment. Insurers may argue that your pain is due to a pre-existing degenerative condition rather than the acute trauma of the crash. Our firm works to gather the necessary medical evidence to prove the collision was the direct cause of your injuries.
The at-fault driver is responsible not only for your immediate medical bills but also for the cost of any future care you may need. This could include physical therapy, pain management, injections, or even surgery years down the road. If a crash aggravates a pre-existing condition, the at-fault party is also liable for the difference in your condition before and after the collision.
You followed all the rules. The other driver was clearly at fault. But what happens when their insurance coverage isn’t enough to pay for your damages? Or worse, what if they have no insurance at all?
This is an increasingly common problem in Florida, where a significant percentage of drivers are uninsured or carry only the minimum required coverage.
This is where your own insurance policy becomes your most important protection. Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is optional insurance you purchase for yourself. It is designed to step in and pay for your damages when the at-fault driver cannot.
Here’s how it works:
Consider this scenario: the rear driver has a minimum BI policy of $10,000. Your medical bills are $50,000 and your vehicle damage is $15,000. Their insurance pays its $10,000 limit, leaving you with a massive shortfall. If you have UIM coverage, your own insurer steps into the shoes of the at-fault driver and pays the difference.
Yes, but only if your injuries meet a specific legal threshold. Under Florida’s No-Fault law, to recover non-economic damages like pain and suffering, your injury must be considered permanent, involve significant scarring or disfigurement, or result in the loss of a major bodily function.
Florida statute generally prohibits an insurance company from raising your rates for an accident where you were not at fault. However, the use of no-fault PIP benefits is sometimes viewed by underwriters as part of a broader risk assessment, particularly if there is a history of multiple claims.
The at-fault driver’s property damage liability insurance is responsible for paying for a rental vehicle while yours is being repaired. With repair cycle times increasing due to parts shortages and complex calibration procedures, ensure the insurer approves rental coverage for the entire time your vehicle is in the shop.
A hit-and-run accident is treated as if you were hit by an uninsured driver. Your own Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage would be the source of payment for your bodily injuries, lost wages, and related damages. If you do not have UM coverage, you may be left relying on your health insurance and covering the rest of your losses out-of-pocket.
The time limit for filing a personal injury lawsuit, known as the statute of limitations, is generally two years from the date of the car accident in Florida. If you suffer only property damage and no personal injury, the time limit to file a property damage lawsuit is four years from the date of the crash.
Courts strictly enforce this deadline. Failing to file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations runs out will cause you to lose your right to pursue compensation forever.
No. Property damage and bodily injury claims are two separate issues handled by different adjusters.
You can and should begin the process of repairing your vehicle or pursuing a total loss valuation immediately after the crash. You use the at-fault driver’s property damage liability insurance for your car repairs and pursue your injury claim simultaneously.
While the law starts by presuming the other driver is at fault, their insurance company will work to find any exception or argument to avoid paying the full value of what you have lost.
You may be told that your injuries are minor, that the damage to your car hasn’t reduced its value, or that you were somehow partially to blame. These are common negotiation tactics, not objective facts.
At Emmanuel Sheppard & Condon, we have decades of experience handling claims under Florida’s complicated liability laws. We build a case based on evidence, ensuring that the right parties pay—whether that is the at-fault driver’s insurer or your own UM policy stepping in to fill the gap.
You do not have to manage the adjuster’s calls or the mounting paperwork by yourself. Contact our experienced personal injury lawyers today for a review of your case, and let us help you pursue the maximum compensation available under the law.