Burns following a Fort Lauderdale car accident: What is the “serious injury threshold,” and do burn injuries meet that threshold?

For the most part, Florida is a no-fault state when it comes to car insurance. What this means is that everyone who registers a vehicle in Fort Lauderdale is required to purchase a personal injury protection policy.

The no-fault scheme was built to create an easy pathway for car accident victims to be compensated for their injuries through their own insurance while at the same time relieving some of the burdens from the courts. However, the state has a “serious injury threshold” and if the severity of your injuries rises to this threshold, you can bypass the PIP process and file a burn injury lawsuit against the at-fault party.

The serious injury threshold includes:

• Significant, permanent loss of an important bodily function.
• Permanent injury to a reasonable degree of medical probability.
• Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement.
• Death.