Can you sue for emotional distress in Florida

Lauren Calta | | Personal Injury
Man suffering anxiety undergone counseling.

An accident can cause more than physical injuries. Accident victims often suffer emotional distress, too. As with physical harm, accident victims can sue for the emotional distress they experience due to their injuries. However, emotional distress is intangible. That means proving it and quantifying its extent can be challenging, particularly when liable parties dispute the existence or severity of the distress. 

What Is Emotional Distress?

Emotional distress, sometimes called emotional suffering or mental anguish, refers to the psychological suffering that a person experiences because of an accident. When a person experiences emotional distress due to an accident caused by someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing, the victim can file a lawsuit to pursue compensation for their suffering and loss.

What Are Some Signs You Are Experiencing Emotional Distress?

Emotional distress after an accident can have various symptoms. Some of the most common signs of emotional distress that you might experience following an accident include:

  • Difficulty sleeping and insomnia
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Stress
  • Recurring flashbacks or nightmares about the accident
  • Fear of returning to the accident scene or other stimuli related to the accident, such as getting in a vehicle after having an auto accident
  • Feelings of shame or humiliation
  • Mood swings
  • Personality changes
  • Survivor’s guilt
  • Extreme fatigue
  • Loss of appetite
  • Loss of interest in activities
  • Loss of sexual drive
  • Withdrawal from friends and family
  • Suicidal thoughts

How Can Emotional Distress Be Proven?

To recover compensation for emotional distress caused by an accident, a plaintiff must prove that they experienced emotional distress that impacted their life. Lawyers rely on various pieces of evidence to prove emotional distress and demonstrate its effects on victims. Examples of evidence a lawyer might use to prove emotional distress in your case include:

  • Testimony from eyewitnesses to the accident who can describe the traumatic or violent nature of the accident
  • Accident reports describing details about the accident
  • Mental health records, including official diagnoses you’ve received and notes of mental health treatment or counseling you’ve undergone
  • Mental health expert testimony describing the emotional distress you’ve experienced and the effects it has had on your life
  • Testimony from family members and friends about emotional, psychological, or behavioral changes you’ve had since the accident
  • Your testimony about the emotional effects you’ve experienced and how they’ve impacted you

Female driver suffering neck injury after accident.

What Is Florida’s Impact Rule?

Florida case law governs when a person may recover compensation for emotional distress. The general rule, known as the impact rule, requires a person suing for emotional distress due to another party’s negligence to prove that the emotional distress results from physical contact or impact. However, the impact rule has an exception that allows a plaintiff to file a claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress if they can prove the following:

  • A close family member was injured in an accident witnessed by the plaintiff,
  • The accident occurred close to the plaintiff,
  • The plaintiff’s emotional distress started after witnessing the accident, and
  • The plaintiff has experienced physical complications from emotional distress, such as insomnia, recurring nightmares, or loss of appetite.

What Type of Accidents Can Lead to Emotional Distress?

Any traumatic accident can cause an accident victim to experience emotional distress. Common examples of accidents that can lead to emotional distress include:

What Type of Damages Are Emotional Distress Classified As?

Under the law, emotional distress compensation is a form of non-economic damages. Other examples of non-economic damages include physical pain, loss of enjoyment or quality of life, and loss of consortium. Non-economic damages differ from economic damages, which include compensation for medical expenses, costs of long-term care, and loss of income or earning potential.

Economic damages are easily calculated from bills, invoices, receipts, and pay records. However, non-economic damages like emotional distress require a more subjective analysis based on people’s life experiences and the value assigned to going through emotional suffering after an accident. An attorney with experience handling these cases can evaluate your situation and determine the full and fair compensation you deserve for your emotional distress and other losses.

How Is the Amount of Compensation for Emotional Distress Determined?

The amount of compensation you might recover for emotional distress suffered due to an accident will depend on various factors, including:

  • The severity of the symptoms you experience
  • How your emotional distress affects your daily activities
  • Whether you incur financial losses, such as mental health therapy expenses or lost income from missed work

The more severe the effects of emotional distress on your life, the more compensation you can recover in a legal claim.

How Long Do I Have to File a Claim for Emotional Distress in Florida?

Under Florida’s statute of limitations for injury claims, you usually have two years after an accident to file a lawsuit against a liable party to recover compensation for emotional distress. Filing a suit after the statute of limitations legal deadline could mean losing the opportunity to seek compensation in civil court for your emotional distress. Contacting an attorney immediately is crucial to protecting your right to seek financial relief for the harm you suffered.

Contact a Florida Personal Injury Lawyer

You may have the right to recover compensation if you’ve experienced emotional distress after an accident caused by someone else’s negligence or fault. Contact Zervos & Calta, PLLC today for a free no-obligation consultation with our Florida personal injury lawyers. We can review your case and help you pursue compensation and justice for the emotional and psychological harm you suffered after an accident.

Visit Our Personal Injury Law Offices

About the Author

Lauren Calta
Attorney Lauren Calta is a partner in the Tampa Bay law firm Zervos & Calta, PLLC. For 25 years, Lauren Calta has focused her legal practice on representing people who have been harmed in personal injury, car accidents or lost loved ones due to the negligence of others. A distinguished personal injury trial attorney, she has secured millions of dollars for her clients and is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum in recognition of having obtained a settlement or verdict in excess of $2 million. She also is an official member of Lawyers of Distinction, Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers, Clearwater Bar Association and Florida Justice Association.