Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 960.13 (2025)

Awards.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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960.13 Awards.—

(1)(a) No award shall be made unless the department finds that:

1. A crime was committed;

2. Such crime directly resulted in personal injury to, psychiatric or psychological injury to, or death of, the victim or intervenor; and

3. Such crime was promptly reported to the proper authorities.

(b) In no case may an award be made when the record shows that such report was made more than:

1. Seventy-two hours after the occurrence of such crime, if the crime occurred before October 1, 2019; or

2. Five days after the occurrence of such crime, if the crime occurred on or after October 1, 2019,

unless the department, for good cause shown, finds the delay to have been justified. The department, upon finding that any claimant or award recipient has not duly cooperated with the state attorney, all law enforcement agencies, and the department, may deny, reduce, or withdraw any award, as the case may be.

(2) Any award shall be granted on an “actual need” basis and shall be provided subsequent to all benefits provided by primary insurance carriers, including, but not limited to, health and accident insurers, workers’ compensation, and automobile accident coverage.

(3) Payment made in accordance with this section shall be considered payment of last resort that follows all other sources.

(4) Any award made pursuant to this chapter shall be made in accordance with the schedule of benefits, degrees of disability, and wage-loss formulas specified in ss. 440.12 and 440.15, excluding subsection (5) of that section.

(5) If there are two or more persons entitled to an award as a result of the death of a person which is the direct result of a crime, the award shall be apportioned among the claimants.

(6) Any award made pursuant to this chapter, except an award for loss of support or catastrophic injury, shall be reduced by the amount of any payments or services received or to be received by the claimant as a result of the injury or death:

(a) From or on behalf of the person who committed the crime; provided, however, that a restitution award ordered by a court to be paid to the claimant by the person who committed the crime shall not reduce any award made pursuant to this chapter unless it appears to the department that the claimant will be unjustly enriched thereby.

(b) From any other public or private source or provider, including, but not limited to, an award of workers’ compensation pursuant to chapter 440.

(d) From an emergency award under s. 960.12.

(7) In determining the amount of an award, the department shall determine whether, because of his or her conduct, the victim of such crime or the intervenor contributed to the infliction of his or her physical injury or psychiatric or psychological injury or to his or her death, and the department shall reduce the amount of the award or reject the claim altogether, in accordance with such determination. However, the department may disregard for this purpose the contribution of the intervenor to his or her own physical injury or psychiatric or psychological injury or death when the record shows that such contribution was attributed to efforts by an intervenor as set forth in s. 960.03.

(8) If the department finds that the claimant, if not granted assistance pursuant to this chapter to meet the loss of earnings or support or out-of-pocket loss, will not suffer serious financial hardship as a result of the loss of earnings or support and the out-of-pocket loss incurred as a result of the injury, the department shall deny the award. In determining serious financial hardship, the department shall consider all the financial resources of the claimant. Unless a total dependency is established, members of a family are considered to be partially dependent upon a homemaker with whom they reside, without regard to actual earnings.

(9)(a) An award may not exceed:

1. Ten thousand dollars for treatment;

2. Ten thousand dollars for continuing or periodic mental health care of a minor victim whose normal emotional development is adversely affected by being the victim of a crime;

3. A total of $25,000 for all compensable costs; or

4. Fifty thousand dollars when the department makes a written finding that the victim has suffered a catastrophic injury as a direct result of the crime.

(b) The department may adopt rules that establish limits below the amounts set forth in paragraph (a) and establish criteria governing awards for catastrophic injury.

History.—s. 1, ch. 77-452; s. 122, ch. 79-40; s. 308, ch. 79-400; s. 11, ch. 80-146; s. 12, ch. 90-211; s. 8, ch. 91-23; s. 10, ch. 92-107; s. 11, ch. 94-342; s. 3, ch. 96-315; s. 1885, ch. 97-102; s. 6, ch. 99-373; s. 15, ch. 2015-92; s. 69, ch. 2019-167.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 1979–2016 · leading case: Div. Of Workers'comp, Etc. v. Brevda, 420 So. 2d 887 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).

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Div. Of Workers'comp, Etc. v. Brevda, 420 So. 2d 887 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). · cites it 6× “The award, however, is limited by the provisions of Section 960.13(3), providing that any award made shall be based either on claimant's actual weekly wage, or if he cannot establish an average weekly wage, it "shall be in an amount equal to the arithmetic average between the…”

State v. Champe, 373 So. 2d 874 (Fla. 1979). · cites it 3× “At the time of sentencing, the state moved to impose a five percent surcharge on Wright's fine in accordance with Section 960.25. [2] In a single order, the trial court denied the state's motions in both cases, ruling that "the method of determining the award .”

Scurry v. State, 490 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). · cites it 2× “Section 960.13, Florida Statutes (1983), provides that any award made from the Crimes Compensation Trust Fund will be reduced by any amount a claimant receives from a worker's compensation award.”

Bureau of Crimes Comp. v. Reynolds, 443 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). · cites it 4× “In addition, the Bureau argues that a claimant is obligated to use the annual leave and sick leave benefits he has earned and that depletion of those benefits may not create an "actual need" within the meaning of section 960.13(2), Florida Statutes (1979).”

Latham v. State, 185 So. 3d 686 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). · cites it 4× “The language of section 960.13, titled “Awards,” provides further, support for this conclusion.”

State, Dep't of Labor & Emp. Sec., Div. of Workers' Comp. v. Livingston, 592 So. 2d 721 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). · cites it 3× “727, we conclude that an award under section 960.13 is a benefit under a “similar law.”

— 960.13(1) — 1 case

Latham v. State, 185 So. 3d 686 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). “The language of section 960.13, titled “Awards,” provides further, support for this conclusion.”

— 960.13(1)(a)(2) — 1 case

Latham v. State, 185 So. 3d 686 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). “The language of section 960.13, titled “Awards,” provides further, support for this conclusion.”

— 960.13(2) — 2 cases

Bureau of Crimes Comp. v. Reynolds, 443 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). “In addition, the Bureau argues that a claimant is obligated to use the annual leave and sick leave benefits he has earned and that depletion of those benefits may not create an "actual need" within the meaning of section 960.13(2), Florida Statutes (1979).”

State, Dep't of Labor & Emp. Sec., Div. of Workers' Comp. v. Livingston, 592 So. 2d 721 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). “727, we conclude that an award under section 960.13 is a benefit under a “similar law.”

— 960.13(3) — 1 case

Div. Of Workers'comp, Etc. v. Brevda, 420 So. 2d 887 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). “The award, however, is limited by the provisions of Section 960.13(3), providing that any award made shall be based either on claimant's actual weekly wage, or if he cannot establish an average weekly wage, it "shall be in an amount equal to the arithmetic average between the…”

— 960.13(7) — 2 cases

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