What happens if you bring a personal injury suit against someone who can't afford to pay the damages?

You end up with a mostly worthless judgment. You can look for collectable assets or attempt to garnish wages, but neither option is ideal.

You get a judgment which is sometimes impossible to ever collect. Jail is not the outcome.

If you are successful on your claim for damages there will be a judgement that normally you could collect on - valid and legally binding judgement. However, given lack of assets it becomes called a "paper judgement" which in its saddest sense means it is not worth the paper it is printed on unless the at fault party comes into dollars to pay. I am sorry to hear about your injury and that damages may not be at all sufficient.

Hopefully you were smart enough to have UM coverage

You get no dough, the person you sued probably files bankruptcy (unless booze was involved), and jail is not in the mix.

It is not likely that they will go to jail. You may have the option of selling your judgment to a collection agency or attorney who does same. You should seek an attorney. There may be ways of recovering that you are not seeing.

Every time I see this question I think of the Charles Manson civil case. In 1969, a young lawyer, without any media fanfare, quietly filed a wrongful death suit against Manson in a calif superior court. Of course Charlie defaulted and then the young lawyer went to a prove up hearing and got a multi million dollar judgment against Charlie, on behalf of the family of one of the victims of the manson family's crimes. 25 years later, one of Charles Manson's songs was purchased by an LA musician but said payment was seized to pay part of the judgment. Lesson and Moral: Even if the defendant today is not collectible, he/she may be collectible at some point in the future..good luck

This is why often times individuals are called judgment proof in Fla. This is a very important aspect of the initial consultation with a personal injury attorney to go over not just the merits of your case, but the likelihood of collecting on that case. If you haven't consulted with an attorney talk to one, but be sure to have them address this very important question.

No. You would need to make attempts to collect on any judgment you secured.