Florida runs a no-fault car insurance system. Your own policy pays the first round of your crash-related medical bills no matter who caused the wreck, through a coverage called Personal Injury Protection, or PIP. Florida is one of the last states that still requires it.12 The rules are specific and the deadlines are short. And the number most people remember, $10,000, is usually not the amount they end up with. Here is what PIP and its optional companion, Medical Payments coverage (Med-Pay), actually do in Florida.
PIP is mandatory, and smaller than it looks
Anyone who registers a vehicle in Florida has to carry $10,000 of PIP plus $10,000 of Property Damage Liability.132 PIP pays regardless of fault, and it pays before your health insurance does.12
The $10,000 figure comes with a condition. You only reach it if a qualifying medical provider determines that you suffered an emergency medical condition. That provider has to be a physician (M.D. or D.O.), a dentist, a physician assistant, or an advanced practice registered nurse.12 If no one makes that determination, your PIP medical benefits are capped at $2,500, a quarter of the sticker number.1 An emergency medical condition tracks the federal emergency-room standard: acute symptoms severe enough that going without immediate care could reasonably put your health in serious jeopardy, seriously impair a bodily function, or cause serious dysfunction of a body part.2
The 14-day rule
This is the deadline that costs Floridians their benefits. To get any PIP medical coverage at all, you have to receive your initial medical care within 14 days of the crash.12 Miss the window and PIP medical benefits are gone, with no exception for a good reason. The clock runs from the date of the accident, not from the date you noticed the pain, which matters for soft-tissue and whiplash injuries that often surface days later. See a doctor, urgent care, or an ER quickly, even if you feel only sore.
What PIP pays, and what it holds back
PIP does not pay 100 cents on the dollar. It covers:
- 80 percent of reasonable and necessary medical expenses12
- 60 percent of lost gross income and lost earning capacity12
- 100 percent of reasonable replacement services, meaning the everyday tasks you cannot do while hurt, like housekeeping and yard work2
There is also a $5,000 death benefit.12 On the medical side, insurers can tie reimbursement to a Medicare-based fee schedule, generally 200 percent of the Medicare Part B allowance for most services, then pay 80 percent of that figure.1 So the gap between your bill and what PIP covers is often wider than a flat 20 percent.
Florida does let you buy up. You can raise medical coverage to 100 percent and lost-wage coverage to 80 percent, and lift the overall limit to $20,000, if your insurer offers it.2 Once PIP receives written notice of a covered loss, it has 30 days to pay, and benefits not paid in that window are overdue and accrue simple interest.1
Who PIP covers
A Florida PIP policy follows people, not just the insured car. It covers the named insured, relatives living in the same household, anyone driving the insured vehicle with permission, passengers, and pedestrians or cyclists struck by the vehicle.12 Your own PIP can also follow you as a passenger in someone else's car, or if you are hit while walking or biking.2
Deductibles and the lost-wage opt-out
You can lower your premium by choosing a PIP deductible of $250, $500, or $1,000, which applies to everything except the death benefit.24 You can also reject the lost-wage (work-loss) portion of PIP entirely in exchange for a lower rate.4 Both choices leave you with less coverage after a crash, so weigh them before you sign, not after.
Med-Pay, the optional coverage that fills the gap
Medical Payments coverage is optional in Florida, and it exists mainly to catch what PIP leaves behind.2 Because PIP pays only 80 percent of medical bills, and caps at $2,500 without an emergency medical condition, the rest lands on you. Med-Pay can cover that remaining 20 percent, and it can pay off the PIP deductible you chose.2 It applies regardless of fault, follows you and your resident relatives into other cars, and covers you as a pedestrian or cyclist.2 You pick the limit. For a $2,500-capped PIP claim on a serious injury, even a modest Med-Pay policy can be the difference between covered care and a stack of bills.
When PIP runs out
PIP is only a floor. It does nothing for pain and suffering, and $10,000 disappears fast once you add an ambulance ride, imaging, and physical therapy. Florida lets you step outside the no-fault system and sue the at-fault driver for full damages, including pain and suffering, only if your injury crosses the tort threshold: a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.5
Here is a Florida wrinkle that catches people. The state requires PIP and property damage coverage, but it does not require ordinary drivers to carry any bodily injury liability.32 A driver only has to add bodily injury coverage after causing an injury crash or picking up certain citations ($10,000 per person and $20,000 per accident, or a $30,000 combined single limit), and a DUI conviction forces much higher limits of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.32 So the person who hit you may carry nothing for your injuries beyond their own PIP. That is why Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage matters here. It is optional, but insurers must offer it at your bodily injury limits, and it steps in when the at-fault driver has too little coverage or none.2
Two more Florida rules shape a claim outside PIP. The deadline to file a negligence lawsuit is two years from the crash for accidents on or after March 24, 2023, cut from the old four-year rule.6 And under Florida's modified comparative negligence rule, a driver found more than 50 percent at fault for their own injuries recovers nothing.7 If your injuries may be serious, it is worth talking to a lawyer before the two-year clock or the 14-day PIP window works against you. You can find a Florida attorney here.
One last thing PIP does not touch: your vehicle. PIP is injury coverage only, so the hit to your car's value after a wreck is a separate matter you can pursue through a diminished value claim.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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Florida Statutes § 627.736 (Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law), https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/627.736
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Florida Department of Financial Services, Automobile Insurance Toolkit, https://www.myfloridacfo.com/docs-sf/consumer-services-libraries/consumerservices-documents/understanding-coverage/consumer-guides/english---automobile-insurance-toolkit.pdf
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Florida Statutes § 324.022 (Financial responsibility for property damage), https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/324.022
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Florida Statutes § 627.739 (Personal injury protection; optional limitations and deductibles), https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/627.739
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Florida Statutes § 627.737 (Tort exemption; limitation on right to damages), https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/627.737
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Florida Statutes § 95.11(5)(a) (Limitations other than for the recovery of real property; negligence), https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/95.11
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Florida Statutes § 768.81(6) (Comparative fault), https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/768.81