Florida handles crash injuries through a no-fault system. Your own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage is what pays first, whoever was responsible, at 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages up to a $10,000 limit. Pain and suffering falls entirely outside what PIP will cover.
The fine print is where PIP claims are won or lost. You generally have to see a doctor within 14 days of the crash to use your PIP benefits at all. Skip that window and the coverage can be gone for good.
Serious injuries change the picture. A permanent injury, significant scarring, the loss of an important bodily function: any of these lets you step outside no-fault and bring a claim directly against the at-fault driver for what PIP never covers. Fault becomes the central fight at that stage. Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule, say a jury values your claim at $120,000 but finds you 40% responsible. You recover $72,000. Cross 50%, and you recover nothing.
One deadline sits under all of it. Since a 2023 change to Florida law, you have two years from the date of the crash to file an injury lawsuit, down from the old four. Some pages still say four years. They are wrong, and relying on them can cost you your case. The clock starts on the crash date, not the day the pain finally settles in.
