A Florida car accident claim moves through a few stages: reporting the crash, getting treatment and opening your PIP claim, making a claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer, negotiating, and then either settling or deciding whether to file a lawsuit. Each stage comes with its own time limits, and several of them are short. Here is how each stage works and what to watch for.
Questions about your case? Call (305) 257-9464 for a free consultation. You pay no attorney fee unless we recover money for you.
Stage 1: Right After the Crash
If the crash caused an injury or death, or apparent damage of at least $2,000 to a vehicle or other property (the threshold since October 1, 2026), the driver must report it immediately, by the quickest means available: to the local police inside a city, or otherwise to the sheriff’s office or the Florida Highway Patrol (§ 316.065(1), Fla. Stat.). Drivers must also give their name, address and the registration number of the vehicle they are driving to the other driver and anyone injured and, on request and if available, show their driver’s license. They must also give reasonable help to anyone injured (§ 316.062(1)).
When an officer investigates a crash that involved an injury, a death or any complaint of pain, the officer must complete a long-form crash report and submit it within 10 days after finishing the investigation (§ 316.066(1)(a)). If a crash damaged a vehicle or other property and no law enforcement report is required, each driver involved must submit a written report to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles within 10 days after the crash (§ 316.066(1)(e)). For 60 days after a crash report is filed, the personal information in it is confidential; during that time the people involved, their lawyers, their insurers and certain others listed in the statute can get it (§ 316.066(2)). Our page on how to obtain an accident report explains how to request yours.
Take photos of the vehicles, the scene and your injuries, and get the names and phone numbers of witnesses. Then get medical care. For a fuller checklist, see what to do when injured in a car accident.
Stage 2: Treatment and Your PIP Claim
If you have Florida personal injury protection, it pays first, no matter who caused the crash: 80 percent of reasonable medical bills, if you first get care within 14 days of the crash from a hospital, emergency medical services, a physician, dentist, chiropractor or advanced practice registered nurse, and 60 percent of lost income, up to a combined $10,000. Medical benefits are limited to $2,500 unless a physician, dentist, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse determines you had an emergency medical condition (§§ 627.731, 627.736(1), (4)).
Notify your own insurer promptly. PIP benefits are generally overdue if not paid within 30 days after the insurer receives written notice of the covered loss and its amount (§ 627.736(4)(b)). Because this is your own policy, you must comply with its terms to collect, and those terms include sitting for an examination under oath if the insurer requires one (§ 627.736(6)(g)).
Stage 3: The Claim Against the At-Fault Driver
PIP does not pay everything. Medical bills and lost income beyond your PIP benefits can be claimed from the at-fault driver, usually through a liability insurer if there is one. Pain and suffering can be claimed only if your injury meets Florida’s threshold: a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death (§ 627.737(2)).
Find out early how much coverage there is. Each insurer that does or may provide liability coverage must, within 30 days of the claimant’s written request, provide a sworn statement for each known policy, including any excess or umbrella policy, that lists the insurer, each insured, the liability limits and any coverage defense, with a copy of the policy (§ 627.4137(1)). Florida does not require most drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage, so this answer matters. If the at-fault driver has little or no coverage, your own uninsured motorist coverage, if your policy includes it, may cover the difference.
You do not have to give the at-fault driver’s insurer a recorded statement, and you should not sign a medical authorization it sends you before talking to a lawyer. You can give it the information it needs in writing or through your lawyer.
Stage 4: The Demand and Negotiation
Once your treatment is far enough along that your doctors can describe your future care, the claim is presented in a demand with your records, bills and proof of lost income. Since 2023, insureds, claimants and their representatives have a duty to act in good faith in furnishing information, making demands, setting deadlines and attempting to settle, which can reduce damages in a later bad faith case, and a liability insurer that tenders the lesser of its policy limits or the amount demanded within 90 days after receiving actual notice of the claim, accompanied by sufficient evidence to support the amount, cannot be sued for bad faith (§ 624.155(4)(a), (5)(b)).
Expect the insurer to raise fault. Florida reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault and, in most negligence cases, bars recovery entirely if you are found more than 50 percent at fault (§ 768.81(2), (6)). Our guide to settling a personal injury claim with an insurance company covers the demand, offers and counteroffers in more detail.
Stage 5: Settlement or Lawsuit
Before you sign a release, a few things have to be handled. If the settlement will not fully cover your claim and you have underinsured motorist coverage, written notice of the proposed settlement must go by certified or registered mail to every underinsured motorist insurer that provides coverage, and each has 30 days after receiving it to approve the settlement or, to keep its right to pursue the at-fault driver, pay you the amount of the liability offer itself (§ 627.727(6)(a)-(b)). Medicare, Medicaid and other claims against the money also need to be addressed. Once you and the insurer agree in writing, the insurer must tender payment within 20 days, or by another date the agreement sets, and it can require a release both sides agree on (§ 627.4265).
If the insurer will not pay fairly, whether to file a lawsuit is your decision. For negligence claims accruing after March 24, 2023, a lawsuit generally must be filed within two years (§ 95.11(5)(a)). Injury claims from crashes on or before that date generally have four years, so some are still open until early 2027. Wrongful death claims have two years either way. Negotiating with an insurer does not, on its own, pause the deadline (§ 95.051(2)), so do not count on an exception.
For what happens once a lawsuit is filed, see steps in a Florida personal injury lawsuit.
How Long Does a Claim Take?
It depends mostly on how long treatment lasts, how clear fault is and how much coverage there is. Our page on how long a car accident case takes to settle in Florida goes through the factors.
How We Handle the Process
We get the crash report, open your PIP claim, request the liability policy limits in writing and handle communications with the insurers. While you treat, we explain your options for getting care. When your treatment is far enough along, we prepare the demand and negotiate. Before you sign anything, we give any required notice to your underinsured motorist insurer, review the release with you and work to resolve liens. If the insurer will not pay fairly, we talk with you about filing a lawsuit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to report a minor crash?
A driver must immediately report a crash with an injury, a death or apparent damage of at least $2,000 to the police, the sheriff or the Florida Highway Patrol. If a crash damaged property and no law enforcement report is required, each driver must send a written report to the state within 10 days after the crash.
I felt fine at the scene. Is it too late to see a doctor?
PIP pays medical benefits only if you first get care within 14 days of the crash from a hospital, emergency medical services, a physician, dentist, chiropractor or advanced practice registered nurse, so do not wait to be checked.
Does making a claim mean going to court?
No. A claim is made with the insurance companies first. A lawsuit comes up only if the claim does not settle, and whether to file one is your decision.
What if the other driver has no insurance?
Your own PIP still pays first. For the rest, your own uninsured motorist coverage, if your policy includes it, may apply.
What does it cost to have you handle my claim?
The consultation is free, and you pay no attorney fee unless we recover money for you. Read more about how personal injury lawyers are paid.
Talk to a Miami Car Accident Lawyer
I have represented injured people in South Florida since 2014. If you were hurt in a crash and want to know where your claim stands, call (305) 257-9464 or contact our North Miami Beach office for a free consultation.
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