Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Attorneys
Florida no-fault PIP under Fla. Stat. § 627.736 gives every Florida auto policyholder a first-dollar medical and wage benefit, capped at $10,000 with an Emergency Medical Condition (EMC) diagnosis or $2,500 without one — and that benefit collapses entirely if initial treatment isn't sought within 14 days of the crash. Our personal injury attorneys handle PIP claims and the underlying injury case across Volusia, Flagler, and Central Florida.
Florida is one of only a handful of states that still runs a no-fault auto-insurance system, and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is the first-dollar medical and wage benefit every Florida driver's policy provides. The framework lives in Fla. Stat. § 627.736 and runs on two numbers that should be the first thing any driver knows after a crash: $10,000 — the maximum benefit when an Emergency Medical Condition (EMC) is diagnosed — and 14 days — the window to seek initial treatment, after which benefits collapse to zero. Our personal injury attorneys handle PIP claims and the broader injury case across Volusia, Flagler, and Central Florida. Call us at (386) 255-1400 24 hours a day for a free consultation.
How Florida PIP actually works
PIP is not the entire injury case. It is the first piece of it. The mechanics:
14 days to seek initial treatment
Under § 627.736(1)(a), initial treatment must be sought within 14 days of the accident — ER, urgent care, physician, dentist, chiropractor, or qualified hospital. Miss it and PIP benefits are unavailable for the rest of the case, regardless of how serious the injury turns out to be.
$10,000 with EMC, $2,500 without
A qualified medical provider must document an Emergency Medical Condition (MD, DO, dentist, PA, ARNP, or — for follow-up confirmation — chiropractor) for the $10,000 cap to apply. Without an EMC determination, the cap is $2,500 for the entire case.
80% medical / 60% wage replacement
PIP pays 80% of reasonable and necessary medical expenses and 60% of disability-related lost wages, up to the policy cap. The remaining 20% / 40% gets pursued through other coverage layers (MedPay, health insurance) and through the liability claim against the at-fault driver.
Massage and acupuncture are excluded
After 2012 legislative changes (codified in § 627.736), massage therapy and acupuncture are not reimbursable through PIP. Chiropractic care remains covered (and remains a routine part of soft-tissue treatment plans), but the EMC determination has to come from an MD/DO/dentist/PA/ARNP.
Who PIP covers (and who it does not)
PIP follows the policy, not the vehicle:
- The policyholder, in any car or on foot. If you have a Florida auto policy, your PIP covers you driving your own car, riding as a passenger in someone else's car, and walking down the street when a car hits you.
- Resident relatives. Family members living in the same household are generally covered under the same policy.
- Passengers in your car. Passengers who do not have their own Florida auto policy can claim under the driver's PIP. Passengers who do have their own policy use their own first.
- Not motorcycle riders. Motorcycles are statutorily excluded from no-fault. See our Motorcycle Accident page for the alternative recovery map.
- Not commercial vehicles in the traditional PIP framework. Commercial trucks generally run on separate liability rules; see our Truck Accidents page.
What Florida's 2023 tort reform changed for your case
The 2023 tort reform package (HB 837) made the most significant changes to Florida personal injury law in a generation. Two of those changes touch nearly every auto case, including PIP claims:
Statute of limitations: 4 years → 2 years
For negligence causes accruing on or after March 24, 2023, the deadline to file suit dropped from four years to two (§ 95.11(4)(a)). Older causes may still be governed by the prior four-year rule; the trigger is the cause-of-action date.
Comparative negligence: pure → 51% bar
Florida moved from pure comparative negligence to a modified system with a 51% bar (§ 768.81(6)). A plaintiff found more than 50% at fault recovers nothing. Below that, the recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's share of fault. Medical malpractice claims are statutorily exempt from the 51% bar.
PIP itself is a no-fault benefit and is unaffected by the 51% bar — you collect PIP regardless of who caused the crash, up to the policy cap. The HB 837 changes affect the liability case that follows PIP: when your medical bills exceed $10,000 (or $2,500 without an EMC) and you turn to the at-fault driver's BIL or your own UM/UIM, the new SOL and the new comparative-negligence framework apply to that piece.
When PIP runs out — the threshold for stepping outside no-fault
You can step outside the no-fault box and recover from the at-fault driver only if your injuries meet Florida's "permanent injury" threshold under Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2):
- A significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function;
- A permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement;
- Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement; or
- Death.
In practice, the threshold is met in most serious-injury cases (and routinely disputed by insurers in soft-tissue cases). The threshold is what gives access to pain-and-suffering recovery; without it, PIP and economic damages are the recovery, and the rest is off the table.
Florida's PIP statute keeps moving. Don't run a 2025 case on a 2015 playbook.
The PIP statute has been amended repeatedly — the 14-day rule and the EMC framework came in via the 2012 changes; the broader HB 837 reforms reshape the liability case PIP feeds into. Cases built on the pre-2023 playbook miss either the 14-day window or the post-HB 837 SOL math, and either mistake is hard to recover from. We work PIP claims on the current statute and with an eye on how Volusia and Flagler carriers are paying.
Hurt in a Florida crash? Both clocks are already running.
From the 14-day PIP window through the broader injury case, our personal injury attorneys handle Florida PIP claims across Volusia, Flagler, and Central Florida.
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