Is Bodily Injury Liability Required in Florida? Not to Register, but Often After a Crash

By Vadim Marusin October 28, 2026 13 min read

No. To register a private passenger car in Florida you need $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 of property damage liability (PDL). Bodily injury liability (BI), the coverage that pays for people you hurt, isn't on that list. In Florida you can drive legally with none.

That answer is true and incomplete. Florida's Financial Responsibility Law, Chapter 324, makes BI mandatory after certain things happen: an at-fault crash with injuries, an unpaid court judgment, certain license suspensions and revocations, and any DUI conviction. And if you cause a crash without BI, the bill doesn't go away. It comes to you, along with a license and registration suspension that can last for years.

BI required to register a car$0

BI after an at-fault injury crash10/20/10

BI after a DUI100/300/50

Florida motorists uninsured (2023 est.)20.6%

Source: FLHSMV, Florida insurance requirements; FLHSMV, Involved in a crash; s. 324.023; Insurance Research Council via Triple-I (accessed Oct. 28, 2026).

What you need to register a car

FLHSMV's rule is short: "Before you register a vehicle with at least four wheels in Florida, you must show proof of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and Property Damage Liability (PDL) automobile insurance." The minimums are $10,000 each, and the coverage has to stay in force the whole registration period, "even if the vehicle is not being driven or is inoperable" (FLHSMV; s. 627.733; s. 324.022).

PIP pays you and your passengers, regardless of fault: 80% of medically necessary care and 60% of lost income, up to a combined $10,000, plus a $5,000 death benefit (s. 627.736). PDL pays for other people's property you damage. Neither one pays for the other driver's injuries. That gap is what BI is for. Florida's Department of Financial Services describes BI as coverage that "pays for death or serious and permanent injury to others when you are legally liable for those damages," and notes that if you're sued, the insurer provides your legal defense until it has paid the policy limit (DFS auto insurance overview).

The one statutory shortcut worth knowing: s. 324.022 lets you meet the PDL requirement with a policy that has at least $30,000 combined property damage and bodily injury liability per crash. That's a single-limit option, not a BI mandate.

Florida's liability minimums by situation
Situation	BI per person	BI per crash	Property damage	PIP	How long
Register a private passenger car	Not required	Not required	$10K	$10K	Continuously while registered
After an at-fault injury crash with no BI, or an unpaid judgment (SR-22)	$10K	$20K	$10K	$10,000 if you register a car	3 years
After a DUI conviction (FR-44)	$100K	$300K	$50K	$10,000 if you register a car	At least 3 years

Source: FLHSMV, Florida insurance requirements; FLHSMV, Involved in a crash; s. 324.021; s. 324.023; s. 324.131 (accessed Oct. 28, 2026).

When bodily injury liability becomes required

Chapter 324 is called the "Financial Responsibility Law of 1955" (s. 324.251), and its basic idea is old: you don't have to prove you can pay for injuries up front, but once you've shown you might owe someone, the state makes you prove it from then on. The minimum proof is 10/20/10: $10,000 of BI for one person, $20,000 for two or more people and $10,000 of property damage per crash (s. 324.021(7)). An insurer certifies that coverage to FLHSMV with a filing called an SR-22.

Events that turn bodily injury liability into a requirement
What happened	Law	What FLHSMV requires	How long
You were charged with a moving violation in a crash with injuries noted on the report, and had no BI	s. 324.051	10/20/10 policy with SR-22, releases from injured parties or a security deposit, $15 fee	3 years from the suspension date
Someone won a court judgment against you for a crash and it stayed unpaid 30+ days	ss. 324.111, 324.121, 324.131	Judgment stayed or paid (in full or up to 10/20/10), then proof of financial responsibility	Suspended until then (FLHSMV: up to 20 years); proof kept 3 years
License suspended or revoked under s. 322.26 or s. 322.27	s. 324.072	Registrations suspended unless you had the limits on the offense date or file proof	Per your FLHSMV letter
DUI finding of guilt or plea	s. 324.023	100/300/50 (or a $350,000 certificate of deposit), certified on an FR-44	At least 3 years
PIP/PDL lapse, or a property-damage-only crash	ss. 324.0221, 324.051	PIP and PDL (plus releases or deposit after a crash); no BI listed	Per your letter

Source: FLHSMV, Involved in a crash; s. 324.051; s. 324.072; s. 324.121; s. 324.131; s. 324.023 (accessed Oct. 28, 2026).

A few details matter here.

The crash rule. Under s. 324.051(2), 30 days after FLHSMV gets notice of a reportable crash, it suspends the driver's license and all of the owner's registrations, whether or not those other cars were in the crash, unless an exemption applies. The main exemption is having had a liability policy of at least 10/20/10 on every registered vehicle at the time of the crash. FLHSMV's page explains how it applies this: if the at-fault driver "was charged with a moving violation and injuries or possible injuries were noted on the crash report," Chapter 324 requires "full liability insurance coverage," meaning 10/20/10 BI and PDL plus $10,000 PIP. A suspension under this section lasts 3 years unless you reinstate under the chapter (s. 324.051(3)).

Convictions. s. 324.072 reaches license suspensions and revocations under s. 322.26 (mandatory revocations such as DUI, a felony committed with a vehicle, leaving the scene of an injury crash, or three reckless driving charges within 12 months that end in conviction) and s. 322.27 (which includes points suspensions). When that happens, FLHSMV also suspends every registration in your name unless you had the required limits on the date of the latest offense or file and keep proof. How long you keep the proof in these cases depends on the sanction, so go by your letter.

Not every SR-22 is about BI. If you're convicted of driving your own uninsured car without proof of insurance, FLHSMV's FR200 letter asks for a "PIP six-month, non-cancellable form SR-22" for two years. That one certifies PIP, not bodily injury. The Florida SR-22 guide walks through each letter type, and the FR-44 post covers DUI cases.

Minimum bodily injury liability per person, by situation Dollars per injured person. Register = a private car with no filing; FR-44 = after a DUI. Taxis: FLHSMV requires 125/250/50.

$10K

$100K

$125K

Source: FLHSMV insurance requirements; ss. 324.021(7) and 324.023, Florida Statutes (2026); accessed Oct. 2026

Show the numbers

	BI per person
Register	$0
SR-22	$10K
FR-44	$100K
Taxi	$125K

What happens after an at-fault crash with no BI

Two separate things happen, and people often confuse them. One is the state's license and registration process. The other is the injured person's claim against you. Fixing the first doesn't make the second go away.

The state side. FLHSMV sends a notice (for a crash with injuries, an FR100 letter) asking for proof that you had BI on the crash date. Without it, FLHSMV's crash page lists three things to get your license and registrations back: buy a 10/20/10 policy and keep an SR-22 on file "for three years from the designated suspension date," get releases from the injured parties or post a security deposit, and pay a $15 reinstatement fee if it applies. The deposit is whatever FLHSMV decides is enough to cover the crash injuries, capped at the 10/20/10 limits (s. 324.061). FLHSMV has a Release in Full of All Claims form (HSMV 74014) and an Agreement of Repayment form (HSMV 74036). If you sign a repayment agreement and stop paying, FLHSMV "does not take action and the other party must take the dispute to court."

FLHSMV also says plainly: "There are no provisions for a temporary or hardship driver license for insurance-related suspensions."

The money side. The injured person can sue you. Florida's negligence deadline is two years (s. 95.11(5)(a)). If they win and you don't pay within 30 days, they can have the court clerk send FLHSMV a certified copy of the judgment (s. 324.111), and FLHSMV "shall forthwith suspend" your license and registrations (s. 324.121). The suspension lasts until the judgment is stayed or paid, either in full or up to the 10/20/10 limits, and then you keep proof of financial responsibility for 3 years (s. 324.131). FLHSMV's own page puts it more bluntly: suspended "for 20 years or until the judgment is satisfied."

With BI, the insurer defends you and pays up to its limit. Without it, you hire your own lawyer and pay any judgment from your own money.

Example: the math on one crash

This is a hypothetical to show how the pieces fit, not a prediction of any real claim. Say you rear-end another driver at a light and get a citation. The other driver's medical bills come to $30,000, a doctor finds an emergency medical condition (without that finding PIP medical benefits stop at $2,500), and they miss $5,000 of pay.

Their own PIP pays first. 80% of $30,000 is $24,000 and 60% of $5,000 is $3,000, together $27,000, but PIP stops at $10,000 for medical and disability combined. Under s. 627.737(1), you're exempt from a lawsuit only "to the extent that" those PIP benefits are payable. That leaves $25,000 of economic loss the injured driver can try to collect from you.

Hypothetical: economic damages from one at-fault crash, by BI limit
	No BI	10/20 BI	25/50 BI
Medical bills + lost wages	$35K	$35K	$35K
Paid by the injured driver's PIP	$10K	$10K	$10K
Left to claim against you	$25K	$25K	$25K
Paid by your BI (up to the per-person limit)	$0	$10K	$25K
Left to you personally	$25K	$15K	$0

Source: s. 627.736(1) (PIP 80%/60%, $10,000 limit); s. 627.737(1) (tort exemption); hypothetical figures; calculation by Maru Insurance (accessed Oct. 28, 2026).

This example leaves a lot out, and most of what's missing makes the no-BI column worse. It doesn't count pain and suffering, which the injured driver can claim if the injury crosses Florida's threshold (more on that below). It doesn't count your own lawyer. It ignores comparative fault, which could cut the claim if the other driver was partly to blame. And in the no-BI column, you're also facing the crash suspension above until you post a deposit or get a release.

Why PIP doesn't stop a lawsuit

A lot of drivers think "no-fault" means nobody can sue them. It doesn't. Florida's no-fault law trades a lawsuit for PIP benefits only up to what PIP pays. Beyond that:

Economic losses above PIP (the 20% of medical bills PIP doesn't pay, the 40% of lost income, anything over $10,000) can be claimed in court (s. 627.737(1)).
Pain and suffering can be claimed if the injury includes 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 (s. 627.737(2)).
If you didn't have PIP at all, you lose the exemption entirely: an owner without the required security "shall have no immunity from tort liability" and is personally liable for the PIP benefits too (s. 627.733(4)).

The 2023 tort changes did help defendants in one way. Under s. 768.81(6), someone found more than 50% at fault for their own harm can't recover any damages. But if you're the one who rear-ended a stopped car, that rule rarely helps you. The Florida no-fault law explainer and the Florida tort reform post go deeper on both.

No BI means no uninsured motorist coverage

Here's the part that affects you as a victim, not a defendant. Florida's uninsured motorist (UM) statute attaches UM to policies that carry BI: no policy "which provides bodily injury liability coverage" can be issued unless UM is included, unless a named insured rejects it in writing on a form approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation (s. 627.727(1)). UM limits default to your BI limits unless you choose lower ones.

So a PIP-and-PDL-only policy leaves you with $10,000 of PIP if an uninsured driver hurts you. That matters in Florida, where the Insurance Research Council estimated 20.6% of motorists were uninsured in 2023, against 15.4% nationally. The IRC's method compares uninsured motorist claims with bodily injury claims, so treat it as an estimate. The Florida uninsured motorist coverage guide explains stacking, rejection forms and claims.

Florida motorists uninsured, 2023 (est.)20.6%

U.S. motorists uninsured, 2023 (est.)15.4%

Source: Insurance Research Council, via Triple-I, Facts + Statistics: Uninsured motorists (accessed Oct. 28, 2026).

Is Florida going to require BI?

Not under current law. Lawmakers have tried to replace PIP with mandatory BI for years, The closest was CS/CS/SB 54 in 2021, which passed both chambers and was vetoed on June 29, 2021 (bill page). In 2025, HB 1181 would have raised the BI minimum to 25/50 and required proof of BI at registration; it died in committee (House staff analysis).

In 2026, SB 522 and HB 769 would have repealed PIP and required 25/50 BI plus $10,000 property damage on every registered car starting January 1, 2027. Both died in their first committee on March 13, 2026. A narrower 2026 pair, SB 1054 and HB 807, would have required BI for drivers convicted of certain crash-causing infractions; those died too. SB 488 (ch. 2026-39) changed Chapter 324 wording only; the limits didn't move.

When I checked the Senate's 2027 bill list on October 28, 2026, it held 17 bills, all Senate relief bills; nothing on PIP or BI yet. The 2027 regular session convenes March 2, 2027. The PIP repeal tracker follows those bills.

What to check on your policy

Pull up your declarations page. It takes two minutes.

Is there a bodily injury liability line at all? If the page shows only PIP and property damage, you meet Florida's registration rule and nothing more.
What are the limits? Two numbers, like 10/20 or 25/50: per person and per crash. Compare them with what you'd have to pay out of pocket if a claim went over (see the example above).
Is UM on the policy, and at what limits? If you signed a rejection form, it carries over to renewals unless you ask for UM in writing.
Who else drives your cars? The crash rule looks at the owner's registrations too, so a household driver's crash can suspend every car in your name.
Do you have a car loan or lease? Your loan agreement can set its own coverage requirements, and a lender can force-place coverage if you don't meet them (DFS). Read the agreement.
Got an FR letter? Read it before buying anything. It says which proof FLHSMV wants. Call FLHSMV at (850) 617-2000 if it isn't clear.

If you have savings, a home or wages someone could go after, the higher limits matter more, and some people add umbrella coverage on top. Our Florida auto insurance page covers the coverages, and Florida car insurance requirements lays out the full minimums. If you want to go over your own declarations page, contact us.

FAQ

Is bodily injury liability required in Florida?

Not to register a private passenger car. Florida requires $10,000 PIP and $10,000 property damage liability. BI becomes required after certain events: an at-fault injury crash without BI, an unpaid crash judgment, certain license suspensions or revocations, and any DUI conviction.

What are the bodily injury minimums in Florida when they apply?

$10,000 per person, $20,000 per crash and $10,000 property damage (10/20/10) under s. 324.021(7), usually certified with an SR-22 for 3 years. After a DUI, s. 324.023 requires 100/300/50 for at least 3 years.

What happens if I cause an accident in Florida without bodily injury coverage?

If you were charged with a moving violation and injuries were noted, FLHSMV can suspend your license and registrations until you buy 10/20/10 coverage with an SR-22 for three years, get releases or post a deposit, and pay a $15 fee. The injured person can also sue you for losses PIP doesn't cover, and an unpaid judgment brings another suspension.

Can I get uninsured motorist coverage in Florida without bodily injury liability?

Florida's UM statute ties UM to policies that provide bodily injury liability: it must be included unless a named insured rejects it in writing. A policy with only PIP and PDL generally has no UM.

This is general information about Florida law. Your policy wording, your FLHSMV letter and Florida law control. Confirm your own situation with a licensed agent, FLHSMV or the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, and for questions about a lawsuit or judgment, talk to an attorney.

Sources

This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax or insurance advice. Coverage depends on the actual policy, its terms, conditions and exclusions, and state law. Maru Insurance · WA License (WAOIC) #1365574 · FL License #G363233 · NPN 22261820.