Florida Hit-and-Run Insurance Claims: What Pays When the Other Driver Flees
One in four. That's roughly how many Florida crashes are hit-and-runs: 97,999 of 381,423 crashes in 2024, or 25.7%, according to FLHSMV's latest annual crash report. When the other driver is gone, there's no one else's insurance to claim against. Your own policy pays, and how much it pays depends on choices you made long before the crash.
Three lines on your declarations page decide most hit-and-run claims in Florida: personal injury protection (PIP), uninsured motorist (UM) coverage and collision. PIP is required. The other two are optional, and plenty of Florida drivers don't carry them. Here's what each one does when the other car drives off, what happens to your premium, and what to do in the first two weeks so you don't lose benefits on a technicality.
Source: FLHSMV, Florida Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report 2024 (first three tiles); FLHSMV Hit-and-Run Awareness page (2023 property-damage figure, which uses earlier 2023 counts than the 2024 report).
Who pays when the other driver is gone
Start with this table. Read it next to your own declarations page, because a coverage you don't have pays nothing, no matter how clear it is that the other driver was to blame.
| Coverage | In a hit-and-run it pays for | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| PIP (required) | 80% of your medical bills and 60% of lost income, up to $10,000 combined, plus a $5,000 death benefit | Initial care within 14 days; $2,500 medical cap unless an emergency medical condition is found |
| Uninsured motorist (optional) | Your injury damages beyond PIP: medical bills, lost income and, past the permanent-injury threshold, pain and suffering | Only if you bought bodily injury liability and didn't reject UM in writing |
| Medical payments (optional) | Medical and funeral expenses, regardless of fault | How it fits with PIP depends on the policy wording |
| Collision (optional) | Repairs to your car, or its value if it's totaled, regardless of fault | Your collision deductible comes off first |
| Comprehensive (optional) | Damage from things other than a collision: theft, vandalism, fire, flood, falling objects, animals | A car hitting your car is a collision, not comprehensive |
| Your property damage liability (required) | Nothing for you. It pays for damage you cause to others | Required, but not protection for your own car |
| State crime victim compensation | Some injury losses when leaving the scene was a crime that caused injury or death | Payer of last resort; police report within 5 days |
Source: s. 627.736, s. 627.727, s. 960.03 and s. 960.13, Florida Statutes (2026); Florida DFS, Personal Automobile Insurance Overview.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) makes a point worth repeating: be wary of the phrases "full coverage" and "what's required," because they mean different things to different people. A Florida policy can be perfectly legal with just PIP and property damage liability, and that policy pays nothing toward fixing your car after a hit-and-run.
PIP pays first, and the 14-day clock is running
Florida is a no-fault state, so a fleeing driver doesn't change your PIP claim much. Under s. 627.736(1), PIP pays 80% of reasonable, medically necessary medical expenses and 60% of lost gross income, out of a single $10,000 limit, plus a $5,000 death benefit. It covers you, relatives who live with you, people driving your car, and your passengers.
Two rules can shrink that claim:
- 14 days. Medical benefits are payable only if you get initial care within 14 days after the crash from a provider the statute lists, such as a medical doctor, osteopathic physician, dentist, chiropractic physician, hospital or EMS. Miss it and PIP pays nothing toward medical bills for that crash.
- $2,500. The full $10,000 for medical care is available only if a medical or osteopathic doctor, dentist, physician assistant or APRN determines you had an emergency medical condition. If a provider finds you didn't, medical reimbursement stops at $2,500.
I've written a full breakdown with the math in the Florida PIP 14-day rule. For hit-and-runs, the point is simpler: the adrenaline after a driver speeds off makes it easy to say "I'm fine" and go home. Get checked within the 14 days anyway.
Pedestrians and cyclists, take note. Your own PIP covers you, and relatives in your household who don't own a car of their own, when you're struck by a motor vehicle while not riding in one (s. 627.736(4)(e)). The statute says "physical contact with a motor vehicle," so this is for the driver who actually hits you, then flees. FLHSMV's campaign page says that of the 271 hit-and-run deaths it counted for 2023, 159 were pedestrians and 47 were bicyclists, about 76%.
Uninsured motorist coverage is the hit-and-run coverage
PIP tops out at $10,000 and never pays for pain and suffering. For anything bigger, the coverage that steps in when the at-fault driver can't be found is UM. If nobody knows who hit you, there's no bodily injury liability policy to claim against, which leaves you in the same spot as being hit by a driver with no insurance.
Three rules from s. 627.727 matter here:
- No bodily injury liability, no UM. UM must come with any Florida policy that includes bodily injury liability (BI), unless a named insured rejects it in writing for everyone on the policy. BI isn't required to register a typical private car in Florida, so a driver who carries only PIP and property damage liability usually has no UM at all.
- It pays on top of PIP. UM is "over and above" PIP, medical payments coverage and workers' comp, without duplicating them. DFS notes that UM is typically paid as a lump sum once the full extent of treatment is known, unlike PIP's ongoing payments.
- Pain and suffering has a threshold. UM pays for pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience only if the injury meets the permanent-injury threshold in s. 627.737(2): significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.
Does the car have to touch yours? Florida's statute doesn't require physical contact, and it doesn't mention hit-and-run vehicles at all. A 1972 Florida Law Review note described a Florida Supreme Court decision as eliminating the physical-contact requirement in Florida UM policies. So a driver who swerves into your lane on I-95, forces you into the barrier and keeps going can be the basis of a claim even if the cars never touched.
That doesn't make a no-contact claim easy. The insurer still needs evidence that another driver caused the crash, and the way your own policy defines an "uninsured motor vehicle" governs the details. Witness names, dashcam video, photos and a police report made at the time carry a lot of weight. A story first told to the adjuster a week later carries much less.
Stacking matters if you have more than one car. Unless you sign the insurer's non-stacking form, UM limits for each insured car can be added together. Non-stacked UM must be priced at least 20% lower. The full rundown, including the rejection form and what it does, is in Florida uninsured motorist coverage.
Source: Insurance Research Council estimates, state table via Triple-I
Show the numbers
| State | Uninsured |
|---|---|
| Mississippi | 28.2% |
| Michigan | 22.3% |
| Florida | 20.6% |
| Washington | 19.1% |
| Georgia | 19.0% |
By the Insurance Research Council's estimate, 20.6% of Florida motorists were uninsured in 2023, 7th-highest among the states and D.C. Triple-I's table adds a footnote that matters here: Florida's compulsory auto laws apply to PIP and physical damage, but not to third-party bodily injury coverage. My read: even when a fleeing driver is caught, there's a fair chance they carry nothing that pays for your injuries. Either way, your UM is often what's left.
Your car: collision coverage, or your own pocket
Florida's UM statute covers bodily injury, sickness, disease and death. It says nothing about damage to your car. Repairs after a hit-and-run go through collision coverage, which DFS describes as paying to repair your vehicle when it collides with another vehicle or an object, regardless of fault, or to replace it if it's a total loss.
This is where most hit-and-run claims land. FLHSMV's campaign page counted 86,987 of 104,273 hit-and-run crashes in 2023 as property damage only, about 83%. That's the side mirror in a grocery store parking lot, the scraped door on a Brickell side street, the dented bumper while you were stopped at a light on Dale Mabry.
Check for rental reimbursement while you're at it. DFS describes it as replacement transportation up to a limit shown on the policy when your car can't be driven after a covered loss. Without it, the days your car sits in the shop are on you.
If you're weighing whether collision and UM are worth the premium on your car, the Florida auto insurance page lays out how the coverages fit together.
Will a hit-and-run claim raise your rates?
Florida law limits it, with one deadline you need to know. Under s. 626.9541(1)(o)3., it's an unfair trade practice for an insurer to add a surcharge to your liability, PIP, medical payments or collision premium, or to refuse to renew, solely because you were in an accident, unless its file shows in good faith that you were substantially at fault.
If an insurer does surcharge you or refuse to renew after an accident, it has to tell you about your right to get the money back or keep the policy, and it must reimburse or renew if you show one of several conditions. Three of them fit hit-and-runs:
- You were hit by a "hit-and-run" driver and reported it to the proper authorities within 24 hours after discovering the accident.
- You were lawfully parked.
- You were rear-ended by a vehicle headed the same direction and weren't convicted of a moving violation in connection with the crash.
That 24-hour line is the reason to call police even for a parking-lot dent you discover the next morning. On request, the insurer and the agent have to give you the complete proof of fault or other criteria behind a surcharge (s. 626.9541(1)(o)5.). What the statute doesn't do is freeze your premium. Base rates can still change at renewal for reasons that have nothing to do with your claim.
Step by step after a hit-and-run
| When | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| At the scene | Get safe, check for injuries, call 911. Note the plate, make, color and direction of travel. Photos, witnesses' names and numbers, nearby cameras. | FLHSMV lists a hit-and-run among crashes where you must notify law enforcement (s. 316.065) |
| Within 24 hours of discovering it | Make sure a police report exists, including for damage found on a parked car. | Reporting within 24 hours protects you from a surcharge under s. 626.9541(1)(o)3. |
| Within 5 days | If you were hurt, confirm the crime was reported. | Crime victim compensation requires a report within five days (s. 960.13), unless good cause is shown |
| Within 10 days | If no officer wrote a report on a damage-only crash, file the driver report with FLHSMV. | s. 316.066(1)(e) requires it within 10 days |
| Within 14 days | Get initial medical care from a listed provider, even if you feel fine. | Otherwise PIP pays no medical benefits (s. 627.736(1)(a)) |
| As soon as you can | Notify your insurer and open PIP, UM and collision claims as they apply. Send the report number. | Your policy sets its own notice duties; insurers can get crash reports right away (s. 316.066(2)) |
| Within 2 years | If the driver is identified, talk to an attorney about a negligence claim. | s. 95.11(5)(a): two years for negligence actions |
Source: FLHSMV Traffic Crash Reports; s. 316.065, s. 316.066, s. 626.9541, s. 960.13, s. 627.736 and s. 95.11, Florida Statutes (2026).
Don't chase the other driver. Your job at the scene is to stay safe and get the details down. As of October 1, 2026, the general notice rule in s. 316.065 covers crashes with injury, death or at least $2,000 in apparent damage, and FLHSMV's own crash page lists hit-and-runs as crashes where you should stay and call 911. More on how reports work, and how to get a copy, in Florida crash reports.
If police find the driver
Leaving the scene is a crime in Florida, and the penalty climbs with the harm. Every driver in a crash has to stop, give their name, address and registration number, show a license on request and render reasonable aid to anyone hurt (s. 316.062). The fatal-crash tier carries a four-year mandatory minimum, added by the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act, which took effect July 1, 2014, according to FLHSMV. The law is named for a 31-year-old cyclist and father of two killed in South Florida in 2012 by an impaired driver who fled.
| Crash | Offense | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Damage, attended vehicle | 2nd-deg. misdemeanor | 60 days, $500 |
| Damage, unattended vehicle | 2nd-deg. misdemeanor | 60 days, $500 |
| Injury | 3rd-degree felony | 5 years, $5,000 |
| Serious bodily injury | 2nd-degree felony | 15 years, $10,000 |
| Death | 1st-degree felony | 30 years, $10,000; 4 years minimum |
Source: s. 316.027, s. 316.061, s. 316.063, s. 322.28(4), s. 775.082 and s. 775.083, Florida Statutes (2026). Rows 1-2: ss. 316.061 and 316.063; rows 3-5: s. 316.027(2)(a)-(c). Felony penalties apply to willful violations, and all three felony tiers also bring a driver license revocation of at least 3 years.
For the victim, an arrest opens two more doors. In an injury or death case the court must order restitution unless it finds clear and compelling reasons not to (s. 316.027(2)(d)), and for a damage-only case it may. And once you know who the driver is, you can claim against their liability insurance, if they have any. If their BI limits are too low, Florida UM also covers an underinsured driver, so your UM can still pay the difference.
Leaving the scene of an injury or fatal crash also counts as a "crime" for Florida's crime victim compensation program, run by the Department of Legal Affairs (s. 960.03). Awards are based on actual need and come only after insurance, including auto coverage, has paid (s. 960.13). It's a backstop for people with little or no coverage, not a substitute for it.
If you saw a hit-and-run, FLHSMV asks you to call *FHP (*347) or report anonymously to Florida Crime Stoppers at **TIPS (**8477) or through its app. The Florida Association of Crime Stoppers has said tipsters could be eligible for a cash reward for information leading to an arrest.
The numbers are falling, slowly
Source: FLHSMV, Florida Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report 2024, statistics summary
Show the numbers
| Hit-and-run deaths | |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 284 |
| 2023 | 276 |
| 2024 | 242 |
| Year | Crashes | Deaths | Injured |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 107,844 | 284 | 23,442 |
| 2023 | 105,092 | 276 | 22,656 |
| 2024 | 97,999 | 242 | 20,462 |
Source: FLHSMV, Florida Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report 2024, p. 11. Injured = incapacitating plus other injuries. Counts crashes that meet the long-form report criteria in s. 316.066. 2024 is the latest full year FLHSMV has published.
Hit-and-run crashes fell 6.75% from 2023 to 2024, and deaths fell from 276 to 242. Still, more than 20,000 people were injured by drivers who didn't stop in 2024 alone. FLHSMV's campaign page notes that over 81% of 2023's hit-and-run deaths happened at dawn, dusk or night, which is when a pedestrian on US-1 or a cyclist on a dark county road is hardest to see and the driver most tempted to keep going.
What to check on your declarations page this week
- Bodily injury liability. If it isn't there, UM almost certainly isn't either.
- Uninsured motorist. The limit, stacked or non-stacked, or a signed rejection you may have forgotten about. A rejection carries over to renewals with the same BI limits unless you ask for UM in writing.
- Collision and its deductible. Without it, a hit-and-run on your car is your bill.
- PIP deductible and any lost-wage exclusion. Both reduce what PIP pays you.
- Medical payments. Whether you have it and whether it picks up what PIP leaves.
- Rental reimbursement. The daily and total limits, if you have it.
If your liability limits are high and you want UM to match, an umbrella policy is a separate question. Under s. 627.727(2), excess policies don't have to include UM automatically; the insurer must make it available on written request, up to the policy's BI limits or $1 million, whichever is less.
FAQ
Does insurance cover a hit-and-run in Florida?
Partly, and it is your own policy that pays. PIP covers 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost income up to $10,000 regardless of fault. Uninsured motorist coverage pays injury damages beyond PIP if you have it, and collision coverage pays for damage to your car, minus your deductible.
Does uninsured motorist coverage cover hit-and-run in Florida?
Generally yes, because a driver who can't be identified leaves no liability policy to claim against. Florida's UM statute has no physical-contact requirement, but UM only comes with policies that include bodily injury liability, and it covers injuries, not damage to your car.
Will my insurance go up after a hit-and-run in Florida?
Florida law bars a surcharge based solely on an accident unless the insurer finds you substantially at fault. If you are surcharged, you are entitled to reimbursement if you were hit by a hit-and-run driver and reported it to the proper authorities within 24 hours after discovering the accident.
What is the penalty for leaving the scene of an accident in Florida?
Leaving a damage-only crash is a second-degree misdemeanor (up to 60 days and a $500 fine). Leaving an injury crash is a third-degree felony, serious bodily injury a second-degree felony, and a fatal crash a first-degree felony with a four-year mandatory minimum. The felony tiers carry a license revocation of at least 3 years.
Your own policy wording and Florida law control how any claim is paid. Confirm your situation with a licensed agent, the Florida Department of Financial Services or Office of Insurance Regulation, or, for legal questions, an attorney.
Sources
- Florida Statutes s. 627.736, required personal injury protection benefits (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.727, uninsured motorist coverage (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 626.9541, unfair trade practices incl. accident surcharges (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 316.027, crash involving death or personal injuries (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 316.061, crashes involving damage to vehicle or property (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 316.062, duty to give information and render aid (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 316.063, damage to unattended vehicles or property (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 316.065, crashes; reports; penalties (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 316.066, written crash reports (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 322.28, license revocation periods (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 775.082, penalties (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 775.083, fines (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 960.03, crime victim compensation definitions (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 960.13, crime victim compensation awards (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 95.11, limitations of actions (2026)
- Florida DFS: Personal Automobile Insurance Overview
- Florida Law Review, Insurance: Elimination of the Physical Contact Requirement from Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida, 24 Fla. L. Rev. 588 (1972)
- FLHSMV: Florida Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report 2024
- FLHSMV: Hit-and-Run Awareness
- FLHSMV: Traffic Crash Reports
- FLHSMV: Hit-and-run crash fatalities rise in 2020, Floridians reminded to Stay at the Scene (Feb. 1, 2021)
- Triple-I: Facts and statistics, uninsured motorists (Insurance Research Council data)
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.