The Florida PIP 14-Day Rule: Why the First Two Weeks After a Crash Decide What You Get

By Vadim Marusin October 11, 2026 17 min read

Fourteen days. If you're hurt in a car crash in Florida and you don't get initial medical care within 14 days, your own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage pays nothing toward your medical bills. It doesn't matter who caused the crash. The rule sits in s. 627.736(1)(a) of the Florida Statutes, and it's still the law in 2026.

A second rule decides how much you get. PIP has a $10,000 limit, but the full amount for medical care is available only if a medical or osteopathic doctor, a dentist, a physician assistant or an advanced practice registered nurse determines that you had an "emergency medical condition." If a provider determines you didn't, PIP's medical reimbursement stops at $2,500.

It's better to learn both rules now than from an adjuster after a crash. Here's how they work, with the math on a sample bill, and what to check on your declarations page while you can still change it.

PIP is still required in 2026

In May 2026, Insurance Journal reported that some law firm and agency websites, and some AI search answers, were telling readers Florida had repealed its no-fault law. It hadn't, and the statute books agree. The 2026 Florida Statutes still contain the no-fault law, ss. 627.730 to 627.7405. The last change to s. 627.736 was a 2025 reviser's bill that only updated the name of a state agency division.

Repeal keeps coming back, and keeps failing:

Florida PIP repeal bills since 2021
Session	Bills	What happened
2021	SB 54	Passed both chambers (House vote 100-16). Vetoed by Gov. DeSantis on June 29, 2021
2022	SB 150 / HB 1525	Each cleared one committee, then died in Judiciary, March 14, 2022
2023	SB 586 / HB 429	Died in committee, May 5, 2023
2024	SB 464 / HB 653	Died in committee without a hearing, March 8, 2024
2025	HB 1181 / SB 1256	HB 1181 cleared two House subcommittees, then died in the Judiciary Committee on June 16, 2025. SB 1256 was never heard
2026	SB 522 / HB 769	Both died in committee on March 13, 2026

Source: Florida Senate bill pages for each bill (flsenate.gov), checked October 11, 2026.

SB 522 would have replaced PIP with bodily injury liability minimums of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash, starting January 1, 2027. It never got a hearing, and its House companion died in subcommittee the same day.

Florida has actually gone without PIP once. The law sunset on October 1, 2007, and the Legislature revived it effective January 1, 2008 (s. 627.7407). Critics do have a fair point on the limit: a 2025 House staff analysis notes that the $10,000 figure hasn't changed since the 1970s. Until a repeal bill passes and gets signed, though, I'd plan around the law on the books.

What PIP pays, whoever caused the crash

The no-fault law (s. 627.731) trades fault-free benefits for limits on suing over pain and suffering. In FLHSMV's words, PIP covers 80 percent of all necessary and reasonable medical expenses up to $10,000 resulting from a covered injury, no matter who caused the crash.

Medical: 80% of reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental and rehabilitative care, including ambulance, hospital and nursing services.
Lost income: 60% of lost gross income and earning capacity, plus reasonable costs of paying someone for household work you can't do. Paid at least every two weeks, and it comes out of the same $10,000 as medical.
Death benefit: $5,000 per person, in addition to the $10,000.

PIP covers you, relatives who live with you, anyone driving your car, your passengers, and pedestrians or cyclists your car hits if they're Florida residents who don't own a car that needs PIP of its own. You're also covered in your own car anywhere in the U.S., its territories or Canada.

PIP won't pay for massage therapy or acupuncture, whoever provides it. And the insurer can limit reimbursement to 80% of a fee schedule set in the statute (200% of Medicare for emergency transport, for example), so "80%" can mean 80% of an allowed amount that's lower than the bill.

The first 14 days after a Florida crash

The clock starts at the crash, not when you first call your insurer. Initial care has to come from a provider the statute lists, and everything after that has to be on referral.

The first 14 days after a Florida crash, step by step
When	What to do	Why it matters
At the scene	If you're hurt, let EMS treat or transport you.	Emergency transport and treatment by a licensed EMS provider counts as initial care.
Within 14 days	Get seen by a medical or osteopathic doctor, dentist, chiropractic physician or autonomous-practice APRN, or at a hospital or hospital-owned facility.	If initial care comes later, PIP medical benefits aren't payable for that crash.
At that visit	Ask whether the provider is making an emergency medical condition determination. Get copies of the records.	Only a doctor, dentist, physician assistant or APRN can make the finding that keeps the full $10,000 available.
Follow-up	Get further care on referral from a provider on the initial-care list.	Follow-up care must be referred by one of those providers and be consistent with the initial diagnosis to be reimbursed.
As soon as you can	Give your insurer written notice of the crash, and give your providers the correct PIP insurer name and address.	The statute lets insurers require written notice "as soon as practicable" after the crash. Benefits are overdue 30 days after written notice of the loss and amount.
If you miss work	Keep pay stubs and employer letters.	Lost income is paid at 60%, at least every two weeks.

Source: s. 627.736(1) and (4), Florida Statutes; Florida OIR form OIR-B1-1149, Notification of Personal Injury Protection Benefits.

The trap is the person who feels fine at the scene, gets sore a few days later, and waits to see if it passes. If the first visit lands after day 14, that's the end of PIP medical benefits for this crash.

The ambulance row is worth a second look. EMS treatment counts as initial care. It doesn't come with an emergency medical condition finding, though, because EMS crews aren't on the list of who can make one.

$10,000 or $2,500: the emergency medical condition finding

Florida law defines an emergency medical condition (EMC) as one manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity, which may include severe pain, such that going without immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to cause serious jeopardy to your health, serious impairment to bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of a bodily organ or part (s. 627.732(16)).

Who decides is the part people miss. Four kinds of providers can make the finding that allows up to $10,000. The list of who can make a "no emergency medical condition" finding, which caps medical reimbursement at $2,500, is longer. It covers every provider on the initial and follow-up care lists, chiropractic physicians included.

Who can do what under s. 627.736(1)(a)
Provider	Initial care (14-day rule)	Can make the EMC finding
Medical doctor or osteopathic physician	Yes	Yes
Dentist	Yes	Yes
Chiropractic physician	Yes	No
Advanced practice registered nurse	Yes, if registered for autonomous practice	Yes
Physician assistant	As care supervised by a listed physician	Yes
Hospital or hospital-owned facility	Yes	Via the treating doctor, PA or APRN
EMS (ambulance crew)	Yes	No
Physical therapist	No (follow-up on referral only)	No
Massage therapist or acupuncturist	Not covered by PIP at all	No

Source: s. 627.736(1)(a)1. to 5., Florida Statutes (2026).

The statute pays up to $10,000 if one of those providers "has determined" you had an emergency medical condition. So the finding has to actually be in your records. Ask at the visit, and if the records come back silent on it, ask the provider's office before the bills pile up.

The math on a sample bill

Hypothetical: $15,000 in medical bills, $1,000 PIP deductible
Step	EMC found	Found no EMC	Care after day 14
Bills	$15,000	$15,000	$15,000
Less $1,000 deductible	$14,000	$14,000	n/a
80% of that	$11,200	$11,200	n/a
Limit	$10,000	$2,500	Not payable
PIP pays	$10,000	$2,500	Nothing
Not paid by PIP	$5,000	$12,500	$15,000

Source: calculated from s. 627.736(1)(a) and s. 627.739(2), Florida Statutes. Hypothetical figures.

In this example the EMC finding is worth $7,500. The first two columns assume care started within 14 days. Missing the 14-day window moves the whole $15,000 somewhere else.

The finding doesn't matter on every bill, though. Here is the same $1,000 deductible across five bill sizes:

What PIP pays on a medical bill, with and without the finding Hypothetical. $1,000 PIP deductible, all charges within the fee schedule, no lost-wage claim

EMC found
Provider found no EMC

Source: calculated from s. 627.736(1)(a) and s. 627.739(2); the $13,500 point matches the example in OIR form OIR-B1-1149

Show the numbers

	EMC found	Provider found no EMC
$2,000 bill	$800	$800
$4,000	$2,400	$2,400
$8,000	$5,600	$2,500
$13,500	$10,000	$2,500
$20,000	$10,000	$2,500

Two things stand out. Up to $4,125 in bills, the finding changes nothing, because 80% of what's left after a $1,000 deductible is under $2,500 anyway. And it takes $13,500 in bills to reach the full $10,000. That's the same example the Office of Insurance Regulation uses in its PIP notice: ($13,500 − $1,000) × 80% = $10,000.

Where does the rest go? Medical payments coverage, if you have it, is secondary to PIP, and OIR says whether it picks up the 20%, the deductible or the excess depends on the policy wording. After that, health insurance, or a claim against the at-fault driver for medical costs PIP doesn't cover. The permanent-injury threshold in s. 627.737(2) only limits pain-and-suffering damages. OIR's notice also says you may be able to recover your PIP deductible from the at-fault driver.

What Florida makes you carry, and what it doesn't

Owners of most privately owned vehicles with four or more wheels registered in Florida must carry at least $10,000 of PIP and $10,000 of property damage liability (PDL), and keep it continuously, even if the car isn't driven (FLHSMV). School buses and limousines are excepted, taxis follow their own rules, and an owner on active military duty outside the U.S. in an emergency is exempt while the car isn't driven (s. 627.733). An insurer can't sell PIP without PDL (s. 627.7275). Bodily injury liability (BI), the coverage that pays for injuries you cause to other people, isn't required to register a typical private car.

Florida auto insurance requirements at a glance
Situation	What Florida requires
Most privately owned vehicles with four or more wheels registered in Florida	$10,000 PIP and $10,000 PDL, continuously
Bodily injury liability, typical private car	Not required to register
Charged with a moving violation in a crash with injuries, with no BI in force	10/20/10 liability, an SR-22 filing for 3 years, plus releases or a security deposit
DUI conviction	100/300/50 liability (FR-44 filing) kept for 3 years
Taxi	BI of $125,000 per person / $250,000 per crash, and $50,000 PDL
Non-resident's car in Florida more than 90 of the last 365 days	PIP and PDL
Motorcycle	Outside the PIP/PDL rule, which covers vehicles with four or more wheels

Source: FLHSMV insurance requirements; FLHSMV, Involved in a Crash?; FLHSMV FR-44 bulletin (Dec. 19, 2007); s. 324.022, s. 324.023, s. 627.733, Florida Statutes. Limits shown as per person / per crash / property damage, in thousands.

No-fault doesn't mean nobody can be sued. If you carry PIP, you're exempt from injury liability only to the extent PIP benefits are payable. Someone you hurt can still sue you for costs PIP doesn't cover, and for pain and suffering if their injury crosses the 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. With no BI on your policy, no insurer defends you on that claim. And with no PIP at all on the day of the crash, you lose the exemption and are personally liable for the PIP benefits yourself (s. 627.733(4)).

The 2023 tort reform law (HB 837) changed two things for anyone hurt in a crash. A person found more than 50% at fault for their own harm can't recover damages in a negligence suit (s. 768.81(6)), and negligence suits must be filed within two years (s. 95.11(5)(a)).

If you're weighing liability limits above the minimum, the Florida auto insurance page explains how the coverages fit together, and the Florida umbrella insurance page covers liability above your auto limits.

Uninsured: one in five, or one in twenty?

Crashes in Florida, 2024381,423about 1,040 a day

People injured246,426in 160,945 injury crashes

Hit-and-run crashes97,999242 people killed

Traffic deaths3,098−8.21% vs 2023

Source: FLHSMV, Florida Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report 2024 (latest full year published).

By the Insurance Research Council's estimate, as published in Triple-I's state table, 20.6% of Florida motorists were uninsured in 2023, the 7th-highest rate among the 50 states and D.C. The national rate was 15.4%.

Uninsured motorists, 2023: the 10 highest rates, and the U.S. Estimated by the ratio of uninsured motorist claims to bodily injury claims

Mississippi28.2%New Mexico24.1%D.C.23.1%Michigan22.3%Tennessee21.3%Missouri20.7%Florida20.6%California20.4%Colorado19.7%Washington19.1%U.S. overall15.4%

Source: Insurance Research Council, Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists: 2017-2023 (Feb. 2025), state table via Triple-I; U.S. figure from the IRC release

Show the numbers

State	Uninsured
Mississippi	28.2%
New Mexico	24.1%
D.C.	23.1%
Michigan	22.3%
Tennessee	21.3%
Missouri	20.7%
Florida	20.6%
California	20.4%
Colorado	19.7%
Washington	19.1%
U.S. overall	15.4%

FLHSMV's own dashboard tells a different story: 5.06% of registered non-commercial vehicles (854,357 of 16,880,795) lacked the required PIP and PDL as of October 2026 (FLHSMV). Both numbers can be right. FLHSMV counts registered cars without PIP/PDL. IRC compares uninsured motorist claims with bodily injury claims, and Triple-I's table flags Florida with a footnote saying its compulsory auto laws apply to PIP but not to third-party bodily injury coverage. The other required coverage, per FLHSMV, is property damage liability. My read: a driver can be fully legal in Florida and still carry nothing that pays for your injuries.

That gap is what uninsured motorist (UM) coverage is for. Under s. 627.727, UM comes with any policy that has BI unless a named insured rejects it in writing, and its limits match your BI limits unless you choose lower. It also covers drivers whose BI limits are lower than your damages. It pays on top of PIP and medical payments coverage, not instead of them. Non-stacked UM, where limits for multiple cars aren't added together, must be priced at least 20% below stacked.

Let coverage lapse and FLHSMV suspends your license

Insurers have to report a cancelled or non-renewed PIP/PDL policy to FLHSMV within 10 days. After notice and a chance to be heard, FLHSMV suspends the registration and the driver license (s. 324.0221). FLHSMV says the suspension can last up to three years, and there's no temporary or hardship license for insurance-related suspensions.

FLHSMV reinstatement fees after an insurance suspension
Reinstatement	Fee
First	$150
Second, within 3 years of the first	$250
Third and each later one within those 3 years	$500
First one after a 3-year gap with no second reinstatement	$150

Source: s. 324.0221(3), Florida Statutes; FLHSMV.

One fee covers both the license and the registration. The cheaper move is never to need it: if you're selling a car, leaving the state or parking one for the season, FLHSMV's advice is to turn in the plate at a driver license and motor vehicle service center or a tax collector's office before you cancel the insurance.

What to check on your declarations page

Look for these lines. If something isn't what you thought you bought, renewal is the time to change it.

PIP deductible. Insurers must offer $250, $500 and $1,000 deductibles at application and every renewal (s. 627.739). A higher deductible lowers the premium and raises the bill you need to reach the full benefit ($13,500 with a $1,000 deductible). It applies only to you and dependent relatives in your household, never to other passengers.
Lost-wage (work-loss) exclusion. If you elected it, PIP pays no lost income. The statute's own model notice says it plainly: don't elect it if you or your dependent relatives are employed.
Medical payments coverage. Whether you have it, the limit, and whether the wording pays your PIP deductible and the 20% PIP doesn't.
Bodily injury liability. Not required for most drivers, which is exactly why it's worth checking.
Uninsured motorist. Stacked or non-stacked, the limit, or a signed rejection. Under s. 627.727, a signed rejection form creates a conclusive presumption that you turned UM down knowingly, for everyone on the policy.
Your household. Per the Office of Insurance Regulation's standard PIP notice, a relative who lives with you and owns a Florida-registered car isn't covered by your PIP. They need their own.

Snowbirds and new arrivals have two dates to watch. A non-resident's car that's been in Florida more than 90 of the last 365 days needs Florida PIP and PDL. And once you take a job in Florida or enroll a child in a Florida public school, FLHSMV gives you 10 days to get a Florida registration, plate and policy.

If your PIP claim stalls

PIP benefits are overdue if the insurer doesn't pay within 30 days after written notice of the covered loss and its amount. If you're stuck, here's what Florida offers short of a lawsuit:

Mediation. For injury claims of $10,000 or less, either side can demand mediation before anyone sues, and the insurer pays the cost of the conference (s. 627.745). The Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) approves the mediators.
A complaint to DFS. The DFS Division of Consumer Services takes claim disputes through its Consumer Assistance Portal. It asks you to try the insurer first, then send your policy number, claim number, date of loss and a copy of your declarations page. By statute, insurers must answer DFS within 14 days of its request about a complaint (s. 624.307(10)(b)).
A lawyer. The 2023 tort reform law ended the one-way rule that made the insurer pay a winning policyholder's lawyer in PIP disputes. Fees now follow the offer-of-judgment statute (s. 627.736(8), s. 768.79), which changes the economics of a small PIP case. A negligence claim against the other driver has the two-year deadline mentioned above.

FAQ

What is the 14-day rule for PIP in Florida?

Florida PIP pays medical benefits only if you get initial care within 14 days after the crash from a listed provider, such as a medical or osteopathic doctor, dentist, chiropractic physician, hospital or EMS. If your first care comes later, PIP pays nothing toward medical bills for that crash.

Is PIP still required in Florida in 2026?

Yes. Owners of most privately owned vehicles with four or more wheels registered in Florida must carry at least $10,000 of PIP and $10,000 of property damage liability. The 2026 repeal bills, SB 522 and HB 769, died in committee on March 13, 2026.

What counts as an emergency medical condition for Florida PIP?

It is a condition with acute symptoms, which may include severe pain, serious enough that going without immediate care could reasonably be expected to seriously jeopardize your health, seriously impair bodily functions, or cause serious dysfunction of a bodily organ or part (s. 627.732(16)). A doctor, dentist, physician assistant or APRN must make that finding for PIP to pay up to $10,000. If a provider finds you did not have one, medical reimbursement is capped at $2,500.

Does Florida PIP cover lost wages?

Yes, at 60% of lost gross income and earning capacity, paid at least every two weeks. It comes out of the same $10,000 limit as medical benefits, and it is not paid if you elected the lost-wage exclusion on your policy.

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

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.