By Gregory Maaswinkel, Esq. | Maaswinkel Law, P.A. — Orlando, Florida | Updated October 2026
Part 1 of our Florida Car Insurance series. Part 2 covers uninsured motorist coverage, the part of your policy that steps in when the other driver has nothing.
Florida did not get rid of PIP. A 2026 bill to repeal the no-fault law died in committee on March 13, 2026. Your $10,000 in PIP, the 14-day treatment rule, and the $2,500 non-emergency cap all still apply to your crash.
If you have been in a crash in Orlando lately, you may have heard that Florida “got rid of PIP.” Maybe a friend told you, or you saw it online, or something an insurance adjuster said made it sound true.
It is not true, though we understand the confusion. We get this question a lot, because the rumor comes from real news. Lawmakers really did try to end PIP this year. They just did not finish the job.
Below we walk through what is still law, what your coverage pays, and the one deadline that catches the most people off guard. If you are hurting and short on time, here is the short version: see a doctor within 14 days. That one step protects your benefits.
Where the “Florida Got Rid of PIP” Rumor Came From
In the 2026 legislative session, Senator Erin Grall filed Senate Bill 522. It would have repealed the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law and replaced PIP with required bodily injury coverage. A matching House bill, H 769, was filed too.
Neither one made it. On March 13, 2026, SB 522 died in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. H 769 died in a House subcommittee the same day. If SB 522 had passed, the change would have started January 1, 2027. It did not pass, so nothing changed.
This has happened before. Lawmakers have tried to end PIP several times over the past decade. A repeal bill even reached the governor’s desk once and was vetoed. So when you see a headline about PIP going away, it is worth checking whether the bill became law. This one did not.
What that means for you: if your crash happened in 2026, Florida’s no-fault rules apply to it.
What “No-Fault” Really Means
People hear “no-fault” and think it means nobody is to blame. The name is misleading.
No-fault means something narrower. After most Florida crashes, your own car insurance pays your first round of medical bills, no matter who caused the wreck. You do not wait for the other driver’s company to admit fault. You do not wait for a police report to settle the blame. Your own policy goes first.
That part of your policy is called Personal Injury Protection, or PIP. Everyone just says PIP.
The idea was to get injured people treated fast and keep small cases out of court. Whether it works that way is a fair debate, but that was the design.
What Your $10,000 in PIP Pays
Florida Statute § 627.736 sets your PIP benefits at $10,000. That number sounds bigger than it is, because PIP does not pay 100% of anything.
| What PIP covers | How much it pays |
|---|---|
| Medical bills | 80% of reasonable medical costs. You or your health insurance covers the rest. |
| Lost wages | 60% of your lost gross income if you cannot work. |
| Death benefit | $5,000, separate from the $10,000, paid to the family. |
| Mileage and services | Rides to treatment and certain replacement services. |
| Pain and suffering | Nothing at all. |
| Your vehicle | Nothing. That is a different coverage. |
The $10,000 is a shared pot. Medical bills and lost wages both come out of it. One ER visit, one CT scan, and a few weeks of physical therapy can empty it. In a crash with real injuries, that happens more often than not.
If you need help with your vehicle instead, we wrote a separate guide on what to do when your car is totaled.
The 14-Day Rule for PIP Benefits
Under Florida law, PIP only covers your medical care if you get your first treatment within 14 days of the crash. Fourteen days from the date of the wreck, not from the date the pain gets bad enough to bother you.
Miss that window, and the insurance company can deny your medical benefits entirely. We have seen it happen to people who felt fine at the scene, went home, and woke up stiff a month later. They had coverage and lost it to the calendar.
Whom you see matters too. The treatment has to come from a licensed medical doctor, an osteopathic physician, a dentist, a chiropractic physician, or a registered advanced practice registered nurse. A hospital or a hospital-owned facility also counts. A massage or acupuncture visit alone will not start the clock.
⚠️ There is a second condition inside the first one. To get the full $10,000, a qualifying provider has to find that you had an emergency medical condition. If no provider makes that finding, your medical benefits are capped at $2,500 instead.
Same crash, same policy, a quarter of the money.
If you are reading this in the days after a wreck, please get checked out, today if you can. Adrenaline hides injuries, and neck and back problems often show up late.
More on the first steps, including the police report, in our Orlando crash report guide and our guide on injuries that show up days later.
What Florida Actually Requires Drivers to Carry
The state requires less than most people assume. To register a car in Florida, you need two things:
- $10,000 in PIP
- $10,000 in Property Damage Liability (PDL), which pays for damage you cause to someone else’s property
That is the whole list. Florida does not require ordinary drivers to carry Bodily Injury Liability, the coverage that pays for injuries they cause to you.
That one fact explains a lot of frustrating phone calls. The driver who hit you may be fully legal under Florida law and still have nothing available to pay for your surgery, your missed work, or your pain.
This is exactly why the next guide in this series is about uninsured motorist coverage. It is the one coverage you control that fills this hole.
When You Can Still Sue the Other Driver
No-fault does not take away your right to hold a careless driver responsible. It sets a condition on one part of that right.
For pain and suffering (what the law calls non-economic damages), Florida Statute § 627.737 says you have to show one of four things:
- Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
- Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement
- Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Death
Lawyers call this the tort threshold. The short version is that you can seek money for pain only when the injury is lasting.
Your economic losses work differently. Medical bills above what PIP paid, and lost income beyond the 60%, can be claimed from the at-fault driver without clearing that threshold.
A note on motorcycles: motorcycles are not covered by PIP in Florida. The statute leaves them out. If you were on a bike, the whole framework above works differently, and our Orlando motorcycle crash page is the better starting point.
Two More 2026 Rules That Change the Math
PIP stayed the same this year. Two other things changed, and both affect what a claim is worth.
Being Mostly at Fault Now Bars Your Claim
Since 2023, Florida Statute § 768.81 says that if you are found more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing for your injuries. Before that change, being mostly at fault just reduced what you got. Now 50% is a hard cutoff.
You will still find older articles online saying partial fault only reduces your recovery. For Florida, that is out of date.
The Deadline to File Is Shorter
For most negligence cases, including car crashes, Florida Statute § 95.11 now gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit. It used to be four. If you are working from old advice, you may think you have twice the time you actually have.
What to Do Next
If you are somewhere in the first days or weeks after a crash, this is the order we would suggest.
- Get medical care within 14 days. Everything else on this list is less urgent than this one.
- Tell your own insurance company you were in a crash and ask them to open your PIP claim.
- Get the crash report. Our Orlando guide walks through how.
- Keep everything. Bills, work notes, photos, the names of anyone who stopped.
- Find out what coverage is really available, yours and theirs, before you agree to anything.
- Talk to someone before you sign a release or give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer.
On that last point: a signature early on can close doors you did not know were open.
Questions People Ask Us
Did Florida get rid of PIP in 2026?
No. Senate Bill 522 would have repealed the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law, but it died in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on March 13, 2026, along with its House companion H 769. PIP remains Florida law. The $10,000 limit, the 14-day treatment rule, and the $2,500 non-emergency cap all still apply.
Why is Florida called a no-fault state?
Because your own PIP coverage pays your first medical bills no matter who caused the crash. The name describes how those early bills get paid. It does not mean nobody is responsible for the wreck.
Can you sue in a no-fault accident in Florida?
Yes, in the right circumstances. For pain and suffering, you generally have to meet the tort threshold in Florida Statute 627.737: a permanent injury, significant permanent loss of an important bodily function, significant permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. For out-of-pocket losses like medical bills above your PIP limit and lost wages, you can pursue the at-fault driver without meeting that threshold.
Who pays for car damage in a no-fault state?
Not PIP, which only covers injuries. Vehicle damage is handled by the at-fault driver’s Property Damage Liability coverage, or by your own collision coverage if you carry it. Florida requires $10,000 in PDL, which often falls short of what a newer vehicle is worth.
What happens if you are at fault in a car accident in Florida?
Your PIP still pays your medical bills under the same rules, because PIP does not look at fault. What changes is your ability to recover anything beyond that. Under Florida Statute 768.81, if you are more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover damages for your injuries from the other driver.
What is the 51% rule in Florida?
It is shorthand for the 2023 change to Florida Statute 768.81. If your share of the fault is greater than 50%, your injury claim is barred. At 50% or less, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. Fault is rarely obvious at the scene, and the first number an insurance company puts on it is not the final word.
Talk It Through With Us
Insurance language is built to be hard to read. You should not have to decode it while you are hurt and missing work.
Our Orlando office has been handling Florida injury claims since 1997, and we serve clients across Central Florida and the rest of the state. Tell us what happened in your own words, in English, Español, or Tiếng Việt, and we will help you understand where you stand. The conversation is free, and there is no pressure to decide anything that day.
Call (407) 999-0045 or send us a message. You can also read more about how we handle these claims on our Orlando car accident attorney page. We are at 629 N Fern Creek Ave, Orlando, FL 32803, and we make house calls if you cannot travel.
Related Resources
- Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida — Part 2 of this series: what pays when the other driver has nothing.
- Orlando Crash Report Guide — How to get your report, fix errors, and protect your PIP benefits.
- Injured in a Car Accident — Delayed Symptoms — What late-appearing pain means for your health and the 14-day rule.
- What Does a Car Accident Attorney Cost in Florida? — How contingency fees and case costs work.
- Vehicle Totaled in an Accident? — Your options when the insurer calls your car a total loss.
- Car Accident Attorney — Orlando & Central Florida — How the claims process works and what damages may be available.
External Legal References
- Senate Bill 522 (2026) — Motor Vehicle Insurance (Florida Senate). The repeal bill that died in committee.
- Florida Statute § 627.736 — PIP Benefits and the 14-Day Rule (Florida Legislature)
- Florida Statute § 627.737 — Tort Exemption and Threshold (Florida Legislature)
- Florida Statute § 768.81 — Modified Comparative Fault (Florida Legislature)
- Florida Statute § 95.11 — Statute of Limitations (Florida Legislature)
Florida Bar Disclaimer: The information on this page is general legal information about Florida motor vehicle insurance law as of October 2026 and is not legal advice for any specific situation. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Laws change; verify current statutory language before relying on it. Maaswinkel Law, P.A. is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. This communication is not intended to constitute advertising under the rules of any jurisdiction other than Florida.
