Being Sued After a Crash With Little Ability to Pay

Attorney Answer

Not being able to pay is not a defense to a lawsuit — but it is also not the end of the story. Two things matter far more right now than the size of the number: answering the suit on time, and finding out whether an insurance company owes you a lawyer.

Start with the insurance question, because it is the one that can take the whole problem off your shoulders. If any auto policy covered the car or the driving that day — yours, a household member's, an employer's — that insurer generally owes both a defense and payment up to the policy limits. Insurers assign and pay for the defense lawyer. Handing the lawsuit papers to the insurer the day you receive them is the single highest-value thing you can do, and it costs nothing.

Second, the amount someone sues for is a demand, not a debt. Nothing is owed until a court says so. Fault is examined, damages have to be proved, and Florida reduces what a defendant owes by the claimant's own share of fault under Fla. Stat. § 768.81. Which version of that statute applies depends on when the crash happened. For accidents before March 24, 2023, § 768.81(2) provided: "EFFECT OF CONTRIBUTORY FAULT. — In a negligence action, contributory fault chargeable to the claimant diminishes proportionately the amount awarded as economic and noneconomic damages for an injury attributable to the claimant's contributory fault, but does not bar recovery." For accidents on or after that date, the current text applies and adds subsection (6): a party found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm may not recover any damages at all.

Third, and this is the part people rarely hear: Florida protects the wages of a person supporting a family, even from a judgment. Fla. Stat. § 222.11(2)(a) provides that "All of the disposable earnings of a head of family whose disposable earnings are less than or equal to $750 a week are exempt from attachment or garnishment." A "head of family" under § 222.11(1)(c) is a person providing more than half the support for a child or other dependent. Above $750 a week the protection still applies unless it was waived in a separate written document meeting the statute's requirements. Other exemptions exist too. None of this makes a judgment disappear, but it explains why a judgment against a low-wage earner supporting dependents is often not collectible in the way people fear.

What you can do

1. Look at the court papers for the deadline to respond and write that date down. Missing it can lose the case without anyone hearing your side.

2. Send a copy of every page to any auto insurer that might have covered the crash, the same day, and keep proof that you sent it.

3. Gather anything about the accident you already have — the crash report, photos, repair estimates, letters — but do not write out a new account of it for the other side.

4. Do not talk about the case with the other driver, their lawyer or their insurer.

5. Contact your local legal aid organization and your county courthouse's self-help center about free or low-cost representation, and tell them the response deadline.

6. Ask a Florida attorney about the head-of-family exemption in § 222.11 and about how your fault share affects what could ever be owed.

7. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. The deadline that matters most to you is not in a statute at all — it is the response deadline printed on the papers you were served with, and it is short. Behind it, the limitations period for the claim itself sits in Fla. Stat. § 95.11 and is keyed to the accident date: two years under § 95.11(5)(a) for accidents on or after March 24, 2023, and the former four-year period for accidents before that date. Your inquiry does not give the crash date. Which deadlines control depends on your facts — get them in front of a Florida attorney or a legal aid office now.