Next Steps After a Concussion in a No-Fault Crash

Attorney Answer

Probably yes — but the first deadline you face is medical, not legal, and it is short. Florida ties your no-fault benefits to getting care within 14 days of the crash.

Start with personal injury protection. PIP comes from your own auto policy regardless of who caused the crash, and Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1) sets a combined limit of $10,000 in medical and disability benefits and $5,000 in death benefits, covering the named insured, resident relatives, people operating the insured vehicle, passengers, and pedestrians struck by it. The medical half comes with a hard trigger. Section 627.736(1)(a) provides for "Medical benefits. — Eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services, including prosthetic devices and medically necessary ambulance, hospital, and nursing services if the individual receives initial services and care pursuant to subparagraph 1. within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident." PIP also pays 60 percent of lost income. If the 14 days have not run, this is the most urgent thing in your inbox; if they have, tell a lawyer that fact early, because it changes the shape of the claim.

The second question is what you can recover from the driver who caused it, beyond PIP. Florida splits that in two. Your economic losses — medical bills above the PIP limit, lost wages, out-of-pocket costs — are not gated. Damages for pain and suffering are. Under Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2), "a plaintiff may recover damages in tort for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience because of bodily injury, sickness, or disease arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation, or use of such motor vehicle only in the event that the injury or disease consists in whole or in part of: (a) Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function. (b) Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement. (c) Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement. (d) Death."

A concussion can meet that threshold or fall short of it, and the difference is made by medical documentation rather than by how bad the day felt. Persistent symptoms — headaches, memory or concentration trouble, light sensitivity, sleep disruption — need to be reported to a doctor and written down in the chart while they are happening. A gap in treatment is the single most common reason a real head injury ends up looking minor on paper.

Being "not found at fault" helps, but it is not the last word either. A police officer's opinion is not a court's ruling, and the other driver's insurer will form its own view. Assume fault is still contested until it is resolved in writing.

What you can do

1. If you have not been seen for the concussion, get medical care now and tell the provider it came from a motor vehicle crash.

2. Go to every follow-up appointment, and describe your symptoms plainly each time so they appear in the record.

3. Open a PIP claim with your own auto insurer and give them the crash report number.

4. Keep the crash report, medical bills, prescription receipts, mileage to appointments and proof of any missed work in one folder.

5. Ask your insurer for your declarations page and check whether you carry uninsured motorist and medical payments coverage.

6. Ask a Florida attorney about the § 627.737(2) threshold and about a claim against the other driver before you give any recorded statement or sign a release.

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 to sue for negligence sits in Fla. Stat. § 95.11 and is keyed to your 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, so both are stated and neither is picked here. The 14-day PIP treatment trigger in § 627.736(1)(a) runs far sooner than either. The deadline that governs you depends on your facts — have a Florida attorney confirm the dates.