Passenger Injury Claims After a Florida Car Accident

Attorney Answer

As a passenger you are almost never the one who caused the crash, and Florida gives you more than one place to look for payment — starting with benefits that pay no matter who was at fault. Being a passenger is, if anything, the strongest position an injured person can be in.

The first layer is personal injury protection, or PIP. Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1) requires that coverage to reach the named insured, relatives living in the same household, people operating the insured vehicle, passengers in the motor vehicle, and people struck by it, up to a limit of $10,000 in medical and disability benefits. Nobody has to prove fault to collect it.

PIP has one trap, and it is a hard one. Section 627.736(1)(a) defines the medical benefit as "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." Miss that 14-day window and the medical benefits are gone. Lost income is covered separately under § 627.736(1)(b) — sixty percent of any loss of gross income and loss of earning capacity from inability to work proximately caused by the injury, plus the reasonable cost of ordinary and necessary household services the injured person can no longer perform — inside the same $10,000 ceiling.

Which policy actually pays a given passenger depends on whether you own a car, whether you live with a relative who does, and what the vehicle you were riding in is insured under. That is worth having sorted out for you rather than guessed at.

PIP is not the whole claim. Beyond it you can pursue whichever driver was negligent — the driver of the car you were in, the other driver, or both. A passenger is not limited to one of them, and you do not have to decide between them before a claim is opened.

Pain-and-suffering damages are gated. 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." Your economic losses — medical bills and lost income above what PIP paid — are not gated by that threshold. Both halves matter.

If anyone tries to put a share of fault on you, the date of the crash decides the rule. For accidents before March 24, 2023, § 768.81(2) provided that contributory fault "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." The Legislature changed that rule in 2023 for later accidents, and which version governs a particular crash is a question for a lawyer.

What you can do

1. See a doctor now if you have not already, and tell the provider it was a crash. PIP's 14-day window under § 627.736(1)(a) does not bend.

2. Open a PIP claim with whichever insurer covers you. That is an insurance filing you can make yourself.

3. Ask the investigating agency for the crash report. Under § 316.066(2)(b) a report held by an agency may be released immediately to the parties involved and their insurers, though you will be asked for identification and a sworn statement under § 316.066(2)(d).

4. Keep every bill, referral, and out-of-pocket receipt, and anything that shows income you lost.

5. Photograph your injuries as they change, and save the name and number of anyone else who was in either car.

6. Ask a Florida attorney which policies are available to you as a passenger and whether both drivers should be put on notice.

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. For negligence claims arising before March 24, 2023, the former four-year period under the earlier text of § 95.11 applied; a 2023 law changed both that deadline and Florida's shared-fault rule for later accidents, and § 95.11(5)(a) now sets two years. PIP and other insurance policies carry their own, much shorter, notice requirements. Which period runs on your claim, and from when, depends on your facts and should be checked by a Florida attorney. This page does not calculate any date.