Preservation Letter From an Injured Passenger's Attorney
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Founding Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed April 7, 2023
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I was the driver of a vehicle that hit a median, causing airbags to deploy. One of my passengers had to go to the hospital. She has contacted my insurance via an attorney, and I have received a letter from her attorney saying I cannot move or do anything with the car until they inspect it. I am wondering what I need to do, because I thought insurance would handle this and that would be the end of it, but I've never received a legal letter like this before, and I want to know if I should be hiring a lawyer or whatnot.
Attorney Answer
A letter like this is routine, and it is not a lawsuit — but do not move, repair, sell or scrap the car until the inspection has happened. An injured passenger's attorney sends a preservation letter to keep the physical evidence available while the claim is investigated. Send it to your insurance company today and tell them you have been asked to preserve the vehicle. Your policy almost certainly obligates your insurer to investigate the claim and to provide a lawyer for you if a suit is ever filed, at no cost to you. That lawyer is chosen and paid by the insurer, which is exactly why a short call with your own attorney is still worth making — especially if the injuries look serious enough that the claim could run past your liability limits.
Two Florida statutes shape what your passenger can actually collect. Personal injury protection comes first. Under Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a), PIP pays "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." A complying Florida policy has to extend PIP to passengers in the insured vehicle, and the benefits are limited to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits.
Above PIP, § 627.737(2) limits what she can recover from you personally for the human side of an injury. That subsection allows a plaintiff to recover damages in tort "for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience" only where the injury consists in whole or in part of a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability other than scarring or disfigurement, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. That gate applies only to pain and suffering. Medical bills and lost income beyond what PIP pays are not gated by it.
One more thing, because you were driving and someone in your car was hurt. Do not give a statement about how the crash happened to her attorney, to her insurer or to anyone but your own lawyer, and do not write out your own account of it for anyone else. Let the professionals who are on your side handle the story.
What you can do
1. Send the letter to your insurance company today and ask them to confirm in writing that they received it and have opened a liability claim.
2. Leave the vehicle exactly where it is. Do not repair it, tow it somewhere new, sell it or let a salvage yard take it until your insurer confirms the inspection is complete.
3. Photograph the car as it sits right now, inside and out, including the deployed airbags.
4. Keep the tow and storage receipts. Storage charges keep running, so tell your insurer promptly that the car is being held for an inspection.
5. Put the letter and every email, text and voicemail about the crash in one folder and leave them there.
6. Do not discuss the crash with the passenger's attorney or give any recorded statement; refer them to your insurer.
7. Ask a Florida attorney whether you should retain your own counsel alongside the lawyer your insurer would provide. 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. How long your passenger has to sue you is set by Fla. Stat. § 95.11 and turns on the date of the crash. For crashes on or after March 24, 2023, the statute allows two years: "(5) WITHIN TWO YEARS. — (a) An action founded on negligence." For crashes before that date, the former four-year negligence period applied. Your message does not say which side of that line your crash falls on, and the answer changes the whole timeline. Have a Florida attorney read the actual dates. This page cannot calculate your deadline.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is an evidence preservation letter after a car accident?
It is a written demand from a lawyer asking that a vehicle, a phone, a dashcam or another piece of physical evidence be kept unchanged so it can be inspected. It is not a lawsuit and it is not a court order, but it puts the recipient on notice that the item matters, and destroying or repairing the item after receiving one can create a separate problem on top of the underlying claim. The usual response is to forward it to your insurer and leave the item alone until the inspection is done.
Does Florida PIP cover a passenger who was hurt in someone else's car?
Generally yes. A Florida policy that meets the state's security requirements must provide personal injury protection to passengers in the insured motor vehicle, along with the named insured, resident relatives, operators and people struck by the vehicle. Benefits are limited to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits, and under Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a) medical benefits are eighty percent of reasonable expenses for medically necessary care, available only if the injured person receives initial services and care within 14 days after the accident.
When can an injured person in Florida recover pain and suffering after a crash?
Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2) gates those damages. A plaintiff may recover in tort for pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience only where the injury consists in whole or in part of a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability other than scarring or disfigurement, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. The gate applies only to that category. Economic losses such as medical bills and lost wages beyond PIP are not subject to the threshold.