Suing After a Crash With a Suspended Driver's License

Attorney Answer

Yes. A suspended license does not stop you from filing a personal injury lawsuit in Florida. These are two separate problems. Whether another driver was negligent, and what that negligence cost you, is a civil question between you and that driver, and no Florida statute takes away an unlicensed or uninsured driver's right to sue for injuries. The suspension is the other problem, and it needs its own lawyer: driving while a license is suspended can carry consequences of its own, including a criminal charge in some circumstances. Speak with a Florida criminal defense attorney about that side before you discuss your license with police, the other driver or any insurer.

Florida has exactly one statute that bars an injured plaintiff's recovery outright because of the plaintiff's own condition, and it is narrow. Fla. Stat. § 768.36(2) provides: "In any civil action, a plaintiff may not recover any damages for loss or injury to his or her person or property if the trier of fact finds that, at the time the plaintiff was injured: (a) The plaintiff was under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to the extent that the plaintiff's normal faculties were impaired or the plaintiff had a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher; and (b) As a result of the influence of such alcoholic beverage or drug the plaintiff was more than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm." Both prongs are required. A suspended license is not on that list.

If the other side argues you contributed to the crash, fault is divided by percentage. For accidents before March 24, 2023, § 768.81(2) provided: "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." The Legislature changed that rule in 2023 for accidents on or after March 24 of that year, and which version governs a particular crash is a question for a Florida attorney.

Coverage and the injury threshold shape the claim. Personal injury protection under § 627.736(1) provides up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits — 60 percent of lost income, and under § 627.736(1)(a), "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." That 14-day condition is unforgiving. Which policy's PIP responds depends on the vehicle and the household, and if the car involved was registered without the coverage Florida requires, that changes the picture and is worth putting to a lawyer.

Then the threshold. Section 627.737(2) permits a pain-and-suffering claim only in defined circumstances: "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." Read the other half too: economic damages — medical bills beyond PIP and lost income beyond what PIP paid — are not gated by that threshold. Only pain and suffering is.

What you can do

1. If you have not been seen by a doctor, go now. Under § 627.736(1)(a), PIP medical benefits depend on receiving initial services and care within 14 days after the crash.

2. Open a PIP claim with the insurer of the vehicle you were in, and report the crash to your own insurer.

3. Keep the crash report number, medical bills and records, and a record of work you missed.

4. Ask a lawyer what clearing the suspension takes and whether it can come up in the injury case.

5. 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. A Florida negligence claim runs under Fla. Stat. § 95.11, and which period applies depends on the date of the crash: for accidents before March 24, 2023, the former four-year period applied, and the Legislature shortened the period for accidents after that date. The 14-day PIP condition in § 627.736(1)(a) is a separate and much shorter clock that turns on the date of the crash. Do not take a date from this page; have a Florida attorney confirm every deadline against your facts.