Florida No Fault Insurance Explained

Florida can be very hard to understand sometimes, and that extends to its state laws. As personal injury lawyers, we often get asked to explain the no-fault law. 

Understandably so, in Florida no fault insurance is important and will play a major role in how your car accident claim pans out. To make it easy on you, we have put together everything you need to know about the state’s no fault law. 

Most importantly, we’ll explain how in Florida no fault insurance is connected to your potential personal injury claim.

Let’s jump in!

No Fault Law Explained

As you know, Florida is a no fault state because it has a law that requires an insurance company to pay out, regardless of who caused the car accident. In Florida no fault insurance is also known as Personal Injury Protection.

There are two ways it can affect your claim. A person’s insurer covers the injuries of the parties involved without taking into account their role in the accident. Even more shocking, the no fault law also stops the injured person from suing the party that caused the injury.

While it’s not outright prohibited to sue, the law restricts the right to sue with a monetary threshold or allows you to sue only for certain injuries.

At the moment, Florida is one of the 12 states that have this law, enacted back in the 70s to solve the process of recovering damages after accidents. In theory, it was assumed that the inefficiencies in insurance claims could be significantly reduced with this system. 

Plot twist: it didn’t work and just gave us Floridians higher auto insurance premiums. Thanks a lot, Florida.

It’s not just higher premiums, though - this law also had a lot of side effects such as:

1. In Florida no fault insurance is unfair because it pays out regardless of who is in the fault. Since the reckless driver isn’t punished, it limits drivers’ responsibilities for reckless driving.

2. It doesn’t reduce litigation costs as it doesn’t apply to property damage. 

3. There is double the amount of insurance coverage since both drivers are paying for it instead of just the driver who caused the accident.

4. There’s a lot of fraud as medical providers and fake clinics file fraudulent claims to get no fault insurance payments.

No Fault Coverage Details You Should be Aware Of

In Florida no fault insurance is mandatory for every owner of a motor vehicle. This doesn’t cover motorcycles that aren’t required to have this coverage. Even non-resident vehicle owners have to pay if their vehicle was situated in Florida for longer than 90 days out of a year. 

Let’s talk about money, shall we?

The minimum no fault insurance requirements are $10k disability and medical benefits per accident, per person. In case of a death, there are $5k of death benefits.

This amount is paid out without determining the fault. 

The owner of the policy and relatives who live in the same household are covered by these benefits, with the coverage available for all injuries that arise out of owning, maintaining, and using a motorized vehicle.

It covers the same individuals even in cases where they are pedestrians, riding shotgun in someone else's vehicle, or injured in another state.

Additionally, it also covers people who were involved in an accident while driving your vehicle (with your permission, of course), as well as uninsured passengers in your vehicle.

Regarding economic losses, in Florida no fault insurance is able to cover 80% of the medical treatments and 60% of disability, both up to the $10k limit. 

However, it doesn’t cover non-economic losses such as pain and suffering.

Is No Fault Insurance a Part of Your Auto Policy?

In Florida no fault insurance is one of the parts of your auto policy. There are different types of coverage and they all reimburse you for different things. Some cover your injuries and some cover injuries of other people.

However, in Florida no fault insurance is considered primary coverage, which means it starts paying first. Our advice is to notify your insurance company of the accident right after it happened to get the benefits as soon as possible. 

You should also visit a doctor within the first two weeks to receive the full $10k of benefits. To be eligible for the full amount, you must be diagnosed with an emergency medical condition, and if you’re not, you’ll receive only $2.5k.

Even though the full amount seems like a nice payday, it’s not. Just a single trip to the hospital may exceed the limit. To make matters worse, it doesn’t cover any damages to your vehicle. This amount might have seemed a lot in the 70s, but you’ll most likely have to pursue other insurance claims to recover all damages.

In Florida no fault insurance is used to cover the first $10k of damages and you may only use the at-fault driver for damages not paid for by your insurance.

Filing a Lawsuit

Now that you know what your insurance covers, it’s time to break down what you have to do to win the damages from the other party.

You must have evidence and prove the other driver’s negligence led to the accident. For example, this might be speeding, DUI, distracted driving, or breaking any of the traffic laws. 

But what if the other driver wasn’t directly responsible? What if you had a flat tire or defective brakes? In that case, the negligent party might be the manufacturer of the vehicle.

Similar logic applies to the cases in which improper road maintenance was to blame for the car crash. The liability here lies with the government or an entity that was in charge of maintaining the roadway.

Why You Should Hire a Lawyer

Because of the no fault law, receiving a fair settlement in Florida can be a challenge. To ensure the best results, you should hire an experienced lawyer who can help you navigate the process of seeking a settlement from your insurance provider.

If the other driver caused an accident, you are eligible to seek compensation from them. 

For that, you’ll need a lawyer who can help you file your claim, submit the necessary paperwork, and manage all the deadlines. More importantly, you’ll need an expert who can prove negligence and sort out all the evidence in the case on your behalf. 

Your best option is RITE. We’ve got years of experience handling these types of cases and we can help you receive the maximum settlement possible for your car accident. Contact us today, sign up for a free consultation, and you’ll have someone ready to take your case as far as a civil court if push comes to shove!

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.