Coverage explained
Personal injury protection (PIP) in Florida
Florida requires $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) on every registered car. It pays 80% of your medical bills and 60% of lost income after a crash, no matter who caused it.
What it pays for
- Your medical bills after a crash, at 80%, up to $10,000
- Lost income, at 60%, inside the same $10,000
- A $5,000 death benefit
- You and relatives who live with you, in any car or as a pedestrian hit by a car
- Passengers in your car who have no PIP of their own
What it doesn’t
- Pain and suffering (that is uninsured motorist or the other driver’s bodily injury liability)
- Damage to any car
- You on a motorcycle
- The full $10,000 without an emergency medical condition finding: without it, medical is capped at $2,500
A real-life example
You stop at a red light on Bird Road and get rear-ended. Your neck hurts the next morning, you see a doctor on day 3, and the doctor finds an emergency medical condition. Your bills come to $6,000. With a $0 PIP deductible, PIP pays 80%, or $4,800. The rest goes to your health insurance, or to the other driver’s bodily injury coverage if your injury is serious enough to claim against them.
Illustrative numbers. What a claim pays depends on your policy wording, limits and deductible.
The Florida rule
You must get first treatment within 14 days of the crash. Only a medical doctor, osteopath, dentist, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse can find the emergency medical condition that opens the full $10,000.
What most drivers pick
Everyone carries $10,000 because the law requires it. The real choice is the deductible: $0, $250, $500 or $1,000. A higher deductible lowers the price; pick one you could pay the week after a crash.
What it does to the price
PIP is often one of the larger lines on a South Florida policy because medical claims are frequent here. The deductible is the lever you control.
Questions
Is PIP still required in 2026?
Yes. Bills to repeal PIP were filed in 2026 but did not become law, so $10,000 of PIP is still required to register a car.
Does my health insurance replace PIP?
No. PIP is required either way. Some health plans coordinate with PIP, and David can show the price with a higher PIP deductible if your health plan is strong.
Does PIP cover my passengers?
Yes, if they do not have PIP of their own, up to the same limits.
Go deeper
Florida PIP explained: the 14-day rule, the $2,500 cap and what it really pays
Florida PIP pays 80% of your medical bills and 60% of lost income, up to $10,000, no matter who caused the crash. But you must get medical care within 14 days of the accident, and the full $10,000 is only available if a doctor diagnoses an emergency medical condition. Without that diagnosis, PIP medical is capped at $2,500.
Florida lawWhat is the minimum car insurance in Florida in 2026?
Florida requires every registered car to carry $10,000 of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $10,000 of Property Damage Liability (PDL). That's it: Florida does not require bodily injury liability to register a car, which is why so many drivers here carry only the minimum.
Other coverage
- Property damage liability
- Bodily injury liability
- Uninsured motorist
- Collision
- Comprehensive
- Full coverage
- Gap and loan or lease payoff
- Rental and roadside
- SR-22
- FR-44
- Non-owner car insurance
- Rideshare and delivery
Your policy’s wording decides what’s covered. David can walk you through yours.