South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
Last updated July 24, 2026 · Reviewed by Ronald David Rodman, a Florida personal injury attorney.
Two bills that would have ended Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system died in committee on March 13, 2026, the day the legislative session closed. Senate Bill 522 would have repealed the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law outright, and House Bill 769 was its counterpart in the House. Neither reached a floor vote, so personal injury protection coverage remains mandatory on most vehicles registered in the state.
Florida Statute § 627.736 requires PIP to pay 80 percent of reasonable and medically necessary medical expenses and 60 percent of lost gross income, up to a combined limit of $10,000. That coverage carries a deadline that ends more claims than either repeal bill would have. Initial services and care must be received within 14 days after the crash, or PIP medical benefits are not reimbursable at all. Our personal injury attorneys see that deadline missed more often than any other.
What the 2026 Repeal Bills Actually Did
Senate Bill 522 was filed in November 2025 and referred to Banking and Insurance, to Appropriations, and to Rules. It died in Banking and Insurance on March 13, 2026. House Bill 769, filed the following month, died the same day in the Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee. Both records are published by the Florida Senate.
Personal injury protection is the no-fault coverage that pays part of an injured person’s medical bills and lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. Because neither bill advanced, Florida Statutes §§ 627.730 through 627.7407 remain in force, and what an insurer owes on a claim today is what it owed before the session began.
Repeal proposals surface in Florida regularly, which is part of why so much conflicting information circulates about whether PIP still exists. A bill that is filed, or even passed by one chamber, changes nothing about an open claim.
The 14-Day Deadline Is the One That Ends Claims
The 14-day requirement in Florida Statute § 627.736(1)(a) runs from the date of the motor vehicle accident. It does not run from the date symptoms become noticeable, and that distinction is where people lose coverage. A driver who feels sore after a collision, waits three weeks to see whether it resolves, and then seeks treatment has forfeited PIP medical benefits for that crash.
What makes this deadline unusual is that it is missed by people acting reasonably. Soft tissue injuries and concussions often present days after impact, and a person who feels able to work the next morning has no obvious reason to see a doctor. The statute does not account for any of that.
If you were hurt in a crash anywhere in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Collier County, the practical step is to be evaluated promptly and to keep the record of that visit, even where the injury seems minor at the time. Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada has handled car accident claims across South Florida since 1976, and the gap between the crash date and the first medical visit is among the first things an adjuster looks at.
Whether a Doctor Finds an Emergency Medical Condition Decides $2,500 or $10,000
The full $10,000 in PIP medical benefits is available only where a qualifying provider determines that the injured person had an emergency medical condition. Without that determination, Florida Statute § 627.736(1)(a) caps reimbursement at $2,500.
That one finding is worth $7,500, it is made by a treating provider rather than by the insurer, and it is frequently the point at which a PIP claim quietly shrinks without the injured person understanding why the payments stopped.
PIP is also not the ceiling on what a crash claim is worth. It is the first layer. Where injuries meet Florida’s threshold for a claim against the at-fault driver, the case moves outside no-fault entirely, and our Miami car accident attorneys handle both parts of it.
Talk With Our Miami Car Accident Lawyers About Your PIP Claim
Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada, P.A. has represented injured drivers and passengers throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Lee, and Palm Beach Counties since 1976. We work on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we recover for you, and the consultation is free. Call (305) 448-8585 or contact our Miami office to talk through where your PIP coverage stands and what else may be available on your claim.