Were You Hit by a Rental Car in Miami?

If you were hit by a rental car in Miami, you can usually pursue compensation from the driver’s personal auto insurance, the rental company’s liability coverage, or your own PIP and uninsured motorist coverage — depending on the facts. South Florida sees this scenario constantly because Miami International draws millions of visitors a year, and rental-car crashes on I-95, the Palmetto Expressway, and the Dolphin Expressway are routine.

The complication is figuring out which policy applies and in what order. That’s where most rental-car claims get stuck.

Whose Insurance Pays After a Rental Car Crash

Florida is a no-fault state, so the first stop is always Personal Injury Protection (PIP) under Florida Statute § 627.736. PIP covers 80% of your medical bills and 60% of lost wages up to $10,000, regardless of who caused the crash. If you own a car, your own PIP pays first. If you don’t, the PIP on a resident relative’s policy may apply, or the rental driver’s PIP may step in.

For damages beyond PIP — and that’s most serious injuries — you look at the at-fault driver’s liability insurance next. Personal injury protection is Florida’s mandatory no-fault coverage that pays your initial medical bills before fault is assigned. When the rental driver caused the crash, their personal auto policy generally provides primary liability coverage, even though they were driving a rental. The rental company’s policy is usually secondary or excess.

The Graves Amendment, a federal law passed in 2005, blocks injured people from suing the rental company itself just for owning the car. So Enterprise or Hertz typically cannot be held vicariously liable. But the company can still be on the hook if it negligently rented to someone obviously unfit to drive, or if its own insurance has been triggered.

If the at-fault rental driver bought the rental company’s Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) at the counter, that adds another layer of coverage — often up to $1 million. Finding out whether they purchased it is one of the first things the team handling your case will look into. The car accident attorneys at Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada routinely sort through these stacked policies after rental crashes in Miami-Dade.

What to Do at the Scene and After

Treat a rental-car crash the same way you’d treat any serious wreck, but with one extra step: document the rental.

Get the standard information first — the driver’s license, their personal auto insurance, plate number, and a photo of the damage. Then ask for the rental agreement or at least a photo of it. The agreement shows the rental company, the named renter (sometimes different from the driver), and whether SLI was purchased. If the driver is a tourist with out-of-state insurance, this paperwork becomes critical.

Call 911 and request a Miami-Dade Police Department or Florida Highway Patrol officer to write a crash report. A police report locks in the at-fault driver’s identity and creates an official record that out-of-state insurers cannot easily dispute later. Then get medical attention within 14 days. Florida Statute § 627.736 requires injured drivers to receive initial medical care within 14 days of the crash, or PIP benefits are forfeited. This deadline catches a lot of people off guard, especially when injuries seem minor at first.

Do not give a recorded statement to the rental company’s insurance adjuster before talking to an attorney. These calls are scripted and designed to lock in admissions that reduce what you can recover. The adjuster works for the company, not for you. Florida’s pure comparative negligence rule under Fla. Stat. § 768.81 — as modified by HB 837 in 2023 — now bars recovery entirely if you’re found more than 50% at fault, so even an offhand comment can have real consequences. Similar rules apply if you were a passenger or involved in rear-end collisions, which are common on Miami’s congested expressways.

When to Call an Attorney

If you were hit by a rental car in Miami and your injuries required emergency care, missed work, or follow-up treatment, call Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada at (305) 448-8585 or contact us online. The firm has handled South Florida car accident claims since 1976. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.