If you are at fault in a car accident in Florida, your own insurance pays the other driver’s property damage up to your policy limit, your Personal Injury Protection covers your own medical bills, and you are generally shielded from injury lawsuits unless the other person’s injuries are serious. Cross that threshold, or run past your coverage limits, and you can be sued personally, have your wages garnished, lose points on your license, pay sharply higher premiums for years, and in the worst cases face criminal charges.
What Your Own Insurance Covers
Every registered vehicle owner in Florida must carry at least $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $10,000 in Property Damage Liability (PDL). PIP pays your own medical bills and lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. PDL pays for damage you cause to the other driver’s vehicle or property, up to your policy limit.1Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 627.736 – Required Benefits
With only the $10,000 minimum in PDL, anything above that comes out of your pocket. Total a late-model vehicle and the gap can be significant.
Florida does not require most drivers to carry Bodily Injury Liability (BIL). That is the coverage that pays when a court holds you responsible for another person’s injuries.2Florida HSMV. Florida Insurance Requirements Without it, a serious-injury judgment lands directly on you.
When the Other Driver Can Sue You
Florida’s no-fault system blocks most injury lawsuits between drivers. That protection ends once the other person’s injury crosses the “serious injury” threshold. The injury must involve one of the following:
- Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
- A permanent injury established within a reasonable degree of medical probability
- Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Death
Meeting this standard requires strong medical evidence.3Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 627.737 – Tort Exemption; Limitation on Right to Damages; Punitive Damages If the injured party clears it, they can sue you directly for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and future medical costs that PIP never touches. If you carry BIL, your insurer defends the claim and pays up to your limits. Without BIL, you hire your own attorney and pay the judgment yourself.
When Damages Exceed Your Coverage
Any amount beyond your policy limits is your personal debt. Cause $15,000 in property damage with a $10,000 PDL policy and the other driver can sue you for the remaining $5,000. The same math applies to injury claims above your BIL limit, or to the entire injury claim if you carry none.
A judgment is enforceable. The other party can garnish your wages, redirecting a portion of each paycheck to pay down the debt, or place liens on non-exempt property. Florida’s homestead protections generally shield your primary residence, but bank accounts, investment properties, and other assets are reachable.
How Shared Fault Changes the Math
Florida uses comparative fault, so blame is apportioned by percentage. A driver found 30% at fault for a crash sees any damages they recover reduced by 30%.4Justia Law. Florida Statutes 768.81 – Comparative Fault
A 2023 reform added a hard cutoff at 51%. Any party found more than 50% at fault for their own harm recovers nothing. If you were the primary cause of the crash, you cannot turn around and sue the other driver for your own injuries or vehicle damage. If the other driver bore most of the blame, you can still recover something even if you contributed.
Points on Your License
An at-fault crash adds points to your driving record based on the underlying violation:
- Most moving violations that cause a crash: 4 points
- Speeding that causes a crash: 6 points
- Reckless driving: 4 points
- Leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage: 6 points
Accumulating points leads to suspension. Twelve points in 12 months triggers a suspension of up to 30 days. Eighteen points in 18 months brings up to three months. Twenty-four points in 36 months can cost you your license for up to a year.5Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 322.27 – Authority of Department to Suspend or Revoke License
Suspension for Driving Uninsured
Causing a crash while uninsured or underinsured triggers a separate suspension under Florida’s Financial Responsibility Law. To reinstate, you pay a fee and file an SR-22 certificate, a form your insurer sends to the state proving you carry the required coverage.
If a DUI is involved, the state requires an FR-44 instead, with much higher minimums: $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $50,000 for property damage, maintained for at least three years.6Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 324.023 – Financial Responsibility for DUI Finding an insurer willing to write an FR-44 at a reasonable rate is difficult, and the cost jump is steep.
Higher Premiums for Years
Even if your license is untouched, your premium will climb. Insurers treat at-fault accidents as predictors of future claims, and annual rate increases of 20% to 50% or more are common. The surcharge typically runs three to five years depending on the carrier and the severity of the crash. A single at-fault accident can add thousands of dollars to what you pay over that period.
The Two-Year Window for a Lawsuit
The other driver has two years from the date of the crash to file a negligence lawsuit against you.7Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 95.11 – Limitations Other Than for the Recovery of Real Property That deadline was shortened from four years to two in the 2023 tort reform. After two years without a filing, the claim is generally barred.
You are not in the clear just because no lawsuit arrived in the first weeks. Injury claims develop as treatment unfolds, and a complaint can land at any point in that window.
When a Crash Becomes Criminal
Most at-fault accidents are civil matters. A few circumstances turn a crash into a criminal case that no insurance policy will cover.
DUI With Injury or Death
DUI causing serious bodily injury is a third-degree felony. DUI manslaughter is a second-degree felony with a mandatory minimum of four years in prison. If the driver knew the crash happened and left, the charge rises to a first-degree felony.8Justia Law. Florida Statutes 316.193 – Driving Under the Influence Criminal penalties sit alongside civil liability; a conviction does not reduce what the victim’s family can recover in a wrongful death suit.
Leaving the Scene
Fleeing a crash carries its own felony charges that escalate with the harm caused:
- Injury that is not serious bodily injury: third-degree felony
- Serious bodily injury: second-degree felony
- Death: first-degree felony with a mandatory minimum of four years in prison
These charges apply whether or not you caused the crash. Being involved and leaving is enough.9Justia Law. Florida Statutes 316.027 – Crash Involving Death or Personal Injuries