Miami Car Accident Lawyer

You Have More Options Than the Insurer Wants You to Know

A serious crash changes everything in an instant: the medical bills, the missed work, the totaled car, and the phone calls from adjusters who sound friendly but work for the other side. In the middle of all that, it is easy to accept the first offer just to make it stop. That is exactly what the insurance company is counting on.

At Leyva Law, your case is handled directly by attorney Daniela Leyva, not passed off to a call center. She builds the case, deals with the adjusters, and prepares every claim as if it will go to trial, because that is what makes insurers pay what a claim is truly worth. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.

What to Do After a Car Accident in Florida

The steps you take in the first hours and days can protect your health and your claim:

1. Get Safe and Call the Police

Move out of traffic if you can, and call 911. A police report creates an official record of the crash that is difficult to dispute later.

2. Document Everything

Photograph the vehicles, the scene, the damage, and any visible injuries. Get the other driver's insurance and contact information and the names of any witnesses.

3. See a Doctor Within 14 Days

Florida's no-fault system only pays your medical benefits if you are treated within 14 days of the crash. Even if you feel fine, get checked. Some serious injuries do not show symptoms right away.

4. Be Careful With the Insurance Company

You must report the accident to your own insurer, but you are not required to give the at-fault driver's insurance company a recorded statement. Before you do, or before you accept any offer, talk to a lawyer.

Florida Is a No-Fault State: PIP and the 14-Day Rule

Florida law (section 627.736, Florida Statutes) requires drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection, or PIP. After a crash, your own PIP coverage pays a portion of your medical bills and lost wages regardless of who caused the accident, up to your policy limit (commonly $10,000). PIP generally covers 80% of reasonable medical expenses and 60% of lost income, but only if you begin treatment within 14 days.

PIP is only the starting point. When your injuries are serious, Florida law lets you step outside the no-fault system and pursue a claim directly against the at-fault driver for the full harm you suffered, including pain and suffering. We evaluate whether your injuries meet that threshold and pursue every source of recovery available to you.

The $2,500 Limit Inside Your $10,000 of PIP

Most drivers hear "$10,000 of PIP" and assume that is what the policy will pay. Florida law adds a second condition that decides which number applies to you.

Reimbursement is limited to $2,500 if a provider determines that you did not have an emergency medical condition (section 627.736(1)(a)4, Florida Statutes). The full $10,000 requires that determination from a qualified provider, such as a physician or a dentist. Nobody hands you a form explaining this. The driver who goes to an urgent care, feels better in a week and never follows up often lands in the $2,500 group without being told.

That matters, because $2,500 does not go far after an ambulance ride and an MRI. Being evaluated by the right provider, within the first 14 days, is what protects the coverage you already paid for.

When You Can Recover for Pain and Suffering

PIP pays medical bills and part of your lost wages. It does not pay for what the crash cost you as a person. Because Florida is a no-fault state, pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience are recoverable only if the injury crosses the threshold in section 627.737(2), Florida Statutes: significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function; permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement; significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement; or death.

Whether you cross that line is a medical question, answered by your records and your treating doctors, not by an adjuster on the phone. That is why steady treatment matters, and why a gap of several weeks in your care is the first thing the other side looks for.

If the Insurance Company Says the Crash Was Partly Your Fault

Expect that argument, even in a rear-end case. Since 2023 Florida applies modified comparative fault: a party found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm recovers nothing (section 768.81(6), Florida Statutes). Below that line, your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame, so 20 percent of the fault means 20 percent less money.

That gives the other side a reason to build a story about your speed, your lane change or your phone. It is also why an early recorded statement is risky: friendly questions about what you could have done differently get quoted back later as an admission. The bar does not apply to medical negligence claims under chapter 766.

How Long You Have to File a Car Accident Claim

Florida deadlines are strict, and missing one can end an otherwise strong case. For accidents that happened after March 24, 2023, you generally have two years to file a negligence lawsuit (section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes). Crashes before that date usually fall under the older four-year deadline. Separately, your insurance policy sets its own, often much shorter, notice requirements.

Beyond the legal deadlines, evidence fades fast: skid marks wash away, vehicles are repaired, and witnesses forget. The sooner we start, the more we can protect. There is no cost to have us review your case.

Car Accident Cases We Handle in Miami-Dade

• Rear-End Collisions
• Intersection and Red-Light Crashes
• Hit-and-Run Accidents
• Uninsured and Underinsured Drivers
• Rideshare (Uber and Lyft) Accidents
• Drunk and Distracted Driving
• Multi-Vehicle Pileups
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Crashes
• Wrongful Death

Miami Car Accident FAQ

Sources

• Section 627.736, Florida Statutes (Personal Injury Protection benefits, the 14 day rule, and the $2,500 limit when there is no emergency medical condition): official text. "if the individual receives initial services and care pursuant to subparagraph 1. within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident" and "Reimbursement for services and care ... is limited to $2,500 if a provider ... determines that the injured person did not have an emergency medical condition."
• Section 627.737, Florida Statutes (when pain and suffering damages can be recovered): official text. "a plaintiff may recover damages in tort for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience ... only in the event that the injury ... consists in whole or in part of"
• Section 627.727, Florida Statutes (uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage): official text. "the coverage required under this section is not applicable when ... an insured named in the policy makes a written rejection of the coverage"
• Section 768.81, Florida Statutes (modified comparative fault): official text. "any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages"
• Section 95.11, Florida Statutes (deadline to file a negligence lawsuit): official text. "WITHIN TWO YEARS ... An action founded on negligence"

Related: truck accidents · Uber and Lyft accidents · brain injuries. This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.