What is the 14-day rule for medical treatment in Florida?
Florida law requires that initial services and care be received within 14 days after a motor vehicle crash. Miss it and PIP medical benefits are not reimbursable at all.
There is no exception in the statute for injuries that take time to produce symptoms, and courts enforce it strictly. There's no partial credit and no discretionary extension.
Why it catches careful people. Adrenaline masks injury. Whiplash and concussion symptoms commonly emerge on day two or three, sometimes later. A person who felt fine, declined transport, and waited to see whether it improved can find the window closed before they understood it existed.
What counts: an emergency room, an urgent care, or a physician's office. Documented evaluation is the requirement.
Two related points. Seeing a provider within 14 days preserves the benefit; getting an emergency medical condition determination is what unlocks the full $10,000 rather than $2,500. And this deadline is entirely separate from the deadline to file a lawsuit.
If you're inside the window, go today.
Fourteen days from the crash. Not from when it started hurting. ---
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