October in South Florida means traffic from everywhere. Seasonal residents coming back for the winter, tourists in rental cars, and plates from New York, Ohio, Ontario, and everywhere in between. When one of those drivers causes a crash and then goes home, the question is always the same: who pays?

The worry makes sense. The driver who hit you lives a thousand miles away. Their insurance company has never heard of Broward County. The car may not even belong to them. It can feel like your case drove out of the state along with them.

It did not. Florida law anticipates this exact situation, and you have more options than you think.

Does Your Own Insurance Still Cover You?

Yes, and it is the first place you turn.

Florida is a no-fault state. Under Florida Statute § 627.736, your own Personal Injury Protection coverage pays first after a crash, no matter who caused it and no matter where that person lives. An out-of-state at-fault driver changes nothing about your PIP claim.

What PIP actually gives you is limited:

• $10,000 in minimum coverage, a figure that has not moved in decades.
• 80 percent of reasonable medical bills and 60 percent of lost wages, up to that limit.
• Nothing for pain and suffering. PIP covers economic losses only.

PIP is the floor, not the ceiling. To recover beyond it you have to clear Florida’s serious injury threshold, and then you are looking at the other driver’s coverage.

Can You Sue a Driver Who Lives in Another State?

You can, and the fact that they have gone home does not stop you.

Under Florida Statute § 48.171, any nonresident who operates a motor vehicle on Florida roads automatically appoints the Florida Secretary of State as their agent for service of process in civil actions arising out of a crash here. Driving in Florida is treated as accepting that arrangement.

In practical terms, that means your lawsuit is filed in Florida, under Florida law, in the county where the collision happened. The at-fault driver can be served through the Secretary of State even if they are back in Michigan and have no intention of returning. Distance is an inconvenience, not a defense.

Whose Insurance Pays Beyond Your PIP?

The at-fault driver’s liability coverage is the next source, and here is where out-of-state drivers often work in your favor.

Most auto policies written in other states contain an out-of-state coverage clause. When the insured drives into a state with different requirements, the policy automatically adjusts to meet that state’s minimums. The policy follows the car.

There is a second point that surprises most people. Florida requires private passenger vehicles to carry only $10,000 in PIP and $10,000 in property damage liability. Bodily injury liability coverage is not required of ordinary Florida drivers at all. Most other states do require it. That means the visitor from New Jersey who hit you may well be carrying meaningful bodily injury coverage that a Florida driver in the same situation would not have.

Being hit by an out-of-state driver is not automatically worse for your claim. Sometimes it is better.

What If They Were Driving a Rental Car?

This is where a lot of people guess wrong.

Florida normally follows the dangerous instrumentality doctrine, which holds a vehicle’s owner responsible when someone they permitted to drive causes harm. You might reasonably assume that makes the rental company liable.

It usually does not. The federal Graves Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 30106, bars holding a company that rents or leases vehicles liable purely because it owned the car. Congress carved rental companies out of state vicarious liability rules.

That is not the end of it. The rental company can still be held responsible for its own negligence, including:

• Negligent entrustment, such as renting to someone visibly impaired or without a valid license.
• Negligent maintenance, such as putting a car on the lot with worn brakes or bald tires.

Beyond that, the renter’s personal auto policy often extends to rental vehicles, and any coverage they bought at the counter may apply. A rental crash usually has more than one policy in play, which is exactly why the rental agreement matters so much.

What About Seasonal Residents Who Stay for Months?

Someone who spends the winter here is not treated as a short-term visitor forever.

Florida Statute § 627.733(2) requires a nonresident owner whose vehicle has been physically present in Florida for more than 90 days during the preceding 365 days to maintain Florida security continuously for as long as the vehicle stays. The 90 days do not have to run consecutively.

If the driver who hit you winters here every year, there is a good chance they were legally obligated to carry Florida coverage, and whether they did is worth finding out.

Why Uninsured Motorist Coverage Matters So Much Here

If the at-fault driver has low limits, no bodily injury coverage, or no insurance at all, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy is what stands between you and an empty recovery.

UM coverage is optional in Florida and a great many drivers decline it to save on the premium. In a serious crash with an out-of-state driver carrying their home state’s bare minimum, UM is frequently the largest source of compensation available. Check your declarations page. It is worth knowing before you need it.

What Should You Do After the Crash?

Out-of-state cases turn on information that gets much harder to collect once the other driver leaves town.

• Photograph everything at the scene, including the license plate, the driver’s license with its issuing state, and the insurance card.
• Photograph the rental agreement if it is a rental car. It identifies the company, the renter, and the coverage purchased.
• Get the crash report and confirm the other driver’s out-of-state address was recorded correctly.
• Get medical care immediately and follow through on every recommendation. Gaps in treatment are the first thing an adjuster attacks.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer before speaking with an attorney.
• Move quickly. The 2023 tort reforms shortened the deadline for most negligence lawsuits from four years to two.

Talk to a South Florida Car Accident Lawyer

Zeljka Bozanic is a former prosecutor and a Board Certified criminal trial lawyer who has spent her career taking apart the other side’s version of events. That same approach drives how our firm handles injury claims, including the ones where the at-fault driver has already left the state.

If you were injured by an out-of-state or rental car driver in Ft. Lauderdale, Broward County or Miami, Miami-Dade County, our car accident team will identify every policy that may apply, track down a driver who has gone home, and pursue the full value of what the crash cost you.

Consultations are free and we are available 24/7. Contact Bozanic Law today.

No panic — call Bozanic!