The driver who ran the stop sign on Little Road hands you an expired insurance card. Or no card. Or drives away. Now what?
You are not alone. Florida has one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers in the nation, and Pasco County's roads are full of them. This post explains, in order, where compensation can come from when the at-fault driver has nothing.
How often this happens in Florida
According to the Insurance Research Council, as reported by the Insurance Information Institute, an estimated 20.6 percent of Florida drivers were uninsured in 2023. That ranked seventh highest among the states, against a national rate of 15.4 percent. One in five.
The real number of drivers who cannot pay for the injuries they cause is higher. Florida requires only $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection and $10,000 in property damage liability to register a car, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Bodily injury liability coverage, the kind that pays for your injuries, is not required. A driver who is fully legal under Florida law may have no coverage for you at all.
Add in hit-and-runs. According to FLHSMV Crash Dashboard figures reported by Neighborhood News in November 2025, Pasco County recorded 1,107 hit-and-run crashes between January 1 and November 14, 2025, out of 5,866 total crashes.
Option 1: your own PIP
Your Personal Injury Protection coverage pays first, no matter who caused the crash and no matter whether they were insured. Under Fla. Stat. § 627.736, PIP pays:
- 80 percent of reasonable and medically necessary medical expenses;
- 60 percent of lost gross income and loss of earning capacity;
- a $5,000 death benefit;
up to a combined $10,000 limit for medical and disability benefits.
Two conditions. You must receive initial medical care within 14 days of the crash, or PIP medical benefits are lost entirely. And the full $10,000 is available only if a physician, dentist, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse determines you had an emergency medical condition; otherwise medical benefits are capped at $2,500. The 14-day rule explained.
PIP is the floor, not the ceiling. One ER visit at HCA Florida Bayonet Point or Morton Plant North Bay with imaging can use most of it.
Option 2: your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
This is the big one. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage under Fla. Stat. § 627.727 is part of your own auto policy, and it pays what you would have been legally entitled to recover from the at-fault driver when that driver:
- has no bodily injury liability coverage;
- has coverage with limits lower than your damages;
- is insured by a company that has gone insolvent; or
- in most policies, cannot be identified, as in a hit-and-run.
UM pays over and above PIP and any coverage the other driver has, and the statute says it is not reduced by those other sources. If you carry $100,000 in UM and the other driver has nothing, up to $100,000 is available for your injuries.
Do you have it? Florida requires insurers to include UM at the same limits as your bodily injury coverage unless you rejected it, or chose lower limits, in writing. If you bought bodily injury coverage and never signed a rejection, you probably have it. If you carry only the state minimum, you do not. Check your declarations page, or send it to us and we will check it for free. More on UM coverage.
Stacked or non-stacked? Stacked UM lets you combine the limits on every vehicle on your policy. Non-stacked does not. The difference can double or triple the money available.
Other household policies. If you live with a relative who has UM coverage, that policy may also cover you, depending on its terms. We ask about every car in the house.
The rules still apply. A UM claim is measured by what the at-fault driver would owe. That means the permanent-injury threshold in Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2) governs pain and suffering, and the 51% rule in Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6) bars recovery if you were more than 50 percent at fault. Your own insurer will raise those defenses, so treat the UM claim as seriously as any other.
Call (240) 421-5511 and we will find out in one phone call what UM coverage is available to you.
Option 3: the driver personally
You can sue an uninsured driver and get a judgment. Whether you can collect is another question. We investigate:
- Who owns the car. Under Florida's dangerous instrumentality doctrine, the owner of a vehicle is generally liable for a permissive driver's negligence. If the driver borrowed a car with coverage, that policy may apply.
- Who the driver works for. A driver on the job, whether a delivery driver on SR-54 or a landscaper on Ridge Road, may be covered by an employer's commercial policy.
- Whether a rideshare was involved. Under Fla. Stat. § 627.748(7), a transportation network company's insurance applies while a driver is logged on, with at least $50,000 per person while waiting for a ride and $1,000,000 while on a prearranged ride.
- Assets and income. Property, wages and bank accounts can be reached through a judgment, within Florida's exemptions. Florida's homestead protection makes a driver's primary home off-limits, and many uninsured drivers have little else.
A judgment also has a longer-term effect: an uninsured driver who causes injury and does not satisfy a judgment faces license and registration consequences under Florida's Financial Responsibility Law, chapter 324. That pressure sometimes produces a payment plan where nothing else would.
Option 4: other responsible parties
Not every crash has only one cause.
- Road and signal defects. If a malfunctioning signal or a known hazard contributed, a claim against FDOT, Pasco County or a city is possible under Fla. Stat. § 768.28, subject to a written notice requirement and caps of $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident.
- Bars and restaurants. Florida's dram shop law, Fla. Stat. § 768.125, is narrow. A business is liable only if it willfully and unlawfully served someone under 21 or knowingly served someone habitually addicted to alcohol. Most DUI cases proceed against the driver and UM.
- Vehicle defects. A failed component may bring in a manufacturer.
We look at each of these in every uninsured-driver case because, when the driver has nothing, they can be the difference between a recovery and none.
Every one of these options has its own deadline and paperwork. Call (240) 421-5511 and we will map them for your crash, free.
Option 5: your health insurance and medical payments coverage
If you have health insurance, use it after PIP is exhausted. Your health insurer may assert a lien on any later recovery, which we negotiate. Some auto policies also include medical payments coverage, which pays the 20 percent of medical bills PIP does not.
The steps that protect every option
- Report the crash. Fla. Stat. § 316.065 requires it when anyone is hurt or damage is at least $500, and your UM carrier will want the police report, especially for a hit-and-run. How to get the crash report.
- Get care within 14 days to preserve PIP, and keep treating.
- Notify your own insurer promptly, and ask specifically that a UM claim be opened.
- Do not give recorded statements, even to your own company, without a lawyer. What to say to adjusters.
- Watch the clock. Most negligence suits must be filed within two years under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a). UM claims are contract claims with a longer period under § 95.11(2)(b), but we run every case on the two-year schedule.
Talk to a Port Richey car accident lawyer today
Being hit by an uninsured driver is not the end of your claim. It is the start of a different one. Conde-Huggins Accident Injury Lawyers finds every policy and every responsible party for people hurt in Port Richey, Hudson, New Port Richey, Holiday, Land O' Lakes, Wesley Chapel and across Pasco County. Our attorney, Clementine Conde, has practiced in Florida since 1992. Call (240) 421-5511 any time for a free consultation. No attorney's fee unless we win. Learn more about car accident and personal injury claims.
Questions people ask us about hit by an uninsured driver in pasco county: your options cases
How many Florida drivers are uninsured?
According to the Insurance Research Council, as reported by the Insurance Information Institute, an estimated 20.6 percent of Florida drivers were uninsured in 2023, the seventh highest rate among the states. The national rate was 15.4 percent. Those figures count drivers with no liability coverage; many more carry only Florida's minimum PIP and property damage coverage with no bodily injury coverage at all.
Can I sue an uninsured driver personally?
Yes. A judgment against the driver is possible, and a lawyer can investigate whether the driver owns property, has income to garnish, or was driving for an employer or in a vehicle owned by someone else with coverage. In practice, most uninsured drivers have few collectible assets, which is why your own UM/UIM coverage is usually the main source of recovery.
What if the driver left the scene?
Hit-and-run crashes are common in Pasco. According to FLHSMV Crash Dashboard figures reported by Neighborhood News, Pasco recorded 1,107 hit-and-run crashes from January 1 through November 14, 2025. Report the crash to law enforcement immediately, get care within 14 days, and notify your own insurer. UM coverage under Fla. Stat. § 627.727 generally covers unidentified drivers, though some policies require physical contact or corroborating evidence.
Does PIP pay if the other driver had no insurance?
Yes. PIP is no-fault coverage from your own policy under Fla. Stat. § 627.736. It pays 80 percent of medical bills and 60 percent of lost wages up to $10,000 regardless of who caused the crash or whether they were insured, as long as you got initial care within 14 days. It is the first layer of recovery in every uninsured-driver case.
What if I do not have UM coverage?
Your options narrow to PIP, your health insurance, any medical payments coverage on your policy, and a claim against the driver personally or against anyone else who shares responsibility, such as a vehicle owner, an employer or a bar that served a minor. We look for every policy that might apply, including UM on a resident relative's policy. Call us before assuming there is nothing.