Florida Personal Injury Claims: What the Law Requires Today

How Long Do I Have to File a Florida Personal Injury Claim?

This is the question I get most often in my practice, and it's the one where I most need clients to get accurate, current information — because the answer changed significantly a few years ago. If your injury occurred on or after March 24, 2023, the general negligence statute of limitations in Florida is two years from the date of the incident, not four. This applies to car accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip-and-falls, and most other injury claims based on someone else's carelessness.

Before that date, Florida law gave injured people four years to sue. House Bill 837, signed into law in March 2023, cut that window in half for claims accruing afterward. If your accident happened before March 24, 2023, the older four-year rule may still apply to your case — but this is exactly the kind of date-sensitive question that deserves a direct conversation with a Florida attorney rather than guesswork.

What Is the 51% Rule, and How Does It Affect My Case?

Florida also shifted how fault is handled when more than one person contributed to an accident. For decades, Florida followed a "pure" comparative negligence rule — even if you were 90% at fault, you could still recover the remaining 10% of your damages from the other party. HB 837 changed that for injuries occurring on or after March 24, 2023.

Florida now follows a modified comparative negligence standard under Florida Statute § 768.81. Here's how it works in plain terms:

• If you're found 50% or less at fault, you can still recover damages — reduced by your percentage of fault.
• If you're found 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing at all.

So if a jury decides you were 30% responsible for a car accident and your damages total $100,000, you'd recover $70,000. But if that number crosses to 51%, the recovery disappears entirely. This makes how fault gets allocated — and how your case is documented from day one — far more consequential than it used to be. Notably, this 51% bar does not apply to medical malpractice claims, which still follow the older pure comparative negligence approach.

What Happens After a Car Accident? Florida's No-Fault PIP System

Florida remains a no-fault car insurance state, and despite several legislative attempts to repeal that system, it's still the law as of this writing. Every driver registering a car in Florida is required to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage, governed by Florida Statutes §§ 627.730 through 627.7405. PIP pays certain benefits regardless of who caused the accident:

• Up to 80% of reasonable, necessary medical expenses
• Up to 60% of lost wages
• These benefits are subject to a $10,000 aggregate PIP limit per person
• A $5,000 death benefit is payable to qualifying survivors

There's a catch that trips up a lot of accident victims: to access PIP medical benefits at all, you generally must receive initial treatment within 14 days of the accident. And the full $10,000 in medical benefits is only available if a qualified medical provider determines you have an Emergency Medical Condition (EMC). Without that EMC finding, PIP medical coverage is capped at $2,500 — which can be exhausted quickly if you need imaging, specialist visits, or ongoing therapy.

Several bills aimed at repealing Florida's no-fault system were introduced again in the most recent legislative session, but as of now none has passed. PIP remains mandatory, and it works alongside — not instead of — a bodily injury claim against an at-fault driver when your injuries are serious enough.

Slip-and-Falls and Premises Liability: What Property Owners Owe You

Slip-and-fall and other premises liability claims — injuries that happen because a property wasn't reasonably safe — fall under the same general negligence framework described above. That means the two-year statute of limitations applies to these claims as well when the incident occurred on or after March 24, 2023.

What makes premises cases distinct isn't the deadline, it's the proof. Florida property owners and business operators generally owe visitors a duty to maintain reasonably safe conditions and to warn of hazards they know or should know about. Proving what the property owner knew — and when — often depends on evidence that disappears quickly: spilled liquid gets mopped up, surveillance footage gets overwritten, and witnesses move on. That's why acting promptly to document the scene, get medical care, and preserve records matters just as much in a slip-and-fall as it does after a car crash.

Dealing With Insurance Companies After an Accident

Whether it's your own PIP carrier or the other driver's or property owner's insurer, remember that insurance adjusters are trained to minimize what the company pays out — that's their job, not a personal grudge against you. A few things I consistently tell clients:

• Be careful about giving recorded statements before you understand the full extent of your injuries.
• Keep copies of medical bills, records, and any correspondence with insurers.
• Understand that an early settlement offer, once accepted, typically closes your claim for good — even if your injury turns out to be worse than first thought.
• Know that with the 51% comparative fault rule now in place, insurers have a stronger incentive to argue you were partly or mostly at fault, since doing so can eliminate their payout obligation entirely.

None of this means every claim needs a lawsuit or even a lawyer — many smaller claims resolve reasonably through PIP and standard insurance channels. But when injuries are significant, when fault is disputed, or when an insurer is lowballing a claim, a candid conversation with a Florida personal injury attorney early on can make a meaningful difference in the outcome.

Sources

• Soper & Odante, "Florida Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury (2026 Update)," February 16, 2026
• Nolo, "Florida Personal Injury Laws and Statutes of Limitations," April 13, 2026
• HL Law Group, "Florida Comparative Negligence: The 51% Rule Explained," May 30, 2026
• SandStone Insurance Partners, "Florida No-Fault Car Insurance in 2026: Did the Law Actually Change?," May 6, 2026
• Viles & Beckman, LLC, "Did Florida Repeal No-Fault Insurance?," June 4, 2026
• Vasquez Law Firm, "Florida Negligence Law: What You Need to Know in 2026," April 6, 2026

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor does reading it create an attorney-client relationship. Florida estate, elder, probate, and real estate law are fact-specific and change over time. Consult a licensed Florida attorney about your individual circumstances. Arthur Simpson, Esq. is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. Attorney advertising.