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

For most personal injury claims in Florida, you now have two years to file a lawsuit. This is a major change. Florida cut the deadline from four years to two years for negligence claims that arise on or after March 24, 2023. Miss that window and the court will almost certainly throw the case out, no matter how clearly someone else was at fault.

The deadline to sue is called the statute of limitations, and in personal injury cases it is one of the most important and least understood rules in Florida law. The 2023 change caught a lot of people off guard, and waiting too long remains the single most preventable way to lose an otherwise strong case. Here are the deadlines that matter.

The Big Change: Four Years Became Two

For decades, Florida gave injured people four years to file most negligence lawsuits. In March 2023, the law changed. Under the current version of Florida Statute 95.11, the statute of limitations for general negligence is now two years for claims that arise on or after March 24, 2023.

Claims that accrued before that date generally still fall under the old four-year rule. But for any injury happening now, assume two years, and do not cut it close. The deadline runs from the date of the injury in most cases.

Deadlines by Type of Case

Car and Motor Vehicle Accidents

A crash is a negligence claim, so the two-year deadline applies to accidents on or after March 24, 2023. But two other clocks run much faster:

• The 14-day rule. To use your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits, you must begin medical treatment within 14 days of the accident. Wait longer and you can lose access to that coverage entirely.
• Insurance notice. Your own policy typically requires "prompt" notice of a claim. Weeks of silence can create problems.

Wrongful Death

A wrongful death claim under the Florida Wrongful Death Act must generally be filed within two years of the date of death. The claim is brought by the personal representative of the deceased person's estate, not directly by family members.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice has its own framework: generally two years from when the injury was discovered or should have been discovered, with an overall outer limit (a statute of repose) of four years from the incident in most cases, subject to exceptions. Med mal also requires a pre-suit investigation before a lawsuit can be filed, which takes time to complete.

Claims Against a Government Entity

If your injury involves a city, county, or state entity (a crash with a government vehicle, a fall on public property), special rules under Florida Statute 768.28 apply. You must provide written notice of the claim to the agency before filing suit, and these notice requirements are strict. These cases require early legal attention.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?

If you file even one day after the statute of limitations expires, the defendant will move to dismiss, and the court will almost certainly grant it. When that happens, you lose the right to recover anything, no matter how badly you were hurt or how clearly the other side was at fault. The merits of the case become irrelevant.

There are a few narrow exceptions that can pause ("toll") the clock, such as when the injured person is a minor or when the defendant concealed wrongdoing. But these are limited and fact-specific. You should never count on an exception to save a late claim.

The Bottom Line

If you have been injured in Florida, the safest assumption is that you have two years, that some deadlines run much faster, and that waiting only hurts your case. Talking to a lawyer early costs nothing in a contingency-fee case and protects every deadline that matters. To understand how these claims work more broadly, see our personal injury overview.