If you were hurt in a Florida accident, the single most important number to know is how long you have to file a lawsuit. For decades, the answer for most injury cases was four years. That is no longer true. A 2023 law called House Bill 837 cut the deadline in half — and a lot of good people are going to lose their right to be paid simply because they did not hear about the change.
I have practiced personal-injury law in Broward County for more than 40 years, and I have watched this kind of deadline end real cases before a single argument was ever made. I want you to understand what changed, who it affects, and why waiting is the most dangerous thing you can do after a crash or a fall.
What House Bill 837 Actually Changed
On March 24, 2023, Florida changed its statute of limitations for negligence claims. A statute of limitations is just the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. Before that date, you generally had four years from the day you were hurt to sue the person or company that caused it. After that date, you have two years.
That rule is written into Florida law at Section 95.11(4)(a), Florida Statutes, as amended by House Bill 837. The same law also reshaped how fault is divided between parties under Section 768.81, Florida Statutes, which I will come back to in a moment.
The cutoff is the date of the accident, not the date you decide to hire a lawyer. Here is the simple rule:
- If your accident happened on or after March 24, 2023, you have two years to file.
- If your accident happened before that date, the older four-year window generally still applies to your claim.
If you are not certain which rule covers your case, do not guess. The wrong assumption here is not a small mistake — it can be the whole case.
Why “I Thought I Had Four Years” Is So Dangerous
Most people in Florida still believe the deadline is four years, because for a generation it was. Family members tell each other that. Older articles online still say it. Even some folks who looked it up years ago carry the old number in their head.
So here is the trap. Someone is hurt in a car wreck on Interstate 95 or a fall at a store on Oakland Park Boulevard. They focus on healing, on getting back to work, on dealing with the insurance company. They figure they have plenty of time to think about a lawyer — four years, after all. Then they call an attorney in year three, and the door has already closed. There is no fixing it. A judge cannot give you back a deadline that the law took away.
When a deadline passes, the other side does not even have to argue about who was at fault. They simply ask the court to throw the case out because it was filed too late, and the court usually has to agree. That is why this is not a detail to leave for later.
The Deadline Is Not the Only Clock — Evidence Fades First
Here is something I tell every client: the legal deadline is the last clock you should worry about, not the first. Long before two years are up, the proof you need to win starts disappearing.
Think about what a strong injury case is built on:
- Video. Store and traffic-camera footage is often erased in a matter of weeks unless someone formally asks for it to be kept.
- Witnesses. People move, change phone numbers, and forget details. A witness who clearly remembers the light was red today may remember nothing useful a year from now.
- The scene. Skid marks fade, a broken stair gets fixed, a spill that was never cleaned up gets cleaned up. The condition that hurt you may be gone within days.
- Medical timing. The sooner your injuries are documented by a doctor, the harder it is for an insurance company to claim you were not really hurt or that something else caused it.
When you come in early, we can send letters to preserve video, find witnesses while their memory is fresh, and document the scene before it changes. Waiting does not just risk the deadline — it quietly weakens everything that would have made your case strong. If your injury came from a property hazard like a wet floor or a broken walkway, our premises liability team can explain how Florida holds a business responsible, but only if the proof is captured before it is gone.
Important Exceptions to the Two-Year Rule
The two-year window covers most ordinary negligence claims, but Florida law is full of special situations with their own deadlines. A few you should know about:
Wrongful Death
When an accident takes a life, the case is brought under the Florida Wrongful Death Act, Sections 768.16 through 768.26, Florida Statutes. The deadline is generally two years from the date of death, and the claim must be filed by the personal representative of the person’s estate. Families are grieving and the legal clock feels cruel, but it keeps running all the same.
Medical Malpractice
Claims against doctors and hospitals do not run on the same general negligence clock. Medical malpractice has its own deadline under Section 95.11(4)(b), Florida Statutes: generally two years from when the harm was discovered, or reasonably should have been discovered, with an outer limit of four years from when it happened. These cases also require special steps before you can even file, including a written opinion from a qualified medical expert. They are technical and unforgiving on timing, so they should be reviewed early.
Claims Against a Government Entity
If a city, county, or state agency may be responsible — say a crash with a government vehicle or a dangerous public road — there are separate written-notice rules you must follow before suing, and sovereign-immunity limits on how the claim proceeds. Missing the notice step can sink an otherwise valid case, so these need a lawyer’s eyes right away.
Injured Children
The deadline works differently when a child is hurt. Florida law generally pauses, or “tolls,” the running of the clock for a minor in certain circumstances, so it is not measured the same way it is for an adult. Even so, I never recommend leaning on that — the evidence problem above does not pause for anyone, child or adult.
Because every one of these exceptions has its own traps, never assume you fall inside one. Let a lawyer confirm exactly which deadline governs your situation before you rely on it.
One More Reason Not to Wait: How Fault Is Now Shared
The same 2023 law that shortened the deadline also changed how fault is divided. Under Section 768.81, Florida Statutes, as amended, Florida now follows a “modified comparative negligence” rule with a 51% bar. In plain terms: if you are found to be more than half at fault for your own injuries, you recover nothing. If you are partly at fault but not the majority, your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame.
This matters for timing because insurance companies fight hard to pin as much fault on you as they can. The longer you wait, the more the record fills up with their version of events — their statements, their adjusters, their framing — and the less of your own evidence survives to push back. Getting your side documented early helps protect you from being blamed for a wreck that was not your fault. If your case came out of a crash, our car and truck accident attorneys deal with these fault fights every day in Broward County courts.
What to Do Right Now
You do not need every fact figured out to talk to a lawyer — that is the whole point of calling early. A short conversation can tell you which deadline applies to you, what evidence needs to be preserved today, and whether you even have a case worth pursuing, before anything important slips away.
A few simple steps protect your rights while you decide:
- Get medical care and keep going to your appointments, so your injuries are properly documented.
- Write down everything you remember about the accident while it is fresh — names, the time, the weather, what was said.
- Keep photos, the crash report, bills, and any messages from the insurance company.
- Be careful about giving a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer before you have talked to a lawyer.
- Call sooner rather than later, even if you are still treating.
None of this requires you to commit to a lawsuit. It just keeps your options open instead of letting a deadline or a missing piece of evidence make the decision for you.
Florida’s shorter two-year deadline is real, it is already in effect, and it does not care that you were busy healing. If you or someone in your family was hurt in an accident on or after March 24, 2023, the smartest thing you can do is find out where you stand now — not in a year, when it may be too late to fix anything. At DiStefano Law, your case review is free, confidential, and available the same day, and because we handle injury cases on a contingency basis, you pay no fee unless we recover for you. Call me directly at (954) 572-8000 or reach out through our contact page, and let’s talk about your case while there is still time to do something about it.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to file an injury claim in Florida?
For most negligence claims under current law, generally two years from the date of the injury, a deadline shortened by the 2023 reform known as HB 837. Some situations change it, so confirm your specific deadline early.
What happens if I miss the deadline?
If you file after the statute of limitations runs, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case no matter how strong it is. The deadline is one of the few things in an injury case that is truly unforgiving.
Why act long before the deadline?
Because evidence disappears and memories fade. Waiting until the last months to start makes a case far harder to prove, even when you technically file on time.
Learn more about how we handle these cases on our personal injury practice areas page.