What makes a car accident claim different
Most Florida crash claims turn on two things that have nothing to do with who ran the light: whether you were treated within 14 days, and whether your injuries clear the threshold that lets you claim pain and suffering from the at-fault driver.
In practice, most car accident claims are won or lost on the 14-day PIP treatment rule, the emergency medical condition finding, and the permanent-injury threshold for non-economic damages.
The deadline that governs your claim
Florida shortened the filing period for most negligence claims from four years to two years in March 2023. Claims that arose before that change are generally governed by the older four-year period, and some claim types run on their own clocks — wrongful death is two years from the date of death, and claims against a government entity require written pre-suit notice on a shorter, stricter timeline.
Once the period expires the claim is normally gone, however strong it was. If you are near the edge of one, that is the reason to get advice now rather than later.
Being partly at fault does not end the claim
Florida applies modified comparative negligence: your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and if you are found more than 50% responsible you recover nothing. Medical negligence claims are excepted from that bar. This is why insurers work so hard to move fault onto the injured person, and why a recorded statement given early can be expensive later.
What you can recover
- Past and future medical treatment
- Lost wages and lost future earning capacity
- Rehabilitation, assistive equipment, and long-term care
- Pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life
- Punitive damages, where the conduct was intentional or grossly negligent
On a serious claim the future figures usually dwarf the bills already incurred, and valuing them properly means projecting a lifetime of care and earnings and then defending those projections against the other side’s experts.
Other Florida injury claims we handle
- Personal Injury
- Truck & Commercial Vehicle Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Wrongful Death
- Dog Bites
- Premises Liability
- Pedestrian & Bicycle Accidents
This page is general legal information about Florida law, not legal advice about your situation, and statutes change — the filing deadline discussed above was itself amended in 2023. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Speak with a Florida-licensed attorney about the rules that apply to your claim.
