Less time than most people think. In 2023 Florida cut the deadline for most injury lawsuits from four years to two, the no-fault system gives you 14 days to see a doctor, and a claim against a city or county has to go through a written notice and a waiting period before it can be filed at all. Enter the date of your crash or fall below to see the general deadlines that may apply.
The tool is built and maintained by The Injury Advocates is a Plantation-based personal injury law firm serving Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, and South Florida, and legally reviewed by attorney Kweku Darfoor. It explains the general rules; the exceptions, in both directions, are discussed below the tool, and the only way to know your deadline for certain is to have a lawyer review the facts.
Enter the date of the crash or fall. The tool calculates the general Florida time limits that may apply and runs entirely in your browser; nothing is saved or sent.
General information about Florida law from The Injury Advocates, a Plantation-based personal injury law firm serving Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, and South Florida. Deadlines have exceptions in both directions, and the only safe way to know yours is to have a lawyer review the facts. Not legal advice. Last reviewed October 2026.
Before March 24, 2023, a person injured by someone else’s negligence in Florida had four years to file suit. House Bill 837, signed that day, cut the period to two years for negligence claims that arise after the effective date. Claims from accidents before that date keep the older four-year period, which is why the tool asks for the exact date.
The clock runs from the date the injury happened, not from when treatment ended, when the insurer denied the claim, or when you realized how serious the injury was. Talking to an adjuster does not pause it; only filing a lawsuit does. Wrongful death claims have their own two-year period measured from the date of death, and medical negligence claims run two years from when the injury was or should have been discovered, with a pre-suit investigation that has to be completed first and an outer limit of four years in most cases.
Florida law pauses (tolls) some deadlines in specific situations: while a defendant is absent from the state or hiding, during some periods of a plaintiff’s minority or incapacity when no one can act for them, and in a few other defined circumstances. None of these can be assumed, and several have outer limits. In the other direction, several deadlines are effectively shorter than the statute suggests because of what must happen first: the government notice and waiting period, the medical negligence pre-suit process, and a UM carrier’s right to consent before you settle with the at-fault driver. A deadline that has apparently passed is a reason to call quickly, not a reason to give up; a deadline that is apparently far off is a reason to start now.
We calendar every deadline the day a case opens and file suit when an insurer will not pay a fair amount in time. If a date is close, or has passed, a short conversation will tell you where you stand.
Call 833-DARFOOR or (754) 812-8444, or text (754) 289-3211. Phones are answered 24/7, the consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win.
For most negligence claims arising after March 24, 2023, yes: if a lawsuit is not filed within two years of the injury, the claim is lost, no matter how strong it is or how long the insurer kept you talking. The exceptions are narrow and fact-specific, which is why the safe course is to treat the deadline as absolute and to involve a lawyer long before it arrives.
No. Only filing a lawsuit stops the statute of limitations. Insurers know this, and a claim that drifts through months of requests for records and “we are still evaluating” can quietly run out of time. We calendar every deadline the day a case opens and file suit when negotiation has not produced a fair result in time.
No. The deadline runs from the date of the injury, not from the end of treatment or the point of maximum medical improvement. Serious cases are often filed before treatment is complete precisely for that reason; the case continues while you heal.
The time a defendant is absent from Florida and cannot be served can pause the clock in some circumstances, and a claim against someone who has died is made against the estate on its own timetable, which can be shorter than the injury deadline. Both situations call for a lawyer promptly rather than later.
Florida pauses some deadlines for minors only in limited circumstances, for example when there is no parent or guardian able to bring the claim, and never beyond a fixed outer limit. Do not assume a child’s claim can wait until adulthood; in most cases it cannot.
If the basic facts and the defendant’s identity are known, a complaint can be prepared and filed in days. Claims against government agencies are the exception, because the required pre-suit notice and waiting period cannot be skipped, so those need the most lead time. Call as soon as you realize a date is near.
