Florida Personal Injury Law: Deadlines, Comparative Fault, and PIP Explained

Three rules define Florida personal injury claims. The deadline: following Florida's 2023 tort reform, negligence claims generally must be filed within two years of the injury — cut from the previous four — one of the shorter windows in the country. [LEGAL REVIEW: confirm current § 95.11 periods and application.] The fault rule: Florida now applies modified comparative negligence — your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and if you're found more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing — replacing the old pure comparative system. [LEGAL REVIEW: confirm current standard and exceptions, e.g., medical negligence.] The insurance system: Florida is a no-fault state — your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage pays initial medical costs and lost wages (up to $10,000, with a 14-day treatment requirement to access full benefits), and stepping outside PIP to sue the at-fault driver generally requires meeting the serious-injury threshold. [LEGAL REVIEW: confirm PIP figures, 14-day rule, threshold.]

What the 14-day rule means in practice. Seek medical care within 14 days of a crash or risk forfeiting PIP benefits — Florida's version of the universal treat-promptly advice, with a statutory penalty attached. Combined with the two-year deadline, Florida rewards early action more than most states.

The 50% bar changes settlement dynamics. Under the old pure system, a 70%-at-fault plaintiff still recovered 30%; now that claim is worth zero — which raises the stakes of fault disputes and makes early evidence (scene photos, witnesses, vehicle data) decisive in contested-liability cases.

Government defendants and other Florida wrinkles. Claims against Florida governmental entities carry pre-suit notice requirements and damage caps; dangerous-instrumentality doctrine extends owner liability for vehicles; and premises cases run through Florida's transitory-substance statute, which tightened notice requirements for slip-and-falls in business establishments. [LEGAL REVIEW: each.] Each wrinkle is a reason Florida claims benefit from Florida-specific counsel.