How Long Do I Have to File a Car Accident Claim in Florida?
For most Florida car accidents, you have two years from the date of the crash to file a
negligence
lawsuit. That deadline is the statute of limitations
, and courts enforce it with almost no mercy: file on day one of year three and the case is over before it starts, no matter how strong it was.The two-year statute of limitations
Florida shortened this deadline in 2023. Crashes on or after March 24, 2023 fall under the two-year rule in section 95.11 of the Florida Statutes; older crashes were governed by the previous four-year rule. Note what the deadline applies to: filing a lawsuit in court. An insurance claim is not a lawsuit, and having an open claim does not pause the clock.
The 14-day PIP clock is a different deadline
Long before the
statute of limitations
matters, Florida's no- fault
system imposes a much shorter one: you must receive initial medical care within 14 days of the crash for your PIP coverage to pay its share, which is 80 percent of necessary medical treatment up to your policy limit. Miss that window and your own insurer can deny the benefits you already paid for. The first steps are laid out in our guide to what to do after a car accident in Florida.Wrongful death and other special cases
When a crash is fatal, the
wrongful death
claim carries its own two-year deadline measured from the date of death, and it must be brought by the personal representative of the estate. Claims involving government vehicles or agencies add pre-suit notice requirements and stricter procedure on top of the usual deadlines. Narrow exceptions can pause the clock in some situations, such as claims involving minors, but they are fact-specific and nothing to build a plan on.Why waiting costs more than the deadline
The two-year limit is the legal cutoff, but the practical one arrives much sooner. Intersection cameras overwrite their footage in days or weeks. Vehicles carrying event data recorders get repaired or scrapped. Witnesses move and memories soften. A car accident case investigated in week two is built on evidence; the same case started in month twenty is built on whatever survived.
Get your deadlines mapped for free
If you are not sure which rules apply to your crash, that is a five-minute conversation. David Harris Law reviews Sarasota car accident cases at no charge and will tell you exactly which clocks are running. Reach out for a free case review, or start with our guide on whether a minor accident needs a lawyer at all.