Two years to file, not four. The HB 837 amendment that quietly changed every Florida car wreck case.
Reviewed by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., Florida Bar No. 39104. Last updated .
For Florida car accident claims accruing on or after March 24, 2023, the statute of limitations is two years. Section 95.11(4)(a), Florida Statutes, as amended by HB 837. Claims that accrued before that date kept the older four-year window. Wrongful death runs two years from the date of death.
For decades, Florida's negligence statute of limitations was four years. House Bill 837, signed by Governor DeSantis on March 24, 2023, cut that deadline in half. The change applies prospectively to causes of action accruing on or after the bill's effective date.
The shorter deadline reaches almost every car accident claim. Negligence is the underlying theory in nearly every car wreck case. Two years is now the operating assumption for any post-March-2023 crash.
For most car wreck claims, accrual is the date of the crash. The plaintiff knows of the injury, the cause, and the responsible party from day one. The clock runs from the crash date.
Latent injuries and concealed defects can shift accrual. If a serious internal injury manifests weeks after a crash, accrual may run from the date of discovery rather than the date of the crash. Defense lawyers will fight that point hard. Document the diagnostic timeline carefully.
If the crash victim dies from crash injuries, the personal injury claim merges into the wrongful death claim on death. Section 95.11(5)(e) sets a two-year deadline measured from the date of death. The personal injury statute of limitations is irrelevant once the victim dies.
Florida law recognizes a handful of tolling doctrines: incapacity, infancy, fraudulent concealment, and pendency of related criminal proceedings in narrow cases. Tolling is the exception, not the rule. Do not assume any tolling doctrine applies without confirming the specific statutory or case-law basis.
Two years is not a lot of time. Settlement negotiations, medical treatment, and lien resolution often consume the first year. Drafting a complaint, conducting investigation, and serving the defendants takes weeks or months. By the time a complaint is on file and served, half the SOL window can be gone.
Treat the deadline as eighteen months internally. File earlier than you think you need to. The defense lawyer will not remind you.
Older claims kept the four-year window. A car accident on January 1, 2023, has a January 1, 2027 deadline under the pre-HB 837 four-year rule. A car accident on April 1, 2023, has an April 1, 2025 deadline under the new two-year rule. Verify the accrual date before counting forward.
For PIP first-party claims against the policyholder's own insurer, the deadline framework under section 627.736 includes a pre-suit demand letter requirement (section 627.736(10)) and a five-year contract limitations period under section 95.11(2)(b). For UM claims, the contract limit applies. For bad-faith claims under section 624.155, separate deadlines apply, including a 60-day cure period after Civil Remedy Notice.
Two years for negligence claims accruing on or after March 24, 2023. Section 95.11(4)(a). Older claims kept the four-year window.
Generally on the date of the accident. Latent injuries may have a discovery-rule extension. Wrongful death runs from the date of death.
PIP first-party claims have a five-year contract limit, but practical deadlines come from the policy and the section 627.736(10) demand letter framework.
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