Florida Cuts Negligence Limitation Period to 2 Years
Effective March 24, 2023 — general negligence claims now subject to tighter deadlines.
What does statute of limitations mean?
A statute of limitations is a law enacted by a legislature (or sometimes developed through judicial common law) that sets a maximum amount of time after an event occurs within which a legal claim or prosecution can be initiated.
Civil and criminal scope: These time limits apply to both civil claims (like personal injury, breach of contract) and criminal prosecutions. Source
Triggering events: The clock may start from the date of the injury/event or from the date it was discovered (e.g., in cases involving latent harm or fraud).
Purpose: Statutes of limitations ensure fairness and efficiency—protecting defendants from defending stale claims, preserving evidence integrity, and providing clarity for plaintiffs.
Why do statute of limitations matter?
Finality and fairness: Prevents lawsuits or criminal charges many years after an incident, when evidence is lost, and memories fade. Source
Uniform deadlines: Everyone knows—e.g., if you injure someone today, the time to file a lawsuit runs until that statute’s limit expires.
What happens when statute of limitations expires?
In civil law: If the filing deadline passes, the defendant can invoke the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense, likely resulting in the case being thrown out. Source
In criminal cases: Charges filed after the limit has expired may result in dismissal because courts lose jurisdiction over the case post-deadline.
What has changed with the statute of limitations in the state of Florida?
Negligence Claims: The filing deadline for general negligence lawsuits was cut in half—from 4 years to just 2 years from when the cause of action first accrues.
Scope: This 2-year limit now applies to all negligence cases where the injury or damage happens on or after March 24, 2023.
A statute of limitations is a hard deadline to sue after an injury occurs or damages are realized. If you delay beyond that, you’re out of luck.
Under HB 837, claims for incidents occurring after March 24, 2023, must now be filed by March 24, 2025 (or sooner, depending on exact date of injury).
Who’s impacted?
Personal injury victims—e.g., auto accidents, slip‑and‑fall, property damage—must be particularly vigilant to avoid missing the shortened deadline.
Claims from before March 24, 2023, still benefit from the old 4‑year rule.
The clock starts ticking “when the last element of the cause of action occurs”—typically the moment someone is harmed or suffers loss. We strongly urge victims to file timely and recommend early legal consultations.
Phillips, Hunt & Walker haveestablished an outstanding record of success and specializes in personal injury and accident recovery. Much of that success is due to the values that drive our firm: integrity, dedication and excellence. John and his staff has extensive trial experience as a personal injury lawyer.
We invite you to review our verdicts, our accolades and awards and what clients have to say about us and give us a call for a free consultation where our lawyers will consult with you personally. John and his team represent clients in Florida, Georgia and Alabama and before the U.S. Supreme Court with passion and compassion. Our firm handles a wide variety of injury and death cases, criminal defense, family law and a host of high profile matters. We can be emailed at help@floridajustice.com or call us at (904) 444-4444 (in Florida) or (912) 444-4444 (in Georgia).
