Florida Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

January 21, 2021 – Adam Mann

 

Statute of limitations sets the amount of time the individual must file for legal action. Each state decides how they want the statute of limitations to work. In Florida, the statute of limitations varies depending on the injury. Typically in Florida, the limitations are two to four years and depending on the situation five years. 

Car Accidents 

If someone or you were injured in the accident, you have four years to get your lawsuit filed from the day the accident occurred. If you have a claim with an uninsured driver then you have five years since the lawsuit is based on a contract between you and the driver who caused it. If you are filing a lawsuit based on the vehicle damages from the accident you have a four-year filing deadline as well. 

Motorcycle Accidents

Like car accidents, you have four years to file the lawsuit. If someone died because of the accident you have two years to file. 

Wrongful Death

 If someone passed because of the accident, their loved ones have the option of filing a wrongful death lawsuit which is a 2-year deadline. 

Medical Negligence/Medical Malpractice

For medical malpractice the statute of limitations states you have 2 years to file a suit. However, in Florida, you can extend it to 4 years using the law called statute of repose. The statute of repose is basically “the clock” starts from the injury occurred whether you had prior knowledge of malpractice or not. 

There are two exceptions to these deadlines:

  • If the healthcare provider commits any type of misrepresentation, fraud or fails to conceal facts proving malpractice, then you will have up to seven years under the statute of repose to file the lawsuit. However, the two-year limitation will still run if you knew the malpractice occurred or not. 
  • If the claim involves a child, the statute of repose says that the claim will not be cut off before the child’s eight birthday. However, the two-year limit will not be extended. 

Slip and Fall

Slip and fall injuries have four-year deadline limitations that begin the moment the event occurred to file your claim

Nursing Home Abuse

The nursing home statute is two years. With the statute of repose, it is extended to four years. However, if the nursing home decided to conceal information proving negligence, another two years will be added making the statute six years instead of two. 

What happens to my claim if I fail to file before the statute of limitations exceeds? The courts will refuse to file your claim and you will forfeit your right to being compensated. 

If you know of someone who has recently been injured or if you have any questions regarding Florida’s statute of limitations, contact Cohen and Cohen Law

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