A filing deadline can be easy to overlook while you are recovering from an injury, attending medical appointments, and dealing with an insurance company. In Florida, most negligence claims now have a two-year deadline, but that rule does not apply to every personal injury case. The type of claim, the date it arose, and certain circumstances involving the injured person or defendant can change the calculation.
Exceptions to the personal injury statute of limitations in Florida are specific. A child’s age does not automatically extend the deadline until adulthood, and discovering an injury later does not always give you more time. Understanding which rule applies to your personal injury claim is the first step toward protecting your right to seek compensation.
Key Takeaways: Exceptions to the Personal Injury Statute of Limitations in Florida
- Florida generally allows two years for negligence claims that accrued after March 24, 2023. Earlier claims generally fall under the former four-year period.
- Medical malpractice, wrongful death, product liability, and certain abuse-related claims have their own rules.
- Tolling pauses the filing clock, but only qualifying circumstances trigger that protection.
- Being a minor does not automatically stop the clock until age 18.
- Certain minor and incapacity tolling provisions require filing within seven years after the event giving rise to the claim.
- Claims against Florida government entities generally have a four-year filing deadline, with separate notice requirements and exceptions.
- Filing an insurance claim or negotiating a settlement does not, by itself, extend the lawsuit deadline.
What Is the Standard Personal Injury Filing Deadline in Florida?
Florida generally gives you two years to file a lawsuit founded on negligence if your claim accrued after March 24, 2023. Claims that accrued before the change generally fall under the former four-year deadline.
For a typical car crash or slip and fall, the claim usually accrues when the accident causes an injury. That means the filing clock generally starts on the accident date.
However, there is no single deadline for every Florida injury claim. Separate rules address medical malpractice, wrongful death, intentional torts, and certain other claims. A spouse’s loss of consortium claim, which seeks compensation for harm to the marital relationship, also requires attention to the applicable filing deadline.
The first question is therefore what kind of claim you have. Only then can the deadline be calculated accurately.
What Circumstances Can Pause the Filing Deadline?
Tolling means the limitations clock temporarily stops running. When the qualifying circumstance ends, the clock generally resumes with the remaining time.
Florida’s tolling statute recognizes specific circumstances, including:
- A defendant’s absence from Florida, use of an unknown false name, or concealment, subject to restrictions involving whether the defendant can still be legally served
- A court determination that the injured person was legally incapacitated before the claim accrued
- Certain circumstances involving minors or people previously adjudicated incapacitated who lack a suitable representative
- The pendency of an arbitration proceeding concerning the dispute
General illness, financial hardship, or difficulty managing a claim does not automatically pause the deadline.
The defendant-related rules also have an important restriction. Absence, a false name, or concealment does not toll the deadline if legally sufficient service remains available. Someone moving out of Florida, for example, does not necessarily give you more time to sue.
Do Children Have More Time to File a Florida Injury Claim?
A child’s age does not automatically pause the deadline until the child turns 18.
Florida provides a specific tolling rule when a parent, guardian, or guardian ad litem does not exist, has an interest that conflicts with the child’s interests, or has been adjudicated unable to sue on the child’s behalf. A guardian ad litem is a person appointed to represent someone’s interests in a legal proceeding.
These conditions matter. A child who has a parent able to pursue the claim generally cannot rely on minority alone to stop the clock.
For this particular tolling provision, the lawsuit must be filed within seven years after the act, event, or occurrence giving rise to the claim. That is an outside deadline measured from the underlying event, not an extra seven years added to the usual filing period.
Medical malpractice and certain abuse-related claims involving children follow separate rules.
Can Incapacity Extend the Deadline?
A serious injury may make it difficult for someone to manage medical care, finances, or legal decisions. That practical difficulty, however, is not automatically enough to pause Florida’s filing deadline.
One statutory provision applies when the injured person was adjudicated incapacitated before the claim accrued. Another addresses previously adjudicated incapacity when no suitable representative exists, the representative has conflicting interests, or the representative has been adjudicated unable to sue.
Both provisions contain a seven-year outside filing limit measured from the event giving rise to the claim. A diagnosis, hospitalization, or period of unconsciousness should not be assumed to qualify without reviewing the applicable legal requirements.
When Does the Filing Deadline Begin to Run?
A claim generally accrues when the last element needed to bring it occurs. For an ordinary accident claim, that is usually when someone else’s negligence causes an injury.
You do not ordinarily get a new filing period simply because you later learn that the injury is more serious than you first thought. Continuing treatment and waiting for a final prognosis also do not automatically delay the deadline.
A discovery rule can change the starting point for certain categories of claims. When an applicable discovery rule governs, the deadline may run from when the relevant facts were discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.
Florida does not apply that rule to every personal injury claim. The legal basis of the lawsuit determines whether delayed discovery matters.
Which Claims Have Different Filing Rules?
Several categories deserve separate attention because their deadlines do not fit neatly into the ordinary negligence rule.
Medical malpractice. Florida generally allows two years from the incident or from when it was discovered or should have been discovered through reasonable diligence. A four-year statute of repose generally sets an outside limit measured from the incident.
When qualifying fraud, concealment, or intentional misrepresentation prevents discovery of the injury, the law can allow two years from discovery, generally subject to a seven-year outside limit. Special childhood provisions protect certain claims brought on or before the child’s eighth birthday. Those provisions concern the outside limits; they do not automatically give every child until age eight to sue.
Florida’s medical malpractice pre-suit requirements can also affect the calculation. A properly requested investigation extension and compliance with statutory pre-suit notice procedures may provide additional time or tolling.
Wrongful death. Florida wrongful death claims generally must be filed within two years after death, subject to applicable exceptions and special rules. This is usually the same length as the current negligence period, but it concerns a different claim and generally starts at a different time.
Certain abuse and sexual battery claims. Special statutes can provide substantially different filing periods. Qualifying claims related to sexual battery against a victim under 16 may be brought at any time, but that provision does not revive claims already time-barred on or before July 1, 2010.
In D.L. v. Community Based Care of Brevard, Inc., decided February 13, 2026, Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal held that this special provision applied to negligence claims related to the alleged sexual battery. The court reversed rulings that had treated those claims as barred under the ordinary negligence deadline.
Product liability. Certain product liability claims use a discovery-based filing rule and may also be subject to a statute of repose. The applicable period depends on the claim’s legal basis. Repose rules also contain exceptions, so neither the injury’s discovery date nor the product’s age should be considered in isolation.
A statute of limitations controls how long you have to sue after the relevant starting point. A statute of repose can impose an outside cutoff tied to an earlier event, such as a medical procedure or a product’s delivery.
Do Claims Against Florida Government Entities Have Different Deadlines?
Claims against Florida government entities generally have a four-year lawsuit deadline under the state’s sovereign-immunity statute. Medical malpractice and wrongful death claims follow their own limitations periods instead.
There are also separate notice requirements. Written notice generally must be presented to the appropriate agency within three years after the claim accrues. Notice to the Florida Department of Financial Services is also generally required, although exceptions apply, including for claims against municipalities and counties.
Wrongful death claims have a separate two-year notice provision.
The government’s review process can also affect when a lawsuit may proceed. Medical malpractice and wrongful death claims have specific tolling rules during that review.
These notice requirements are separate from filing a complaint in court. Meeting one requirement does not automatically satisfy the others, and the four-year rule should not be assumed to apply to federal government claims.
What Happens if You File Too Late?
A lawsuit filed after the applicable deadline can be barred, even when the injury is serious and the evidence of fault is strong.
Before deciding that a claim is late, however, the correct calculation requires reviewing:
- The type of claim and defendant
- When the claim accrued
- Whether a discovery rule applies
- Whether a qualifying tolling event occurred
- Whether a statute of repose imposes an outside limit
- Whether notice or presuit procedures affect the deadline
In limited circumstances, a defendant’s conduct may also prevent that defendant from relying on a limitations defense. This principle, called equitable estoppel, can apply when the defendant induced the injured person to delay filing. It is different from statutory tolling and requires more than ordinary settlement discussions.
An experienced personal injury attorney can review these issues before you assume that the filing window has closed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does filing an insurance claim pause the statute of limitations?
Filing an insurance claim does not, by itself, stop the lawsuit clock. Settlement negotiations generally do not pause it either. A lawsuit may need to be filed while discussions with the insurer are still underway.
Can the parties agree to extend the filing deadline?
An agreement may affect the deadline in some circumstances, but its wording and legal effect need careful review. Florida’s medical malpractice law, for example, allows parties to agree to extend the presuit screening period, with tolling during that extension. Do not assume that an insurer’s willingness to keep negotiating means you have extra time to sue.
What happens if the defendant leaves Florida after the accident?
Leaving Florida does not automatically pause the deadline. The statutory absence rule does not apply if the defendant can still be legally served in a way that allows the court to hear the claim.
Does a child always have until age 18 to file?
Florida does not provide a blanket extension until adulthood for every child’s injury claim. The general minority tolling provision requires specific circumstances involving the availability and suitability of a representative. Medical malpractice and certain abuse claims follow separate rules.
Can a dismissed case simply be filed again?
Refiling depends on why the case was dismissed, whether the deadline remains open, and the procedural rules involved. A dismissal does not automatically restart the limitations period. In some situations, challenging the dismissal on appeal may be the appropriate next step.
Get Legal Help with Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law
Florida’s filing deadlines depend on more than the date of an accident. The type of claim, the defendant, and any applicable exceptions can all affect how much time you have.
At Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, our team can review the circumstances of your injury, identify the rules that apply, and help you understand your options for seeking compensation. Even if you are worried that too much time has passed, having the deadline reviewed can help you determine your next step.
We offer a free consultation, and our team is available 24/7. Contact us today.