Key Florida rules at a glance
| Topic | Florida |
|---|---|
| Fault rule | Modified comparative negligence, 51% bar, for negligence claims accruing on or after March 24, 2023 (HB 837). Medical malpractice stays on the older pure-comparative track. |
| Injury lawsuit deadline | 2 years for negligence claims accruing on or after March 24, 2023 (reduced from 4 years by HB 837); 2 years for medical malpractice. |
| Minimum auto coverage | $10,000 Personal Injury Protection (PIP) plus $10,000 property damage liability. Bodily-injury liability is not required for most drivers. |
| Auto insurance system | No-fault — your own PIP pays first (80% of medical, 60% of wages, up to $10,000). Suing for pain and suffering generally requires a permanent-injury threshold. |
| Workers' compensation | Temporary total disability pays 66⅔% of average weekly wages, up to a statewide maximum adjusted annually; most employers with 4+ employees must carry coverage (construction: 1+). |
Fault and liability — the 2023 rewrite
For decades Florida was a pure comparative-negligence state. HB 837 (March 24, 2023) changed that: negligence claims accruing on or after that date now follow a modified system with a 51% bar — your recovery shrinks by your fault share, and at 51% or more you recover nothing. One carve-out matters: medical malpractice claims remain pure comparative. If your crash happened before the effective date, the older rules may still govern — the injury date controls, not the filing date. Background on what the bar does to a claim: comparative negligence explained.
Filing deadlines
The same 2023 reform cut Florida's general negligence statute of limitations from four years to two for claims accruing on or after March 24, 2023. Medical malpractice was already two years; wrongful death is two years. Older injuries may still sit on the legacy four-year clock — which is exactly the kind of date-specific question to verify against the statute or with counsel rather than assume.
Auto insurance: no-fault PIP and bare minimums
Florida is a no-fault state. Your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) pays first — 80% of medical costs and 60% of lost wages, up to $10,000 — regardless of who caused the crash, and treatment must start within 14 days. The registration minimums are just PIP plus $10,000 property damage liability; Florida famously does not require most drivers to carry bodily-injury liability at all. Two consequences: you generally cannot sue for pain and suffering unless the injury meets the permanence threshold, and an at-fault driver may legally carry nothing that pays you — which makes uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage the most important optional line on a Florida policy.
Workers' compensation notes
Coverage is required for most employers with four or more employees — and for construction employers with just one. Temporary total disability pays 66⅔% of average weekly wages up to a statewide maximum adjusted annually, and Florida workers' comp is genuinely no-fault: fault percentages do not reduce benefits the way they reduce a lawsuit. The trade-off is exclusivity — in most cases you cannot sue your employer outside the comp system.
Using ClaimLedge for a Florida claim
The Car Accident Settlement Estimator models the tort track — injuries that clear Florida's permanence threshold. PIP pays your first $10,000 regardless, so subtract what PIP already covered when you value the liability claim, and remember the 51% bar now applies to accidents after March 2023: set the fault slider conservatively. The multipliers and ranges are explained in how settlements are calculated.