On This Page
Every Period That Can Apply
These are fixed by statute and citable. Which of them applies to you, and when each one started, is not something this page can tell you.
| Deadline | What the Statute Sets |
|---|---|
| Negligence — § 95.11(5)(a) | 2 years, for causes of action accruing on or after March 24, 2023. The date comes from the applicability clause of ch. 2023-15, Laws of Florida, not from the statute text. |
| Wrongful death — § 95.11(5)(e) | 2 years. |
| Government body, present the claim — § 768.28(6)(a) | 3 years to present in writing to the agency and, except for a municipality, county, or the Florida Space Authority, to the Department of Financial Services. |
| Government body, file suit — § 768.28(14) | 4 years to commence the action. |
| Bad faith — § 624.155(3)(a) | 60 days' written notice to the Department and the insurer, as a condition precedent. |
| Crash report — § 316.066(2)(a) | 60 days of confidentiality, during which § 316.066(2)(b) gives you access as a party. Not a claim deadline, but a window worth using. |
| Policy notice | Contractual, frequently much shorter than any of the above, and independent of all of them. Read the policy. |
The One Thing Nobody Can Compute for You
Every period above runs from accrual — when the cause of action arises. Accrual is a legal question determined by Florida law, and it is not automatically the date of the crash.
That is why this page carries a reference table and an arithmetic helper rather than a calculator. A tool that asked for your crash date and returned “your deadline is March 4” would be giving an answer it has no basis for, on the one question in this area where being wrong is unrecoverable. We are not going to build that.
What the helper below does is narrower and honest: you supply a date, and it shows what each statutory period would run to from that date. Whether that date is your accrual date is the part a lawyer establishes.
Note too that § 768.28(6)(b) makes clear that the notice and denial requirements for a government claim “shall not be deemed to be elements of the cause of action and shall not affect the date on which the cause of action accrues.” Waiting on an agency does not extend anything.
David I. Shiner, Esq.
Founder, Shiner Law Group · AV Preeminent® rated · Florida Bar member since 2002
David I. Shiner founded Shiner Law Group and has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2002. He is a graduate of Nova Southeastern University’s law school and holds an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell. The firm represents injured people across Florida from offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Wellington, and Belle Glade, and handles these cases on a contingency basis with free consultations and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Arithmetic Helper
Enter a date and this will show what each period above would run to from it. It runs entirely in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
Not necessarily the date of the crash. See above.
Whatever this shows is arithmetic, not advice. It assumes the date you entered is the accrual date, ignores every fact specific to your situation, and does not account for contractual notice periods under your own policy. If you are anywhere near a deadline, stop using web pages and speak to a lawyer.
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The Citation That Moved
One error appears constantly in published Florida material and is worth naming here, because this is the page people arrive at when checking a deadline.
Before 2023, the limitations period for negligence was four years and it lived at § 95.11(3)(a). Section 3 of ch. 2023-15, Laws of Florida, cut it to two years and moved it to § 95.11(5)(a). The old subsection letter did not disappear — § 95.11(3)(a) still exists and now concerns the determination of paternity.
So a page telling you the deadline is “four years under § 95.11(3)(a)” is wrong twice over: wrong on the length, and pointing at a provision about parentage. Relying on it costs the claim outright.
Note also where the March 24, 2023 date lives. It is not in § 95.11. It comes from the applicability clause of the session law, ch. 2023-15. Cite the session law for the date and the statute for the period — and treat any source that does not distinguish them with caution. See the statute of limitations guide.