Florida statute of limitations

This table is the fast answer. Each period is followed by the statute it comes from. Personal-injury periods are stamped Exact because we verify them against the statute every quarter; the others are cited to the controlling section and were confirmed July 2026.

Two years from the date of injury, for claims arising on or after March 24, 2023. That deadline lives in Florida Statutes § 95.11(5)(a), added by HB 837. Before that date the period was four years, and claims that accrued earlier keep the old four-year window — the two regimes run in parallel for the next several years, which is why the accrual date matters so much.

The two-year clock covers most negligence claims: car, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian, and truck accidents, slip-and-falls, and dog bites. It runs from the date of the incident. Florida does not apply a general discovery rule to ordinary negligence — for a standard accident, the clock starts on the day it happened, not when you finish treatment or learn the full extent of your injuries.

The HB 837 context. The same 2023 law also moved Florida from pure to modified comparative negligence: a plaintiff found more than 50% at fault now recovers nothing (§ 768.81). That doesn't change the filing deadline, but it changes what a late or weak claim is worth.

Two years from when you discovered, or should have discovered, the injury — but no more than four years from the incident itself. That is the rule in § 95.11(5)(c). Fraud or concealment can extend the four-year outer limit to seven years, and a claim on behalf of a child is generally not barred before the child's eighth birthday. Florida also requires a pre-suit investigation and notice under Chapter 766 before a malpractice suit can be filed.

Five years for a written contract, which covers most consumer debt. That deadline is set by § 95.11(2)(b), and the clock generally starts on the date of your first missed payment. An oral or open-account debt is four years (§ 95.11(3)(k)). As in every state, making a payment or acknowledging the debt in writing can restart the clock — worth understanding before you respond to a collector on an old account.

You must give written notice of the claim within three years (two for wrongful death) under § 768.28(6) before you can sue a Florida government entity — a city, county, the state, a public hospital, or a government employee on the job. The notice requirement is separate from the lawsuit deadline; meeting it does not extend your time to file. Sovereign-immunity caps also limit recovery to $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident.

A statute of limitations is an affirmative defense. File late and the defendant raises the expired deadline, and the court will dismiss the case — regardless of how clear the liability or how serious the injury. A few narrow exceptions can pause the clock: the plaintiff was a minor or legally incapacitated, or the defendant fraudulently concealed the injury. None are safe to rely on without legal advice, and negotiating with an insurer never pauses the deadline.

Each period above is cited to the controlling Florida statute and was verified against the official Florida Statutes on July 12, 2026. Primary source: the Florida Legislature (flsenate.gov). Personal-injury periods are additionally cross-checked every quarter and stamped Exact in the calculator.

• Negligence / personal injury — Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a) (2 yr on/after 2023-03-24, HB 837; 4 yr before; renumbered from (4)(a) in the 2024 reorganization)
• Medical malpractice — § 95.11(5)(c) (2 yr discovery / 4 yr repose / 7 yr fraud)
• Intentional torts, property damage, product liability, oral contract — § 95.11(3)
• Written contract / debt — § 95.11(2)(b)
• Government claims — § 768.28(6); comparative negligence — § 768.81