How Long Do I Have to File a Car Accident Claim in Florida?

This turns on a single date. In most cases you have two years from the date of the crash to file an injury lawsuit in Florida, a deadline cut from four years by a 2023 change in the law. The clock generally starts on the crash date itself, not the day an injury reveals how serious it is. Because the window is short, getting legal advice early is the safe move.

What If I Was Partly at Fault for My Naples Car Accident?

The honest answer is that it depends on how much fault, and there is a hard line. Florida uses a modified comparative negligence rule: if your share of the blame is 50% or less, you can still recover, with the award reduced by your percentage. Above 50%, recovery disappears. That sharp cutoff is exactly why insurers work to push more of the blame onto you.

How Does No-Fault Insurance Work After a Florida Crash?

The surprise for most people is whose insurance pays first. In Florida, your own personal injury protection coverage does, whoever caused the crash, covering 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages up to $10,000. Treatment is generally required within 14 days. PIP does not reach pain and suffering, which comes within reach only when an injury is serious enough to carry the claim outside no-fault.

How Is the Value of My Car Accident Claim Determined?

Two things drive it: the harm and the proof. A claim’s value turns on the severity of the injury, the medical care still ahead, the wages and earning capacity lost, and how much the crash has reshaped daily life, and all of that has to be documented. No trustworthy lawyer will name a figure before that picture is clear. A careful valuation also counts what is still to come, from future treatment to long-term limits on the ability to earn.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Naples Car Accident Lawyer?

The real question is whether you can afford to hire one, and the answer is yes. The work is handled on a contingency fee, which means there is no fee unless you win. The fee is a percentage of the recovery, stays within the limits set by the Florida Bar, and is agreed in writing before the case begins. Clients may be responsible for certain case costs, and the first consultation is free.

What Should I Do Right After a Car Accident in Naples?

The first hours decide more than people expect. Call 911 so the crash goes on the official record, then see a doctor quickly, within the 14-day window, to keep your PIP coverage available. Photograph the vehicles, the road, and your injuries, and gather contact details from any witnesses. Be cautious with the other driver’s insurer, and wait until you have spoken with a lawyer before giving any recorded statement.

Injured? We Fight Until You Get Paid.

Florida No-Fault Insurance and the Deadline to File Your Injury Claim

Florida runs on no-fault insurance, which puts your own coverage first in line. Personal injury protection (PIP) pays after any crash regardless of fault: 80% of medical bills, 60% of lost wages, $10,000 at the most. Pain and suffering sits outside that coverage entirely.

One short window decides whether that coverage is there when you need it. You generally have to see a doctor within 14 days of the crash to use your PIP benefits at all. Miss that window, and the coverage can be gone for good. It is a rule a lot of Naples drivers never hear about until the deadline has already passed.

Serious injuries change the picture. A permanent injury, significant scarring, the loss of an important bodily function: any of these lets you step outside no-fault and bring a claim straight against the at-fault driver for what PIP never covers. Fault becomes the central fight at that point. Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule, say a jury values your claim at $400,000 but finds you 28% responsible. You recover $288,000. Cross 50%, and you recover nothing at all.

And all of it runs against a clock. Florida shortened the filing deadline in 2023, from four years to two, and the two years count from the crash date itself, well before most people have finished treatment.