Statute of Limitations and Exceptions for Personal Injury Claims
In Florida, individuals who are injured in accidents through no fault of their own can recover financial compensation for their losses by filing a personal injury suit against the at-fault party. However, this is only possible when injured parties file claims within a certain amount of time, known as a statute of limitations. Plaintiffs who fail to file a claim before the statute of limitations runs out will almost always have their suits barred by the court, leaving them to bear the full cost of their losses on their own. To ensure that this does not happen to you due to a failure to file your claim on time, please contact a member of our personal injury legal team today.
The Circumstances of the Claim
Most statutes of limitations clocks start running at the time of the accident in question, although this is not always true. In some cases, for example, the clock does not start to run until the plaintiff actually notices his or her injury. This is not the only factor that affects the amount of time that a person has to file a claim, which also depends on the specific circumstances involved in a case, including:
- The nature of the claim; and
- Whether the at-fault party was a private or public entity.
There are a few other different circumstances, in which a deadline for filing a claim can be extended or shortened. If, for instance, the defendant in a case fled the jurisdiction, the court could be willing to extend the amount of time that the plaintiff has to file the claim. Similarly, victims who are under the age of 18 years old have seven years from the date of their injury to file a claim, or until the end of the standard deadline for a case, whichever is longer. For help determining how long you have to file your own injury claim, please contact our office at your earliest convenience.
Statute of Limitations for Civil Cases
The deadlines for filing civil injury claims in Florida are as follows:
- Personal injury claims, which must be filed within four years of the date of the injury;
- Medical malpractice claims, which must be filed within two years of the negligent act in question;
- Assault and battery, which must be filed within two years from the date of the incident;
- Product liability claims, which must be filed within two, four, or five years depending on the specific circumstances of the case; and
- Wrongful death claims, which must be filed within two years from the date of the accident victim’s death.
Although these are the general time limits for the statute of limitations in Florida, other time limits could apply in certain types of cases, so it is important for plaintiffs to bring their claims to the attention of an experienced attorney as soon as possible after an accident.
Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney
Timely attention from an attorney can help plaintiffs avoid having their claims barred by the courts, so if you were hurt in an accident, please call 954-566-9919 to speak with the dedicated Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers at Boone & Davis about the deadlines for your own case.
Resource:
floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/florida-medical-malpractice-and-the-statute-of-limitations/
