Florida car accident settlement calculator

Florida filing deadlines

HB 837 (ch. 2023-15, effective March 24, 2023) moved negligence actions from 4 years to 2 years; applies to causes of action accruing after that date. The 2026 statutes renumbered the 2-year list to subsection (5). Negligence-based vehicle property damage falls under 'an action founded on negligence' (2 years). Government notice per s. 768.28(6)(a): 'presents such claim in writing... within 3 years after such claim accrues'.

If you were partly at fault

Florida follows modified comparative negligence, 51% bar. Your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, and you recover nothing if you were more at fault than the other side (51% or more). At exactly 50% you still recover half.

• With $100,000 in damages and 30% of the fault, you would recover $70,000.
• With 55% of the fault, you would recover $0, because the rule bars your claim.

Added by HB 837 (2023) for actions filed after March 24, 2023. Does not apply to medical negligence claims under ch. 766, which remain pure comparative fault.

Source: Fla. Stat. 768.81(6). Compare all states in the comparative negligence table.

No-fault state

Your own personal injury protection pays your medical bills and lost wages first, with a required minimum of $10,000 medical and disability benefits (medical paid at 80%, disability at 60% of lost income) plus $5,000 death benefit. The threshold to claim pain and suffering from the at-fault driver: Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability (other than scarring), significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death

2026 Florida Statutes. Medical benefits require initial treatment within 14 days of the accident. Threshold limits only noneconomic damages; economic damages above PIP can be sued for. Proposals to repeal PIP (2023-2025 sessions) were not enacted as of the 2026 statutes (627.736 history ends with ch. 2025-4).

Minimum car insurance in Florida

No bodily injury liability coverage required for most drivers; $10,000 of property damage liability. Uninsured motorist coverage is optional or can be rejected in writing.

Many drivers carry only the minimum, so the bodily injury limit is often the most the at-fault driver's insurer will pay one person. Florida does not require bodily injury liability coverage for most drivers: required coverage is $10,000 PIP + $10,000 property damage liability. UM coverage is required in BI policies unless 'an insured named in the policy makes a written rejection of the coverage' (627.727), so not mandatory; and since BI is not required, UM is not either.

Damage caps

Florida does not cap pain and suffering in ordinary car accident cases. Punitive damages: Greater of 3x compensatory or $500,000; if motivated solely by unreasonable financial gain and known dangerous, greater of 4x compensatory or $2,000,000; no cap if the defendant had a specific intent to harm and did harm the claimant

No general noneconomic cap. The medical malpractice noneconomic caps in 766.118 were held unconstitutional.

Dog bite law

Strict liability statute. Covers bites only, to persons in a public place or lawfully on private property (including the owner's). Victim's own negligence reduces damages proportionally. Owner not liable if a prominent, easily readable 'Bad Dog' sign was displayed, except for victims under age 6 or where the owner was negligent.

Source: Fla. Stat. 767.04. Estimate a claim with the dog bite calculator.