Statute of Limitations

Were you recently injured in an accident in West Palm Beach, or another part of Florida that was not your fault? If you plan on filing a personal injury claim, you’ll want to become familiar with the laws that can and will affect your case, namely the “statute of limitations” for filing a personal injury lawsuit in Florida.

Every state has enacted a “statute of limitations” for personal injury claims. This refers to the deadline for filing a personal injury claim or civil lawsuit against the individual or entity that is legally “at-fault” for your injuries.

Florida’s Statute of Limitations

Unlike some other states, Florida has a rather generous statute of limitations for personal injury claims. Under Section 95.11 of the Florida Statutes, injured parties have four years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party. If you fail to file your case within the four years, you lose your right to file permanently.

However, if you did not “discover” that your injury was caused by the accident or incident until sometime later, the courts may allow you to extend that window. Additionally, if you are filing a claim against a city, county, or state government, the statute of limitations is shorter: you have three years to file a claim in those cases.

What is Comparative Negligence?

In some personal injury cases, the person or business you are trying to file a claim against may respond by saying that you were to blame for your injuries, in whole or in part. If you are in fact partially responsible for your injuries, it can reduce the amount of compensation you receive from the other at-fault party, whether it’s an individual or business. Under Florida’s “pure comparative negligence rule,” your compensation would be reduced by an amount equal to your percentage of fault in the accident.

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