How Did Florida's 2023 Tort Reform Change Car Accident Claims?

Florida changed the ground rules for injury lawsuits in March 2023, and car accidents are where most people will feel it. The law, House Bill 837, became chapter 2023-15 of the Laws of Florida when the governor signed it on March 24, 2023, and it took effect that day. It left the basic personal injury protection benefits in place, but it changed who can recover after a crash, how long they have to sue, how medical bills are proven, and the pressure points between insurers and claimants. Here is what changed and how it can affect a Florida driver on either side of a claim.

When the changes apply

Timing matters because many accidents from before the law are still being resolved. The act includes three applicability rules worth knowing:

• The shorter filing deadline applies to causes of action that accrue after the effective date, March 24, 2023.
• Except where the act says otherwise, its changes apply to lawsuits filed after the effective date.
• To the extent the act affects rights under an insurance contract, it applies to contracts issued or renewed after the effective date.

So a crash in early 2023 and a crash in 2025 may be handled under different rules, even when the facts look alike.

Modified comparative negligence: the 51 percent bar

Before the reform, Florida used pure comparative negligence: an injured person's recovery was reduced by their share of fault, but they could still recover something even if they were mostly to blame. The comparative fault statute, section 768.81, still says contributory fault reduces damages proportionately, but it now adds a hard cutoff. In a negligence action, a party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for their own harm may not recover any damages. That cutoff does not apply to medical negligence cases.

In practice:

• A driver found 30 percent at fault for a crash with $100,000 in damages can recover $70,000.
• A driver found exactly 50 percent at fault can still recover half.
• A driver found 51 percent at fault recovers nothing from the other driver.

Because the difference between 50 and 51 percent is now the difference between a recovery and none, fault allocation has become a much bigger fight in disputed crashes. Photos, witness names, dashcam footage and the police report matter more than they used to.

Two years to file a negligence lawsuit

The act moved negligence actions out of Florida's four-year category in section 95.11 and into the two-year category. For accidents after March 24, 2023, a negligence lawsuit generally has to be filed within two years. The statute contains other deadlines for other kinds of claims, and exceptions can apply, so the exact deadline for a particular claim is a question for a Florida lawyer, and it is one to ask early.

Two years passes quickly when someone is still treating for an injury or waiting on an insurer's decision. Keeping a claim file organized from day one, including every letter from each insurer, makes it easier to act before time runs out.

How medical bills are proven now

The reform added section 768.0427, which limits the evidence that can be used to prove medical damages in injury and wrongful death cases:

• For past bills that have been paid, evidence is limited to the amount actually paid, regardless of who paid it.
• For unpaid bills, if the claimant has health coverage other than Medicare or Medicaid, the evidence includes what that coverage would pay, plus the claimant's share.
• If the claimant has no health coverage, or has Medicare or Medicaid, the evidence includes 120 percent of the Medicare rate, or 170 percent of the Medicaid rate when there is no Medicare rate.
• Treatment under a letter of protection, where a provider waits to be paid from a settlement, triggers disclosure requirements, including itemized and coded bills, any sale of the receivable to a factoring company, and whether the claimant was referred for that treatment and by whom.

The practical effect is that the full billed amount is no longer the automatic starting point for medical damages. That can reduce the value of claims built on high billed charges.

Attorney fees and bad faith

HB 837 repealed section 627.428, the statute on attorney fees awarded against insurers, which policyholders had relied on when suing their own insurer. It also changed section 624.155, which governs bad faith claims against insurers. Two changes stand out:

• A bad faith action involving a liability claim cannot be brought if the insurer tenders the lesser of the policy limits or the amount demanded within 90 days after receiving actual notice of a claim accompanied by sufficient evidence to support the amount.
• In any bad faith action, mere negligence alone is not enough to establish bad faith.

For an at-fault driver, these rules shape how the insurer handles a serious claim against them. For an injured person, they shape the leverage available when negotiating with the other driver's insurer.

What stayed: PIP benefits and the tort threshold

Florida's no-fault system still sits underneath all of this. Personal injury protection under section 627.736 still pays up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits and $5,000 in death benefits, with medical benefits at 80 percent of reasonable expenses for necessary care, if the injured person receives initial services within 14 days of the accident. And section 627.737 still limits lawsuits for pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience to cases involving significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability (other than scarring or disfigurement), significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.

The act did touch PIP disputes in one way: the attorney fee provision in section 627.736(8) now refers only to the offer-of-judgment statute, section 768.79, with the reference to the repealed section 627.428 removed. Most of the other changes matter once a claim moves past PIP into a lawsuit against an at-fault driver.

What drivers can do with this

• Revisit your liability limits. Claims against you may be resolved differently under the new rules, but a serious crash can still exceed low limits.
• Look hard at uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. If the other driver's coverage is thin, your own coverage may be the main source of recovery for injuries beyond PIP.
• Document the scene. With the 51 percent bar, evidence of fault is worth more than ever.
• Calendar the two-year window and talk to a lawyer promptly if you were injured.

If you are not sure what your current auto policy includes, the free policy translation tool can turn the declarations and wording into a plain-English summary to check against the policy itself.

Frequently asked questions

If I am 50 percent at fault in a Florida crash, can I still recover anything?

Yes. Section 768.81 bars recovery only when a party is found greater than 50 percent at fault for their own harm. At exactly 50 percent, the recovery is reduced by half rather than eliminated.

Does the two-year deadline apply to an accident from 2022?

The act applies the shorter deadline to causes of action that accrued after March 24, 2023. Older claims generally keep the prior deadline, but any claim close to a deadline needs a lawyer's review right away.

Did the 2023 reform change Florida's PIP benefits?

The benefit amounts did not change: section 627.736 still provides $10,000 for medical and disability benefits and $5,000 for death benefits, with the 14-day rule for initial treatment. The act did change the attorney fee rule for PIP disputes, which now points to the offer-of-judgment statute.

Can I still get attorney fees if I sue my own insurer?

Section 627.428, the statute on attorney fees awarded against insurers, was repealed by HB 837. How the repeal applies to a particular policy and lawsuit depends on the act's applicability rules and the dates involved, so ask a lawyer about your situation.

What Truscott recommends

The 2023 reform put more weight on your own coverage choices, especially liability limits and uninsured motorist protection, because recovering from someone else has become more conditional. A Truscott policy checkup reviews those limits against your household's assets and driving, explains what each coverage does under current Florida law, and compares options from several carriers. When you are ready, request an auto quote and we will walk through the choices with you.