Personal Injury · Products Liability
Deadlines: How Long Do You Have to File a Product Injury Claim in Florida?
Every injury claim has a clock. If the clock runs out, a court can throw the case out, no matter how badly you were hurt.
Products cases can involve two different kinds of deadlines. They work differently, and both matter.
Deadline one: the statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is the deadline to file a lawsuit after you are injured.
Florida's statute lists an action "for injury to a person founded on the design, manufacture, distribution, or sale of personal property that is not permanently incorporated in an improvement to real property, including fixtures" among actions with a four-year period. Section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes. For products claims, Florida's statute says that period runs from when the facts giving rise to the claim were discovered, or should have been discovered with due diligence. Section 95.031(2)(b), Florida Statutes.
But there is a catch. Florida also has a two-year limit for negligence claims, which applies to "an action founded on negligence." Section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes. Many product cases include a negligence count. A wrongful death claim also has its own two-year period. Section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes.
The Florida Legislature shortened the general negligence deadline in 2023 (Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida). How that change interacts with a products claim can depend on how the claim is brought and when the injury happened.
The safe approach is to treat two years from the injury as your deadline and talk to a lawyer well before then. Do not assume you have four.
Deadline two: the statute of repose
A statute of repose is different. It sets a final cutoff measured from when the product was sold or delivered, not from when you were hurt. Section 95.031(2)(b), Florida Statutes, contains Florida's products liability repose period.
For most products, the cutoff is 12 years after the product was delivered to its first consumer buyer, the first buyer who was not in the business of selling it. There are exceptions, including longer periods for some products and for products the maker warranted in writing to last longer. Because the rule turns on dates and details, it is something a lawyer should check for your product.
This matters most for older products:
- A ladder bought years ago.
- A vehicle part that was installed long before the injury.
- A tool handed down in the family.
The repose deadline can run out even before a person is injured. Whether it applies, and which exceptions might apply, depends on the product and the facts.
Why the dates are not always simple
Questions that can change the answer:
- When exactly was the injury?
- When was the product first sold?
- Was it a new product or a used one?
- Did the maker promise a useful life in writing?
- Is the claim about negligence, strict liability, warranty, or wrongful death?
- Is the injured person a child?
- Is a government body involved?
Claims against government bodies
If a government body may be responsible, written notice rules apply and are strict. Section 768.28(6), Florida Statutes. Call early.
Warranty claims
Warranty claims can have their own notice rules. Do not wait to learn them.
What happens if the deadline is missed
A defendant raises the deadline as a defense and asks the court to dismiss. If the court agrees, the case ends, whatever the merits.
Why act early anyway
Deadlines are not the only reason. Evidence disappears. Products are thrown away. Stores overwrite video. Companies change their records. The sooner we start, the more of the evidence we can save.
What to do now
- Write down the date of the injury.
- Write down the date and place you got the product.
- Keep the product, receipt, and packaging.
- Do not wait for the insurance company to finish.
- Call a lawyer soon.
Talk to us
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This page is general information, not legal advice. Deadlines depend on the facts, and the law can change.