Florida HB 837 Tort Reform: What It Means for Your Personal Injury Claim

In March 2023, Florida enacted HB 837, the most sweeping set of changes to Florida civil practice in decades. If you were injured in Florida after March 24, 2023, these rules shape what your claim is worth, how long you have to bring it, and how insurers negotiate. Here are the changes that matter most.

Comparative Fault: The 51 Percent Bar

Florida used to follow pure comparative negligence, meaning you could recover damages even if you were mostly at fault, reduced by your percentage of fault. HB 837 changed that for negligence claims. Now, if you are found more than 50 percent at fault for your own injuries, you recover nothing. Expect insurers to fight harder over fault percentages, because pushing you past that line ends the claim entirely. Thorough investigation and early evidence preservation matter more than ever.

The Deadline Dropped From Four Years to Two

Before HB 837, most Florida negligence claims carried a four year statute of limitations. The new law cut that to two years. Claims that accrue after March 24, 2023 must be filed within two years of the incident, with limited exceptions. Waiting, which was risky before, is now dangerous. Medical treatment, insurance notice, and legal review should all happen promptly.

Bad Faith and Insurance Changes

HB 837 also reworked Florida’s bad faith framework. It added safe harbors and timelines for insurers responding to settlement demands, allowed interpleader in multi claimant situations, and provides that a claimant’s own negligence can be considered in a bad faith action. Practically, settlement demands must now be drafted with the statute’s requirements in mind, precisely and on the record, to preserve leverage if an insurer refuses a fair settlement.

Medical Damages Transparency

The law changed how medical damages are proven at trial, tying recoverable amounts more closely to what health insurers or public programs pay, or in some cases 120 percent of Medicare or 170 percent of Medicaid rates for uninsured care. How treatment is documented and billed now has an outsized effect on the damages a jury may award, which is another reason coordinated medical and legal planning early in the case pays off.

What Has Not Changed

Serious injuries still deserve full compensation, and juries still punish reckless conduct. What changed is the margin for error. Fault fights are harder, deadlines are shorter, and the paper record matters more. An experienced Florida injury lawyer can evaluate how HB 837 applies to your facts before those rules cost you money.