Practice Area

Most personal injury claims settle before a lawsuit is ever filed. A lawsuit is the formal court process — it begins when your lawyer files a complaint and serves the at-fault party with a summons. Once the case is in the court system, both sides exchange written questions (interrogatories), document requests, and depositions — sworn out-of-court testimony. That's the discovery phase. Most cases settle during or after discovery, often at mediation. A small percentage go all the way to trial in front of a judge or jury.

Filing suit doesn't mean the case won't settle — it usually means the insurance company stopped negotiating in good faith, the policy limits are in dispute, the statute of limitations is approaching, or the damages are large enough that the carrier won't pay fair value without the pressure of a trial date. Suit also unlocks the formal discovery tools that often produce the evidence a case needs.

In Florida, the statute of limitations for most negligence-based personal injury claims accruing on or after March 24, 2023 is two years. Older cases may still be governed by the prior four-year rule. Wrongful death is two years. Some claims (against government entities, for example) require formal pre-suit notice as much as six months in advance. Deadlines are not flexible. If you've been injured, don't wait.

Property damage is handled separately from your bodily injury claim. You have a few paths:

• The at-fault driver's property damage liability (PD) insurance. If they're insured and at fault, their PD coverage pays for your vehicle repairs (or the totaled value), reasonable rental, and — importantly — diminished value.
• Your own collision coverage. Faster, but you pay your deductible and your own carrier will then go after the at-fault carrier (subrogation).
• A combination. Sometimes the smartest play is to use your own collision so you're back on the road, then let your insurer fight for the diminished value separately.

Diminished value is the difference between what your vehicle was worth before the crash and what it's worth after — even after a perfect repair. A car with a crash on its Carfax is worth less, period. Florida law recognizes diminished value claims against the at-fault driver's insurance (it's not typically recoverable from your own policy unless the policy says so). The bigger the vehicle, the newer it is, and the more severe the damage, the bigger the diminished value claim. Many people don't know to ask for it — and the insurance company is happy to keep it that way.

You're also entitled to a comparable rental vehicle while yours is being repaired. If the at-fault carrier won't authorize one promptly, that's something a lawyer can usually fix with one phone call.