You Have Two Years — Not Four. How Florida's 2023 Tort Reform Changed the Clock on Every Food Allergy Injury Claim.

If you search for Florida's personal injury deadline, you will still find pages telling you that you have four years. For most injuries that happened on or after March 24, 2023, that is wrong — and relying on it can cost you your case permanently.

On that date, Florida's tort reform law, HB 837, took effect. It made two changes that matter enormously to anyone injured by an allergic reaction in Florida: it cut the filing deadline in half, and it changed how a jury's assignment of fault affects what you take home.

Change One: Two Years to File, Not Four

HB 837 amended Florida Statute § 95.11 to reduce the limitations period for actions founded on negligence from four years to two. The change applies to causes of action accruing on or after March 24, 2023. Injuries before that date generally keep the older four-year window.

A note on citations, because this trips up even careful readers: a 2024 statutory reorganization renumbered the provision. Many sources still cite the negligence deadline as § 95.11(4)(a), while others cite § 95.11(5)(a). The subsection numbering moved; the two-year rule did not.

Wrongful death claims are also on a two-year clock, measured from the date of death rather than from the date of the underlying injury.

For a food allergy case, that two-year window has to absorb a lot: obtaining complete emergency department and hospital records, identifying the correct corporate entity behind a franchise or a restaurant group, sending preservation demands before video is overwritten, retaining any needed expert, and attempting pre-suit resolution. Two years is not a generous cushion. It is a working deadline.

Some Allergy Cases Run on Even Shorter Clocks

The two-year rule is the baseline, not the universal answer. Several categories common in Florida allergy litigation move faster:

Cruise ship reactions

If your reaction happened aboard a cruise ship, your rights are governed largely by the passenger ticket contract and federal maritime law, not by Florida's general negligence statute. Federal law at 46 U.S.C. § 30508 permits passenger vessel operators to contractually shorten deadlines to as little as six months for written notice of a claim and one year to file suit — and every major cruise line's contract does exactly that. Those clauses are routinely enforced. The same contracts typically require suit to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami.

Public schools, universities, and other government defendants

A reaction at a public school, a state college dining hall, or another government facility triggers Florida Statute § 768.28. That statute requires written pre-suit notice to the agency and to the Department of Financial Services, imposes a waiting period before suit may be filed, and caps recovery against government entities. Miss the notice step and the claim can be barred regardless of how strong it is.

Packaged food and product claims

Claims sounding in products liability and breach of warranty can run on different clocks than general negligence, and products claims are subject to Florida's statute of repose in § 95.031. Where a case can be framed in more than one way, the applicable deadline depends on the theory pleaded.

The takeaway is not to memorize these. It is to recognize that "I have two years" may not be true in your particular case, and that assuming it is can be irreversible.

Change Two: The 51% Bar

Before 2023, Florida followed pure comparative negligence. A plaintiff found 70% at fault for their own injury still recovered 30% of their damages. That system is gone.

HB 837 amended Florida Statute § 768.81 to adopt modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar. Now, a plaintiff found more than 50% responsible for their own harm recovers nothing. At 50% or less, the award is reduced by the assigned percentage.

On a claim with $300,000 in proven damages: a plaintiff found 40% at fault recovers $180,000. A plaintiff found 55% at fault recovers zero. The difference between 49% and 51% is the whole case.

Why the 51% Bar Hits Allergy Cases Especially Hard

Comparative fault arguments in allergy cases write themselves, and defense counsel reaches for them every time:

• You knew you had a severe allergy and chose to eat food you did not prepare.
• You did not tell the server, or you told them too quietly, or you told the wrong person.
• You did not ask follow-up questions about preparation surfaces or shared fryers.
• You did not read the menu's allergen notice.
• You did not carry your epinephrine auto-injector, or you hesitated before using it.
• You waited before calling 911.

None of these arguments is automatically a winner. Florida law places real obligations on food service establishments — including, since July 1, 2023, requirements around allergen staff training, menu notice, and ingredient information — and a business does not escape responsibility simply because the customer knew they had an allergy. But under the current fault rules, these arguments are aimed squarely at pushing the jury past 50%.

That is why documentation is now more valuable than it has ever been in these cases. "I told them" is a memory. A POS ticket with an allergy flag, a delivery-app order with allergy instructions typed into the special-requests field, a text message sent from the table, or an email confirming a dietary accommodation is evidence.

What Else HB 837 Changed That Affects Your Recovery

One more provision is worth knowing. Florida Statute § 768.0427, added by the same law, changed how medical damages are proven at trial. For past medical expenses that have already been paid, generally only the amount actually paid — not the amount originally billed — is admissible. There are also new rules governing letters of protection and how future medical expenses are presented.

For an anaphylaxis case involving an ambulance ride, an emergency department visit, an observation admission, and follow-up allergy and psychological care, this changes what number the jury ever hears. It also makes complete, accurate billing and payment records more important than they used to be.

Practical Steps If Your Reaction Was Recent

• Write down the date and time. That is your anchor for every deadline that follows.
• Gather the order record, receipt, or app confirmation immediately — these are easiest to retrieve in the first days.
• Request your emergency department and EMS records rather than waiting for someone else to.
• Ask the business, in writing, to preserve surveillance video and internal incident reports.
• Photograph anything physical you still have: packaging, labels, leftover food, the menu.
• Keep treating and keep documenting. Gaps in treatment become arguments about causation.

Talk to Someone Before the Clock Runs, Not After

The most preventable outcome in this area of law is a strong case that expires. Deadlines in Florida allergy cases vary based on where the reaction happened, who the defendant is, and how the claim is framed — and the shortest applicable deadline is the one that controls.

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If you think you may have a case, Consumer Rights Law, PLLC offers free consultations and works on contingency — you pay nothing unless we win. Call (786) 360-7697 or visit consumerrights.law.

Consumer Rights Law, PLLC — Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.