The statute of limitations change got the most attention, but the comparative fault shift is the one that affects more cases day-to-day.
Florida cut the personal injury filing window from four years to two in 2023. Most people don’t find that out until it’s already a problem.
Fort Myers isn’t small anymore. Lee County hit 800,000 residents in the 2020 census, and the roads, the commercial strips, the construction zones have all caught up with that growth in the worst way. US-41 alone sees rear-end collisions and pedestrian accidents constantly. More people, slower infrastructure, and insurance companies that have been doing this longer than you have.
Someone will call you fast after an accident. Within days sometimes. That’s not a coincidence.
Adjusters move early because early settlements are cheaper. You haven’t seen a specialist yet. You don’t know if you need surgery. You’re still in pain and trying to figure out how to pay your next bill, and someone is on the phone offering you a number that sounds reasonable until six months from now when it isn’t.
Florida requires $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection coverage. PIP covers 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages up to the limit, regardless of fault. A single ER visit after a moderate crash commonly runs $8,000 to $15,000 before imaging, specialists, or follow-up. The math doesn’t work, and that’s before you factor in anything serious.
A herniated disc treated without surgery can look like a $12,000 problem. Then 18 months later you need the surgery anyway, and now you’re at $80,000 to $120,000. If you already settled and signed the release, that’s a permanent decision. Florida courts don’t reopen closed cases. Nobody is coming back to fix it.
This is where most people lose the most money. Not at trial. Not in some legal technicality. At the settlement table, too early, with an incomplete picture of what the injury actually cost them.
Florida’s 2023 Tort Reform Made Things Harder
The statute of limitations change got the most attention, but the comparative fault shift is the one that affects more cases day-to-day.
Old rule: you could recover damages even if you were 99% at fault, just reduced proportionally. New rule: if you’re found more than 50% responsible, you collect nothing. Insurers know this. They will look for any angle to push your share of fault past that threshold, and a recorded statement given days after a crash, while you’re still rattled and haven’t spoken to anyone, is one of the easiest ways for them to do it.
You’re not required to give a recorded statement. Don’t.
Understanding how injury law actually works before you talk to any adjuster is worth the time. Not because it makes you a lawyer. Because it means you can follow what’s happening in your own case.
Document everything before it disappears. Photo of the unmarked wet floor before they put out the cone. Crash damage photos that show the force of impact. Police report through the FLHSMV portal, which is public record in Florida. Every medical bill, every referral, every prescription.
Then write down, in plain language, what the injury actually did to your life. Not the clinical version. You couldn’t lift your kid for six weeks. You lost the accounts at work that you’d spent three years building. You haven’t slept through the night since it happened. Write that down while it’s still specific, because pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life are real compensation categories, and vague descriptions don’t hold up.
Gaps in treatment get used against you too. Even a two-week break in care becomes an argument that you weren’t that hurt, or that the injury came from somewhere else. Adjusters look for those gaps on purpose.
Stay off social media entirely. This is not advice being offered casually.
Who You Hire Matters More Than People Admit
Lee County has no shortage of personal injury attorneys. Some are general practitioners who take injury cases alongside everything else. That’s not the same as someone who has spent years specifically inside this type of litigation, inside these local courts, in front of these judges.
Ask them directly: do you personally handle cases, or do they get passed to associates? Have you actually taken cases to jury trial, or does everything settle? Those aren’t rude questions. An attorney who has a track record of going to trial gets treated differently by insurance companies than one who doesn’t. Insurers know the difference and it affects what they offer.
Most Florida personal injury attorneys work on contingency. Typically 33% pre-suit, up to 40% at trial. You pay nothing upfront. If they recover nothing, they get nothing. Understand that structure before you sign a retainer.
Marc Anidjar is a Fort Myers-area attorney who has focused specifically on personal injury rather than spreading across multiple practice areas. That kind of focus is worth weighing when you’re making this decision.
When you’re looking for legal help for injury victims in Fort Myers, the right attorney answers those questions without hesitation and without a pitch.
One more thing.
Don’t settle before you’ve reached maximum medical improvement. MMI is the point where your condition has stabilized enough that your doctors can give you a realistic picture of long-term needs. Surgery, ongoing therapy, lifetime medication, reduced earning capacity. Settling before that point means agreeing to a number built on incomplete information.
The two-year clock is real. But there’s no benefit to rushing toward a number that doesn’t cover what your injury actually costs. Take the time. Get the full picture first.
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