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A county truck runs a light and hits you. A city bus changes lanes into your car. A public works crew leaves a hazard in the road. In each case you have a claim, and in each case a rule applies that does not exist in an ordinary crash.
Florida limits what a government entity can actually pay. The limit sits well below what many serious injury cases are worth, and a separate notice requirement can end the claim before anyone reaches the question of value. This guide covers what the cap does, what it does not do, the deadline that comes first, and the one route past the ceiling.
The State Waived Immunity, Within Limits
Government entities start from immunity. Florida gave that up only partially, by statute, and only where a private person would be liable for the same conduct. That last condition matters more than people expect.
Operational failures generally qualify. A driver who runs a light, a crew that leaves a hazard, and a maintenance department that ignores a known defect all fall inside the waiver. Discretionary policy decisions generally do not. A city’s choice about where to spend its budget is not the same as its failure to fix a signal it already agreed to repair.
The Cap Limits Payment, Not the Verdict
This distinction confuses almost everyone, including some lawyers. Florida caps collection at 200,000 dollars per person and 300,000 dollars for all claims arising from the same incident.
The cap does not limit what a jury may award. A jury can return a verdict of several million dollars against a county, and the court enters that judgment as found. The agency simply cannot be compelled to pay past the statutory figures. So a case can be fully won and still only partly collectible.
The per-incident number does real damage in multi-victim cases. When a government vehicle injures five people, those five share 300,000 dollars in total. Punitive damages and prejudgment interest sit outside the waiver entirely.
The Caps Did Not Rise in 2026
You may have read that the limits went up this year. They did not, and the mistake is easy to make.
The Legislature passed HB 145 in March 2026 by a striking margin, 36 to 0 in the Senate and 108 to 1 in the House. The bill would have raised the caps to 350,000 dollars per person and 500,000 dollars per incident for claims accruing on or after October 1, 2026. Governor DeSantis vetoed it on June 30, 2026, citing concern about unmeritorious lawsuits and costs to local governments. The official bill history records the veto, and the Florida Bar News reported the reasoning.
The practical result is that the 200,000 and 300,000 figures still control, as they have since 2010. Articles written in the spring of 2026 often describe the higher numbers as settled. Check the date on anything that quotes 350,000 dollars.
Where These Claims Usually Come From
Transit buses generate the most of them in South Florida, followed by school buses and school board vehicles. City and county fleet vehicles account for a large share too. Public hospitals bring their own overlay of medical negligence rules.
Road and sidewalk defects are a separate category, and they turn on notice. The question is whether the entity knew about the hazard or should have known, and whether fixing it was an operational duty rather than a budget choice. Maintenance logs and prior complaint records usually decide it.
One detail is worth checking early in every case. Governments contract out a great deal of work, including landscaping, road construction, security, and vehicle maintenance. A private contractor carries ordinary liability with no statutory cap at all. Finding one in the chain can change the value of the claim entirely, which is why the identity of every party on scene deserves attention from the start.
The Notice Requirement Comes First
Before suing, you must present a written claim to the responsible agency. Claims involving a state agency also go to the Department of Financial Services. This is a condition of bringing the case at all, not a formality.
The general window is three years from when the claim accrues, and two years for wrongful death. The agency then gets 180 days to investigate and respond. You cannot file suit until it denies the claim or that period runs out. Agencies often use the full 180 days, so building that time into your planning matters.
Identifying the right entity is its own problem. Transit authorities, school boards, sheriff’s offices, independent special districts, and contractors working for a city all have different identities. Sending proper notice to the wrong agency protects nothing.
The Route Past the Ceiling
An injured person can collect above the cap only through a claim bill. The Legislature passes these individually, each one authorizing payment of a specific excess judgment to a specific person.
Claim bills are slow and uncertain. They take years, they require legislative sponsors, and they fail regularly regardless of how sympathetic the facts are. Treat a claim bill as a possibility rather than a plan.
The volume gives a sense of the backlog. The Legislature receives these filings every session, and a sizable share name the same large counties year after year. Families with catastrophic injuries sit in that queue while medical bills continue.
Insurance sometimes changes the picture. Many entities carry coverage, and obtaining it does not by itself raise the statutory limits or waive any immunity defense. What coverage exists, and how the entity treats it, is worth investigating early rather than assuming.
Steps That Protect a Claim Against a Government Entity
- Do not wait to identify exactly which entity owned the vehicle or controlled the property
- Do not treat the written notice as optional, because it is a condition of suing
- Do not assume the caps rose this year, since the 2026 increase was vetoed
- Do not overlook a private contractor, who may carry ordinary uncapped liability
- Do not accept an early offer at the cap before anyone values the full claim
State-Specific Notes
The rules above are Florida law. Milano Legal Group also serves Arizona, California, and Texas, and each limits government claims differently. Arizona requires a notice of claim within 180 days and shortens the filing deadline to one year. California generally requires a claim within six months. Texas applies its own tort claims act, with notice requirements often shortened further by local charters. Damage caps differ everywhere, and none of these deadlines behaves like the ordinary two year rule people expect.
How Milano Legal Group Can Help
These claims punish delay more than any other kind of injury case. We identify the correct entity quickly, serve notice that satisfies the statute, and look past the government defendant for private contractors and insurers who may not be capped at all. Then we value the case honestly, including what the ceiling means for your recovery. Learn more about our local practice on our Fort Lauderdale car accidents page, or see how we handle transit and public vehicle cases on our bus accidents page.
We work on a contingency basis, so there are no fees unless we win. Call Milano Legal Group today at 855-545-1777 for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. Serving clients throughout Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas.
