Why Boating Accident Claims Are Different
Several things set boating injury claims apart:
- Federal maritime law may apply. Many Florida boating accidents happen on navigable waters, such as the ocean, bays, inlets, and the Intracoastal Waterway, where federal maritime law can govern the claim and change the deadline, the shared-fault rules, and more.
- The owner may not be responsible. Florida law generally does not make a boat owner pay for someone else's careless operation unless the owner was driving or on board.
- An owner can ask a federal court to cap what it owes. Federal law lets many boat owners ask a federal court to limit their liability to the value of the boat after the accident. The cap does not apply if the owner knew of or shared in what caused the accident, and since December 2022 it is no longer available for many smaller tour, charter, and ferry boats carrying more than six passengers. When an owner files one of these cases, other cases against the owner generally stop, and injured people must file their claims in that federal case by a date the court sets.
A consultation with us is free, and there is no obligation. If we take your case, you owe no fee and no costs unless we recover money for you.
Common Boating Accidents and Their Causes
- Collisions with other boats, docks, bridges, or channel markers
- Jet ski and other personal watercraft accidents
- Rental boat and rental jet ski accidents
- Passengers thrown or falling overboard
- Swimmers and divers struck by a boat or propeller
- Tubing, water-skiing, and wakeboarding accidents
- Fishing charter, tour boat, and cruise ship injuries
In FWC's 2025 Boating Accident Statistical Report, the most common primary causes of reportable accidents were operator inattention, failure to keep a proper lookout, operator inexperience, machinery failure, and excessive speed. Other causes in the report include alcohol use, bad weather, hazardous waters, people standing or sitting on the gunwale, bow, or transom, overloading, and violations of navigation rules. Defective boats, engines, and parts can also cause accidents.
What to Do After a Boating Accident
- Get help: Call 911. If you have a marine radio, the Coast Guard advises using VHF channel 16 for a distress call. Get medical help for anyone who is hurt.
- Report the accident: Florida law requires the operator to notify FWC, the county sheriff, or the local police without delay if a boat capsizes, sinks, or collides with another boat or object, if anyone needs more than first aid, dies, or goes missing, or if there is at least $2,000 in property damage.
- Exchange information: Florida law requires operators involved in an accident to give their name, address, and boat identification in writing to anyone injured and to the owner of any damaged property. Also get the boat's registration number, the owner's name, insurance information, and witnesses' names and phone numbers.
- See a doctor: Get checked right away, even if you feel fine. Some injuries take time to show up, and medical records connect your injuries to the accident.
- Preserve the evidence: Photograph the boats, the damage, the conditions, and your injuries. If you can, keep the boat from being repaired or sold until it can be inspected, and save GPS data and rental paperwork.
- Be careful with insurance companies: Don't give a recorded statement to the other side's insurer or sign anything before talking to a lawyer.
Florida Boating Laws You Should Know
Boating under the influence
In Florida, it is a crime to operate a boat while under the influence of alcohol or drugs to the extent that your normal faculties are impaired, or with a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08 or higher. Blood and breath test results from a BUI investigation can be admitted as evidence in a civil injury case.
Boater education
Anyone born on or after January 1, 1988, who operates a boat with a motor of 10 horsepower or more must carry proof of boater education, such as a Florida boating safety identification card, along with photo ID. There are some exceptions.
Jet skis and other personal watercraft
Everyone on a personal watercraft, and anyone being towed, must wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket that is not an inflatable type. Except in a few situations, such as permitted races and exhibitions, no one may operate one from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, and no one under 14 may operate one.
Rental boats and jet skis
Businesses that rent boats without a captain must have a permit from FWC and must give renters safety instruction before they leave the dock. They may not knowingly rent an unseaworthy boat, rent to someone who needs a boater education card but cannot show one, or rent anything but a human-powered vessel, such as a kayak, to anyone under 18. Except for human-powered vessels, they must carry liability insurance of at least $500,000 per person and $1 million per event. A rental company that cuts corners may share responsibility for an accident.
When the owner wasn't driving
Florida law treats every boat as a dangerous instrumentality and requires operators to use the highest degree of care to prevent injuries to others. But responsibility for careless or reckless operation generally falls on the operator, not the owner, unless the owner was driving or on board. The owner can still be responsible for their own carelessness, such as knowingly letting an unqualified or impaired person take the boat out.
Shared fault
Under Florida law, if you are partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame, and if you are found more than 50% at fault, you generally cannot recover anything. Maritime law has traditionally reduced, rather than barred, recovery for an injured person's own fault.
Deadline to file a lawsuit
For injuries that happened after March 24, 2023, Florida generally gives you two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit. Injuries on or before that date generally have four years, and Florida wrongful death claims generally have two years. When federal maritime law applies, a lawsuit for personal injury or death generally must be filed within three years. Claims against a government agency, including the federal government, have extra notice rules and can have shorter deadlines. Because it is not always clear which law applies, we plan around the earliest deadline that could apply.
Cruise ship injuries
Federal law allows cruise lines to require written notice of an injury claim within as little as six months and a lawsuit within one year, and many cruise tickets set deadlines at or close to those limits. Tickets also commonly require any lawsuit to be filed in a specific court, often the federal court in Miami. If you were hurt on a cruise, keep your ticket and call a lawyer right away.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Every case is different, but compensation in a boating accident claim can include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish and emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Damage to your boat or other property
If a family member was killed, the family may have a wrongful death claim. If a death happened more than 3 nautical miles offshore, a federal law called the Death on the High Seas Act generally limits the family's recovery to financial losses. We look for every insurance policy that may apply, including boat, homeowners, and umbrella policies and a rental company's required coverage.
How We Build Your Boating Accident Case
- Free consultation: Tell us what happened. We'll tell you in plain terms whether you have a claim and what comes next.
- Investigation: We gather the accident report, BUI test results, photos, GPS data, rental records, and witness statements, and have the boat inspected when needed.
- Who is responsible: We look at everyone who may share the blame: the operator, the owner, a rental or charter company, a marina or repair shop, or the maker of a defective part.
- Which law applies: We figure out early whether Florida law or federal maritime law governs, because that can change the deadline, the shared-fault rules, and where the case can be filed.
- Negotiation, and trial if needed: We present your claim to the insurers and negotiate for a fair settlement. If they won't make a fair offer, we file suit and get your case ready for trial.