WHAT IS A LIMITATION OF LIABILITY ACTION IN A FLORIDA BOAT CRASH INJURY CASE?
A Limitation of Liability action is a lawsuit filed by an owner of a vessel in federal court in which that owner tries to limit damages of any and all claimants to the worth of the owner’s vessel after the casualty occurred. There are several aspects to this. First, the formal name of a “limitation” action is typically stated as “Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability” and can be found at the following statute number: 46 U.S.C. §§ 30501–30530. The origin of this “limitation” action is the U.S. Congress in 1851 which passed the statute to help the United States compete with other world sailing powers of that time. The premise then was that if a vessel owner leased (“chartered”) a vessel out to a competent crew, if the vessel was later involved in a casualty in which the vessel owner had no negligence, then the worst vessel owner would suffer economically is loss of the value of the vessel after the casualty.[1]
Further explained, the owner would not lose any other asset as long as the vessel owner was not negligent nor in privity with anyone who was negligent.[2] For instance, the owner may have known the crew was not competent when the owner gave over operation of the vessel to the third party.
WHAT DOES A LIMITATION ACTION MEAN TO MY FLORIDA BOATING ACCIDENT INJURY CASE?
Limitation actions are filed for several reasons today. Most often there is a boat insurance company that does not want to pay out full damages. The insurer would rather not pay out the policy limits to injured claimants, and would rather limit payment to the worth of the crashed, or burnt, or low-value vessel. What it means to your boating accident injury case is there is an insurer trying to pay you less than what your claim is worth. If the involved vessel is worth practically nothing then that is amount to which the insurer is trying to limit your recovery.
Another reason why Limitation lawsuits are filed is there may be multiple claimants in a boating casualty case. When the insurer—acting on behalf of the boat owner—files a Limitation action, they seek to have all claimants appear in one lawsuit and in one court. A third very important reason insurers file Limitation actions is that if a claimant does not both 1. timely file, 2. a correct claim in the federal court, then the claimant’s boating injury claim can be barred forever.
WHAT IS THE PRACTICAL EFFECT OF A LIMITATION TO MY BOATING INJURY CASE IN FLORIDA?
It means that you need to quickly find an attorney who practices in maritime law and has dealt with these Limitation actions in the past. If you do not file your claim in the federal court properly or you miss the deadline, the federal judge can refuse to allow your claim to go forward. Your boating injury claim can be lost if you do not timely pursue it, or if you have an attorney who has never seen a Limitation action previously.
BUT MY CASE OCCURRED IN FLORIDA SO IT DOESN’T AFFECT ME, RIGHT?
No, that is incorrect. Your boating accident case does not have to occur past the 3-mile mark in the Atlantic or 9-mile mark in the Gulf to be subject to a Limitation action. At www.888BoatLaw.com we see that 95% of the boating accident cases in Florida must apply maritime law—and that means in 95% of the cases your boating accident case in Florida can be subject to a Limitation action. Did your case occur off the coast of Florida somewhere? Did your case occur in a river which leads out to the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico? Did your accident occur on Lake Okeechobee or on Lake George which both have outlets to larger bodies of water? Did your boating crash or boating injury occur within the intracoastal waterway in Florida? If you said “YES” to any of these questions then maritime law will apply and your case can be subject to a Limitation action being filed against you in federal court.
WHAT TO DO IF I AM NOTIFIED OF A LIMITATION ACTION BEING FILED IN MY BOATING ACCIDENT CASE?
First, you need counsel who has been there, and fought that. At www.888BoatLaw.com we have successfully fought these Limitation actions. At www.888BoatLaw.com we understand why the insurer is doing this, we know how they are doing it, and we are very successful in defeating Limitation actions. Second, if a car accident attorney tells you they know how to do this type of specialized case, be skeptical. This is not an area of law to play around when it comes to your boating injury case. Failure in fighting one of these Limitation cases in federal court means losing outright any recovery or having it reduced drastically to the value of the post-accident worth of the boat, or Jetski or parasail. If you needed a surgery you would not go to a surgeon who has never done that surgery previously. Choose wisely, your Florida boating injury case depends on it.
SUMMARY OF A LIMITATION OF LIABILITY ACTION
- If you have been served with papers showing that it is an “Exoneration From Or Limitation Of Liability” you only have a brief amount of time to respond. The response must be timely, and it must be done correctly—and in federal court.
- If you fail to respond timely, or the response is not done correctly, you can lose any chance to recover for your boating injury case.
- If you have been named or notified of a Limitation of Liability action, it is because that “Petitioner”, many times the at-fault party, they believe you are a claimant.
- The “Petitioner” is trying to limit your injury recovery to only the worth of the vessel as that vessel is valued after the casualty.
- Do not obtain counsel who has never handled one of these cases, or who cannot show you they have handled many of these cases. This is too important. Your valuable rights can be lost forever.
[1] In 1851, Congress thought the American shipping industry was disadvantaged as compared to its foreign competitors. See Lewis, 531 U.S. at 446–47, 121 S.Ct. 993. Unlike their counterparts in England, American courts did not limit the potential liability of vessel owners.
Skanska USA Civ. Se. Inc. v. Bagelheads, Inc., 75 F.4th 1290, 1303 (11th Cir. 2023)
[2] In other words, the Act limits the liability of vessel owners who were not in some sense responsible for the specific negligent acts or conditions of unseaworthiness that caused the accident.
Skanska USA Civ. Se. Inc. v. Bagelheads, Inc., 75 F.4th 1290, 1304 (11th Cir. 2023)
