Filing a Workers' Compensation Petition for Benefits in Miami

Reviewed by Carolyn Friedman Frank, a Florida workers' compensation attorney and Partner at Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada, P.A. Last updated September 18, 2026.

A disputed workers' compensation claim from Miami-Dade or Monroe County is filed as a petition for benefits with the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims and heard in its Miami District, at 401 NW Second Avenue. Florida Statute § 440.192 governs what the petition must contain, and Florida Statute § 440.19 governs when it must be filed.

• Hearing location: The Miami District hears claims from Dade and Monroe Counties, and Florida Statute § 440.25(4)(d) places the final hearing in the county where the injury occurred.
• Required petition contents: Florida Statute § 440.192(2) requires an itemized account of the injury, the job, the benefits sought, and any unpaid medical charges. Any part that falls short is dismissed without a hearing.
• Filing deadline: Two years from when the worker knew or should have known the injury was work-related, under Florida Statute § 440.19(1).
• Effect of payments and treatment: Each indemnity payment or authorized treatment tolls the period for one year under Florida Statute § 440.19(2). In 2026 the First District Court of Appeal held that the tolling stops the two-year clock rather than extending it.
• Issues outside the tolling: Compensability, the date of maximum medical improvement, and permanent impairment, each named in Florida Statute § 440.19(2).
• Carrier's 14-day response: The carrier must pay the benefits requested or file a response explaining why it will not, under Florida Statute § 440.192(8).
• Timeline to a ruling: Mediation within 130 days of filing, a final hearing within 210 days of the petition's receipt, and a written order within 30 days after the hearing, under Florida Statute § 440.25.
• Appeals: Orders are reviewed by the First District Court of Appeal under Florida Statute § 440.271.

The knowledgeable workers' compensation attorneys at Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada file petitions in the Miami District for injured workers from Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys, working from offices in Miami and Homestead.

A denial letter from a workers' compensation carrier does not end a Florida claim. The next step is a petition for benefits, and in Miami-Dade County that petition goes to a judge of compensation claims in the Miami District rather than to the circuit court. Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada has represented thousands of injured workers across Miami-Dade and South Florida since 1976. Our Miami workers' compensation attorneys start by checking whether a petition is still timely under the 2026 change in how the deadline is counted. Then we check whether it will survive the review that dismisses incomplete petitions without a hearing.

A petition for benefits is due within two years after the date the worker knew or should have known that the injury arose out of work, under Florida Statute § 440.19(1). Subsection (2) tolls that period for one year from each payment of an indemnity benefit, meaning a wage-loss check, and from each furnishing of authorized treatment. For about 25 years, the First District Court of Appeal read that tolling as an extension of the deadline. In Estes v. Palm Beach County School District, decided en banc on March 23, 2026, the court receded from that reading and held that the tolling suspends the two-year clock. The two-year period does not begin running until one year after the last payment or the last authorized treatment, which can leave a worker more time than the older reading allowed.

Leighton v. Kratos Logistics, LLC, decided by the First District on May 6, 2026, shows the arithmetic. The worker's last authorized care was in August 2022, so the two-year clock started in August 2023. A petition filed in March 2024 was therefore timely, and the court set aside the order of a judge of compensation claims that had dismissed it as late.

The tolling has limits written into the statute. Florida Statute § 440.19(2) says it does not apply to three issues: compensability, the date of maximum medical improvement, and permanent impairment. Payments and treatment do not stop the clock on those questions. Subsection (3) adds that a petition tolls nothing unless it meets the specificity requirements of Florida Statute § 440.192, so a deficient petition filed near the deadline can leave the claim unprotected.

The time bar is also a defense the carrier has to raise. Under Florida Statute § 440.19(4), a late petition is not barred unless the carrier asserts the statute of limitations in its initial response to that petition. A carrier that leaves the defense out of its first response cannot rely on it later.

A petition for benefits must itemize the claim so the carrier and the judge can see exactly what is in dispute. Florida Statute § 440.192(2) lists the required contents. They include identifying information for the employee and employer, a detailed description of the injury and how it happened, and the job duties. The petition must also state the periods and classes of unpaid compensation, the date of maximum medical improvement, every benefit sought, travel costs, unpaid medical charges by provider and date, and the treatment requested with its justification. The Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims reviews each petition on receipt and dismisses any part that does not meet that standard. Where the worker is under a physician's care, a copy of the doctor's request, authorization, or recommendation for the treatment must be attached.

A petition can seek only benefits that are ripe, due, and owing on the day it is filed, under Florida Statute § 440.192(1) and (3). Subsection (9) requires the petition to include every benefit ripe on the filing date. Unless the parties stipulate otherwise, only claims raised in a petition and taken through mediation can be decided at the final hearing.

Temporary total disability claims are measured against the 260-week limit that Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg (Fla. 2016) restored, not the 104 weeks still printed in Florida Statute § 440.15(2)(a). Chapter 440 provides no damages for pain and suffering, so no petition can ask for them. Those damages can be pursued in a third-party injury claim against a negligent party other than the employer, which the exclusive-remedy rule in Florida Statute § 440.11 does not bar.

Before filing, the claimant or the claimant's attorney must certify a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute with the carrier, under Florida Statute § 440.192(4). A represented worker files electronically, and the petition is served on both the employer and the carrier.

The Miami District of the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims is at 401 NW Second Avenue, Suite N918, in Miami, and its phone number is (305) 377-5413. It hears claims from Dade and Monroe Counties, so a claim from an injury in Homestead, Hialeah, or Key West falls within its territory. Broward County claims go to the Fort Lauderdale District, Palm Beach County claims to the West Palm Beach District, and Collier and Lee County claims to the Fort Myers District.

The carrier has 14 days after receiving the petition to act, under Florida Statute § 440.192(8). It must either pay the requested benefits, keeping the right to deny them within 120 days of receipt, or file a response that lists every benefit it is not paying and explains why. That response is where a limitations defense has to appear.

Forty days after filing, the judge notifies the parties that a mediation conference has been scheduled, and Florida Statute § 440.25(1) requires it to be held within 130 days of the filing date. Mediation is mandatory unless the office's Deputy Chief Judge waives it. A mediator employed by the office conducts it, or a private mediator at the carrier's expense where the parties agree, and what is said there is confidential.

If mediation does not resolve the petition, the final hearing must take place within 210 days of the petition's receipt, in the county where the injury occurred, under Florida Statute § 440.25(4)(d). The final order follows within 30 days after the hearing or the close of the record. The Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims reported 79,039 petitions filed statewide in fiscal year 2024-25, with an average of 174 days to trial against the 210-day statutory requirement.

The petition is one stage of the Florida workers' compensation process, which begins with the 30-day injury report under Florida Statute § 440.185. An appeal from the judge's final order goes to the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee under Florida Statute § 440.271.

A carrier's response to petition is written to look final, and it often is not. We read it against the payment and treatment record before treating a denial as the end of a claim. Our very dedicated team of attorneys handles workers' compensation matters for the firm, and Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada files and pursues these petitions with no fee owed unless we recover benefits for you.

The filing deadline is calculated from dates in the carrier's payment history and its log of authorized treatment. After Estes, the date of the last indemnity payment and the date of the last authorized visit determine when the two-year clock starts.

The notice of injury comes first in any file. Florida Statute § 440.19(1) bars a petition unless the employee advised the employer of the injury under Florida Statute § 440.185(1), which sets a 30-day window. Wage records support the average weekly wage and the classification of unpaid compensation the petition has to state. For disputed treatment, the physician's written request or recommendation is required as an attachment.

Physicians' impairment ratings limit what the judge can find at the final hearing. Under Florida Statute § 440.25(4)(d), a judge of compensation claims may not find a permanent impairment greater than the highest rating any examining or treating physician gave, unless the parties stipulate. The carrier's response to petition is evidence too, since it shows whether the limitations defense was raised in time.

We rebuild the payment and treatment timeline from the carrier's own records before we decide whether a petition is timely. Since Estes, that means rechecking claims a carrier has already called time-barred, because the carrier's calculation may rest on the old reading. We then draft to the itemization in Florida Statute § 440.192(2), attach the physician's recommendation for any disputed treatment, and list every benefit that is ripe, since a benefit left off can be lost.

After filing, we watch two windows. The carrier's 30 days to object to specificity tells us whether the petition will stand as written, and a dismissal order starts a 20-day period to amend. We also read the carrier's initial response for a limitations defense, which it cannot add later.

Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada handles a vast array of Miami District workers' compensation claims from offices in Miami and Homestead. We speak English, Spanish, and Creole, so the account of the job and the injury comes from the worker in their own language.

Collect every letter the carrier has sent, especially any denial and any notice that benefits are stopping, and note the date each one arrived. Write down the date of your last wage-loss check and your last authorized medical appointment. If you are not sure of either, ask the adjuster in writing for your payment history and treatment authorizations.

Ask your authorized doctor for a copy of any written recommendation for treatment the carrier refused. Keep a log of medical travel with dates, purpose, and mileage, and send mileage requests to the carrier in writing while keeping a copy. If your employer uses a managed care arrangement, complete its grievance procedure before a petition is filed, as Florida Statute § 440.192(3) requires.

Write a short description of your job duties and exactly what you were doing when you were hurt, while the details are fresh. Do not assume a claim is closed because two years have passed since the accident. After Estes, the last payment and last treatment dates can push the deadline well past that point.

• Florida workers' compensation benefits are calculated from the average weekly wage, with temporary total disability paid at 66⅔ percent of it under Florida Statute § 440.15.
• Denied medical care disputes are governed by the authorized-physician rules in Florida Statute § 440.13, which include a one-time change of physician on written request.
• Homestead workers' compensation claims are heard in the Miami District as well, since Homestead is in Miami-Dade County.

If a carrier has denied your claim, stopped your checks, or told you a petition would be too late, send us the letter and the date of your last payment, and we will tell you where the deadline actually stands. Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada has represented injured workers across South Florida since 1976, with no fee paid unless we recover benefits for you. Call (877) 448-8585 in English, Spanish, or Creole, or schedule a free consultation with our workers' compensation attorneys.