Changes In Florida’s Personal Injury Protection Laws May Be Coming

After nearly 40 years of Florida drivers being required to carry no-fault auto insurance, things may be about to change, question is, who will see they most benefit.

Melbourne, United States - April 1, 2017 /MarketersMedia/ —

After nearly 40 years of Florida drivers being required to carry no-fault auto insurance, things may be about to change, question is, who will see they most benefit.

For almost 40 years The State of Florida has had what many considered to be the failed experiment of Personal Injury Protection Insurance That may be about to change. When the Florida Legislature next meets in Tallahassee one of its primary orders of business will be to consider proposed legislation that would eliminate the state’s personal injury coverage and instead require all drivers to carry bodily injury liability insurance.

This is not the first effort the legislature has made to fix what is perceived by many to be an imperfect system. In 2012 personal injury protection reforms were passed by Florida lawmakers in an effort to curb rising insurance costs but as pointed out by Senator Anitere Flores, who chairs the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, failed to deliver. “We were promised a certain percentage of savings, and that didn’t happen.”

While insurance rates did dip by 14.4 percent between 2012 and 2014, according to the latest data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, all liability coverage costs have risen by more than 23 percent over the last two years. This failed attempt to fix a broken system is what has led many to say it is time to start over.

Brad Sinclair, a Melbourne-based personal injury attorney, points out, though, that failed promises of insurance premium savings should be the least of the average Floridians worries.

“The original idea behind PIP coverage and especially its Uninsured/Underinsured provisions was to make sure that those involved in auto accidents would have access to medical treatment if injured.

Unfortunately, as often happens when the people’s interest comes up against that of the insurance industries, vague wording and loopholes in the current laws are being exploited, by insurance companies to avoid paying PIP claims or at minimum to argue over whether an injury qualifies as an emergency or should only be paid at the much lower nonemergency rate.”

Under the current system, drivers must pay for a minimum $10,000 in emergency medical benefits, as part of their personal injury coverage with nonemergency treatment being capped at $2,500. It also restricts who can make that determination and sadly, your own treating physician may not qualify. The net result has been too many people left with denied claims and left in need of treatment.”

Sinclair is by no means the only critic of the current law. Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg and Rep. Bill Hager, R-Delray Beach both feel that the change in Florida’s status as a Personal Injury state to a Personal Liability State is the best way to curb insurance waste and fraud, thus lowering overall insurance cost while assuring that Floridians receive the benefits that they are paying for.

Counter to this, Michael Carlson, President of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, whose group represents 3 of the state’s largest and most profitable insurance providers disagrees saying, “We do believe that any consideration of the repeal of the ‘no-fault’ law … will have a price effect on Floridians and could mean higher auto insurance rates for all Florida drivers”.

Contact Info:
Name: Andrew Godfrey
Organization: Sinclair Law
Address: 5465 N. Highway 1 Melbourne, FL 32940
Phone: 1-888-722-1974

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWMBi_KR9KE%20

Source URL: http://marketersmedia.com/changes-in-floridas-personal-injury-protection-laws-may-be-coming/179996

For more information, please visit http://www.sinclairlaw.com

Source: MarketersMedia

Release ID: 179996