Staff Reports
State Sen. Jeff Brandes wants to sound the death knell for Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system.
The St. Petersburg Republican on Tuesday filed a repeal (SB 156) of the personal injury protection, or PIP, requirements under Florida law for motor vehicle insurance.
“PIP is a broken insurance system, and it does not reflect the reality of Florida’s transportation future,” Brandes said in a statement. “PIP fraud impacts every driver in our state, and no proposal is more effective at reducing premiums than a full repeal of PIP.
“It’s time to finally bring substantive reform to the automobile insurance market,” he added.
Lawmakers passed PIP coverage in 1972 to ensure that anyone hurt in an automobile wreck could get medical treatment. Florida is now one of ten “no-fault” states.
The legislation mandated that a driver’s insurance company pay up to $10,000 to cover medical bills and lost wages after an accident – no matter who’s at fault. All Florida drivers are required to carry no-fault insurance.
Over the years, however, fraudsters turned Florida into the top state for staged accidents, especially in the Tampa and Miami-Dade metropolitan areas. That jacked up premiums.
In 2012, lawmakers passed a reform measure (HB 119) to crack down on fraud. But Brandes’ latest bill comes just a few months after a study showed Floridians could save an average $81 per car if the state drops the system.
Yet the reforms also have worked, findings suggest, producing savings on personal-injury claims of 17.5 percent, and reduced premiums by a little more than 15 percent.
Brandes and state Rep. Bill Hager previously have filed PIP repeal legislation but it did not get a hearing. If passed in the next legislative session, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2020.
Background provided by The Associated Press, reprinted with permission.
5 comments
Richard Sweeney
December 14, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Can you please investigate to see how much money State Farm and the rest of the insurance lobby have contributed to his campaign? Did State Farm’s lobbyist draft this legislation? Please do more investigating so we can see the entire picture and the loyalty of this politician.
Henry Koche
December 14, 2016 at 1:16 pm
Is it savings of only $81 per car, per year or is it 15% of the policy because that is a big difference.
Vince
December 14, 2016 at 1:24 pm
the never lower premiums more bs and it’s the same 10k in coverage for last thirty years that’s the scam
William Carver
December 14, 2016 at 5:45 pm
Brandes & any other legislator who votes to repeal PIP without any alternative replacement ARE COMPPETE IDIOTS, in the insurance industry’s pocket. How much $$ campaign contributions has Brandes received ?
Scott Myers
December 27, 2016 at 7:17 pm
PIP is a huge problem. I work in the claims industry and I meet people daily who are without a doubt committing fraud. PIP is the least of the problem. The biggest problem are the frivolous lawsuits associated with auto accident claims. It bothers me because the people responsible for committing most of the fraud and faking injuries influences those who are truly injured. As long as the ambulance chasing law firms motivate people to sue for any type of ridiculous accident, there will be fraud.
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