Governor Rick Scott has asked lawmakers to present proposals for next year’s legislative session to eliminate the mandatory Personal Injury Protection coverage that each Florida driver is now required to maintain. Governor Scott has cited the increased costs associated with paying fraudulent claims by unscrupulous policy holders who stage accidents as the primary reason that new legislation is needed. Governor Scott’s proposes that the consumer be entitled to decide what type of coverages, if any, each consumer wants to carry.
The current system in Florida requires that each person with a registered motor vehicle must carry Personal Injury Protection insurance and property damage insurance. The Personal Injury Protection (PIP) was originally designed to ensure that every person involved in a car accident would get necessary medical treatment of regardless of fault in the accident. In addition, drivers are also required to maintain a minimum of $10,000.00 worth of property liability coverage which means that if you cause damage to another vehicle in an accident, you have up to $10,000.00 of insurance coverage to pay for that damage. What is not required of Florida drivers is bodily injury liability insurance, which covers the occupant of a vehicle that may be damaged in an accident. Frankly, it has never made any sense to me that Floridians are required to have insurance coverage for damage to a vehicle but are not required to have any insurance coverage for damage to the occupant of that vehicle. Many states do require drivers to carry bodily injury liability. In fact, one of the prior proposals during previous discussions in the legislature was to do away with PIP coverage but require bodily injury coverage in its place. Governor Scott wants to leave that decision to the individual consumer. It seems to me that leaving the decision up to each individual would result in millions of uninsured drivers traveling on Florida roads.
Governor Scott points the finger at staged accidents as the root cause of increased insurance premiums. However, staged accidents represent a very small part of the overall claims made as a result of accidents in the State of Florida. Most accidents are just that – accidents. Without PIP coverage, victims of accidents would be back to fighting over who should pay for proper medical care. For accident victims with no health insurance, PIP is typically the only available medical insurance available to cover treatment of injuries sustained in an accident. The insurance companies of course are jumping on board with Governor Scott. They would like the general public to believe that they too are victims of staged accidents which ultimately increases everyone’s premiums. To the contrary, staged accidents are inconsequential compared to the other factors that go into determining premiums such as population, accident history, claims made, driving history and so on. Blaming staged accidents allows the insurance companies to justify increased premiums which are simply making the fat cat insurance companies fatter.
If anything, the legislature should address increasing the amount and types of insurance that Florida drivers should be required to maintain. In addition to PIP and property damage, each driver should be required to maintain bodily injury limits of at least $25,0000.00 per person. If you are injured by the negligence of another in a car accident, at least you will know there will be some money available to compensate you for those injuries. Governor Scott, please don’t leave that decision to the individual driver. In this economy, no one will have sufficient coverage to compensate those injured in automobile accidents.