Today, State Representative Mike Horner filed a Bill that will abolish Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and Florida’s no-fault law for automobile accident cases and instead require Florida drivers to carry mandatory bodily injury insurance.
Horner has been working on the draft language for this Bill for some time. Senator David Simmons has been working on this issue as well, and is expected to file his own PIP Bill in the Florida Senate. Horner’s bill repeals PIP and replaces it with mandatory $10,000 coverage for emergency medical services provided by physicians, hospitals and ambulance services. It also requires drivers to carry bodily injury liability insurance of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per occurrence.
Consumer advocates and representatives for the auto insurance industry in Florida have been discussing abolishing PIP for some time. PIP and Florida’s no fault laws have been cited as the cause for rampant insurance fraud over the last several years. Replacing PIP with coverage for emergency care and bodily injury insurance is seen my many as a way to cut out fraud and still provide protection for working families and middle class Floridians. If passed, this legislation will bring Florida into line with 48 other states who have similar liability requirements.