Fla. Lawmakers Take Aim at No-Fault Insurance Problem
Lawmakers and members of the insurance industry have repeatedly called for regulatory changes in states that employ no-fault insurance systems, saying that they are conducive to fraud and abuse and result in higher costs for consumers. In both New York and Florida, state representatives have introduced bills that aim to change aspects of the claims process that will ideally make it harder for residents to exploit the systems.
Drivers in many states may be unfamiliar with no-fault coverage; that’s because Florida is among the small minority of 12 states that use a no-fault system. Most states have liability systems that require drivers to purchase bodily injury liability protection, which pays for other people’s damages that were caused by the policyholder.
But no-fault coverage works differently. Instead of paying for other people’s damages that the policyholder was responsible for, it pays directly to the policyholder for his or her medical bills after an accident, regardless of who was at-fault in the crash.
Florida law has since 1971 required that motorists carry at least $10,000 worth of Personal Injury Protection (PIP), the main form of no-fault insurance that pays for 80 percent of “reasonable” medical expenses and 60 percent of a claimant’s loss of income. Read more…
Categories: auto insurance, Auto Insurance, car insurance Tags: Fla., insurance, Lawmakers, NoFault, Problem, Take
