Today we will discuss what almost was and what most assuredly will be in the State of Florida and how it will affect you, Florida driver and how it will affect your insurance moving forward.
Drivers in Florida were almost provided a complete rewrite of the way insurance coverage is offered in Florida when the legislature voted to repeal SB 54, more commonly referred to as the “Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law”. This repeal would have effectively eliminated PIP, or “Personal Injury Protection” insurance in Florida. PIP would have been replaced with a mandate that insured drivers in Florida carry a minimum requirement of $25,000.00 in bodily injury coverage per occupant, up to $50,000.00 per accident.
This would have been great news for Florida drivers as the minimum policies that were available to be sold only provided coverage up to $10,000.00 per injured person per accident. With the cost of medical treatment often times vastly exceeding $10,000.00, many Florida drivers were left under-treated, if they only had access to the $10,000.00 in their own PIP coverage. This would have been a game changer. However, the governor vetoed the bill on June 29, 2021. This post is meant to serve as a head’s up that the tide is changing; this action received bipartisan support where in previous years it had not. This would signal that in the next session or over the next couple of years, this is a change that Florida voters want.
The insurance companies offered tremendous pushback on this effort, expressing that this would lead to the rise in premiums for Florida drivers to account for the required increase in coverage. The reality is, if you examine the statistics, the annual average premium in the state of Florida has increased or remained the same across the multitude of carriers that offer insurance – rarely has the average annual premium gone down. Insurance companies will continue to fight against this change that has passed in a number of other states around the country. This will happen to Florida so please be aware and please be prepared.
You should contact our office for a free evaluation of your automobile accident and whether you have a viable claim for benefits. It is important to consult with an attorney because carriers receive numerous injury claims a day and they prioritize claims where the victim is represented.
You can achieve better results if you are patient and allow your attorneys to work on your behalf. If you have any additional questions or if you have been involved in an automobile accident in central Florida, you can call our office 24 hours a day at 407-478-4878.
Jabari Bennett, Esq.
Learn more about Jabari here!
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