FLA. PIP/NO-FAULT BILL HAS 2009 SUNSET

The Florida Legislature has reenacted the PIP/no-fault law, with no significant reforms, sought by the insurance community, but with a 2009 “sunset” date that could lead to major changes in a future session.

The package contains $1 million in additional funding to fight PIP fraud and changes information that must be contained in crash reports. Not in the package, however, are key reforms sought by insurers and recommended by the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee, including caps on fees paid doctors, chiropractors and other providers under PIP and caps on attorneys’ fees.

Under CS/CS/CS/SB 2114, crash reports must contain information such as the date, time and location of the crash; a description of the vehicles involved; the names and addresses of the parties involved and names and addresses of all drivers and passengers in the vehicles.

Additionally, the reports must contain the names and addresses of witnesses and the name, badge number and law enforcement agency of the officer investigating the crash along with the names of the insurance companies for the respective parties involved in a crash.

To further combat fraud, the bill states that the absence of the information required of crash reports regarding the existence of passengers in the vehicles involved in the crash constitutes a rebuttable presumption that no such passengers were involved in the reported crash.

Soon after it was announced the bill had passed, numerous insurance companies and insurance associations urged the governor to veto the bill.