Florida’s no-fault car insurance law would be repealed and replaced with liability coverage for injured victims, changes that affect every driver in Tampa.
A bill to repeal Florida’s no-fault auto insurance is rapidly advancing through the Florida Legislature. As of this writing, the bill has passed the Senate and is moving towards a full House vote, and if it prevails, then onto the full Legislature. Under the Florida Senate Bill 54, the no-fault provision would be eliminated but each driver would be required to have bodily injury coverage. What do these changes mean for drivers?
Florida, like several other states including New Jersey and New York, are currently no-fault states, which means if you’re in a car accident, your auto insurance carrier is responsible for paying certain damages from the accident, regardless of fault. So, even if another driver could be clearly at-fault for the accident, your auto insurance pays the claim for your medical bills. However, Florida’s decades old laws have very low minimums which do not even come close to covering the costs for serious injuries.
Florida drivers are considered the fourth-worst drivers in the nation. With an average of 1,101 crashes per day and over 150,000 injury accidents per year, it's not a surprise that Florida has a high rate of crashes for its size and population. Drivers also carry the risk that they may be involved in a crash with an uninsured or underinsured driver since 20% of Florida drivers don’t have any insurance at all. Coupled together, these factors put drivers at high risk of being injured in an accident that wasn’t their fault and having no recourse to be compensated for their injuries.
Currently, in order to register a vehicle, Florida drivers are required to purchase Personal Injury Protection (PIP) which allows up to $10,000 for their own medical, disability and funeral expenses if they are injured in an accident or cause an injury accident. $10,000, however, is not enough to cover even a basic hospital visit, which leaves at-fault drivers open to lawsuits. While many Florida drivers carry liability coverage beyond these minimums, the proposed new law would mandate Bodily Injury Coverage.
Bodily Injury Coverage pays for the medical costs for other people if you injure them in a car accident. The new law requires Bodily Injury Coverage, with minimums of $25,000 per occupant and $50,000 per incident. As of now, the new law does not have any requirements for PIP coverage.
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