Florida Injury Attorney Blawg
For the eighth year in a row, the Florida Legislature has considered but failed to make bodily injury (BI) insurance coverage mandatory for every owner or operator of a motor vehicle required to be registered in this state. The two bills proposed for this reason during the recently concluded legislative session failed to receive a committee hearing.
Florida and New Hampshire are the only two states in the Union that do not require all drivers to carry BI coverage.
What Florida does require is personal injury protection or PIP and property damage (PD) liability coverage in the amount of $10,000 because of damage or destruction to the property of others in a crash.
Three years ago, Florida’s Legislature passed a bipartisan bill that would have required BI coverage. Pressured by the insurance industry, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill. This year’s proposed bills addressed some of the concerns expressed by Gov. DeSantis when he vetoed the bill. Nevertheless, the insurance industry kept the bills from gaining traction.
Florida’s auto insurance premiums are among the highest in the country. Last year, HB 837 was sold by the insurance industry as a solution to the premium crisis. It was passed into law. The law compromises the rights of individuals harmed by the negligence of others. Meanwhile, insurance rates continue to skyrocket.
According to an analysis by Forbes, Florida drivers pay twice the national average for full coverage. A 2016 report commissioned by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation found that moving from PIP to mandatory BI would reduce insurance premiums on average from 5.6 to 9.6 percent, and up to 24 percent in Miami-Dade County.
Mostly because of Florida’s prohibitively high insurance rates, more than 20% of at-fault drivers will not have sufficient BI insurance to cover the losses suffered by the accident victim. See Insurance Information Institute, “Facts + Statistics: Uninsured Motorists.”
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Contact us at 305-758-4900 or by email (jgale@jeffgalelaw.com and kgale@jeffgalelaw.com) to learn your legal rights.
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is a South Florida based law firm committed to the judicial system and to representing and obtaining justice for individuals – the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the voiceless, the defenseless and the damned, and to protecting the rights of such people from corporate and government oppression. We do not represent government, corporations or large business interests.
While prompt resolution of your legal matter is our goal, our approach is fundamentally different. Our clients are “people” and not “cases” or “files.” We take the time to build a relationship with our clients, realizing that only through meaningful interaction can we best serve their needs. In this manner, we have been able to best help those requiring legal representation.
DISCLAIMER: This information provided by Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is for informational purposes only and is intended to be used as a non-legal guide prior to consultation with an attorney familiar with your specific legal situation. It should not be considered legal advice or counseling. No such legal advice or counseling is either expressly or impliedly intended. This information is not a substitute for the advice or counsel of an attorney. If you require legal advice, you should seek the services of an attorney.