Originally published by Jacksonville Business Journal | Read Story
By News Service of Florida
State lawmakers are again being asked to scrap Florida’s “no fault” auto-insurance system, with the House and Senate on slightly different routes after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed similar legislation last year.
A House measure (HB 1525) filed Monday by Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, seeks to repeal the no-fault law, replacing it with a requirement that motorists carry bodily injury coverage starting July 1, 2023.
The Senate proposal (SB 150), filed Tuesday by Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, also seeks minimum bodily injury coverage levels and addresses the issue of bad-faith litigation, a priority for insurers.
Bad faith cases involve allegations that insurers have not properly looked out for the interests of customers.
In vetoing the measure last year, DeSantis noted the no-fault system has flaws and that state law involving bad faith litigation is “deficient.” However, DeSantis added that the proposal didn’t “adequately address the current issues facing Florida drivers and may have unintended consequences that would negatively impact both the market and consumers.”
During the 2021 legislative session, supporters and opponents of a repeal offered conflicting arguments about whether the change would increase or reduce insurance rates for drivers. A repeal would end a decades-old requirement that motorists carry $10,000 in personal-injury protection, or PIP, coverage to help pay their medical costs after accidents.
The 2022 session started Tuesday.