No-fault auto repeal speeding through the House but may stall in Senate
Traffic on Interstate 95 (Photo via the Florida Department of Transportation)
Nearing the midway point of the 60-day legislative session, the Florida House continues to advance legislation (HB 1181) to repeal the state's no-fault automobile insurance laws and replace them with a fault-based system.
It's one of several pieces of legislation in the House this session that would allow for more litigation — something Insurance and Banking Committee member Rep. Mike Caruso noted Thursday while arguing against HB 1181. He was one of two 'no' votes on the bill, which now heads to the House Judiciary Committee, its last stop before a full House vote.
'This feels good for the trial attorneys, and maybe we should call this the 'Insurance and Trial Attorneys Subcommittee' because I feel like we're doing a lot just for the benefit of trial attorneys. And by doing that, I think we're doing wrong for Floridians,' said Caruso, whose hawkish position on immigration has already put him at odds with House Speaker Daniel Perez, an attorney.
The Senate companion (SB 1256) has been referred to three committees: Banking and Insurance; Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations; and Rules. The bill hasn't been heard by any of them.
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Florida drivers now are required to carry $10,000 in PIP (for personal injury protection) coverage plus $10,000 in property damage liability insurance. Those are minimum requirements, and drivers can purchase additional coverage. According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, just under 6% of drivers on Florida roads were uninsured as of February.
The chiropractors want you to protect them. They just told you that. God bless them. I love chiropractors. The hospitals want you to protect them. The doctors want you to protect them. And funny, the insurance companies want you to protect them, too. But I ain't here to protect any of them, and neither are you. We're here to make sure that it's a fair and equitable moment in Florida when you put your key in your car and drive and somebody hurts you.
– Rep. Danny Alvarez
HB 1181 would eliminate the state's no-fault law and drop the PIP mandate. Additionally, the bill would increase the minimum bodily injury liability coverage limits from $10,000 per person and $20,000 per incident to $25,000 per person and $50,000 per incident.
Representatives of the insurance industry, health care sector, and business interests testified against the bill, arguing the new insurance would cost more and could cause lower-income drivers to drop their coverage and increase the number of uninsured motorists on the road.
Mark Delegal represents State Farm, the largest auto insurer in the state, as well as the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, which represents some of the largest public hospitals and teaching institutions.
He testified that legislation passed in 2023 eliminating one-way attorney fees in coverage disputes and cracking down on bad faith lawsuits are beginning to take hold in the auto insurance market. Rates, he testified, are coming down as those changes take effect.
Also representing the hospitals, Delegal said scrapping the no-fault means drivers will go to court to prove who's to blame for auto accidents and that takes time.
'Hospitals are going to see delayed payment and this is not good,' he said.
It was a theme echoed by Toni Large, who represents emergency room physicians and orthopaedic surgeons.
Large said that ER physicians bill the care they provide on a level of one through five, with the latter being trauma patients.
Most care stemming from automobile accidents provided by her clients is a level three. While the PIP reimbursement for her physicians providing level 3 care is $1,500 she said, the payments come quickly.
'It really impacts physicians when they are waiting two years for payments,' she said.
Motorcyclists from across the state for the second time in two weeks trekked to Tallahassee to show support for PIP repeal because they are not eligible for the coverage. The Florida Justice Association, which represents trial attorneys, also spoke out in support of repeal, citing the high costs for paltry coverage.
Vero Beach attorney and FJA member Dane Ullian argued that PIP, initially passed 50 years ago and meant to provide health care for drivers involved in car accidents, is redundant now that an estimated 90% of residents have some form of health insurance.
Eliminating the mandate to buy the coverage means they won't be paying double the costs of health insurance, he said.
'One of the reasons [auto] rates are so high is we have a vestigial tail of an antiquated insurance system from 50 years ago, the redundant PIP no-fault system which requires every single driver in the state of Florida to buy a state-regulated health insurance plan for $10,000 of coverage when almost 90% of Floridians already have health insurance,' Ullian said.
'So, right now we're forcing 90% of Florida drivers to buy a health plan they don't want to fund coverage for the other 10% of Florida drivers to get a layer of coverage that they don't need,' he said.
Bill sponsor Rep. Danny Alvarez said HB 1181 is about improving protections for Florida drivers and not about any particular industry. He noted that PIP laws have been changed at least five times since initially being passed — each time with the promise that the changes will reduce costs and ferret out fraud in the system. Savings have not come, he said, and the system does not make the driver whole.
'The chiropractors want you to protect them. They just told you that. God bless them. I love chiropractors. The hospitals want you to protect them. The doctors want you to protect them. And, funny, the insurance companies want you to protect them, too,' Alvarez said.
'But I ain't here to protect any of them, and neither are you. We're here to make sure that it's a fair and equitable moment in Florida when you put your key in your car and drive and somebody hurts you,' he added.
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