The drivers of the state of Florida right now are so confused and rightfully so. There has been a bitter fight, insurance business and insurance company vs. insurance business and medical professionals vs. medical professionals and Attorneys vs. Lawyer and insurer… and Estimates and verses.
All this, while the poor driving people of Florida is caught in the center and is helpless and many clueless of what is occurring.
To start let’s find out just what the heck is PIP.
The Basics
If you live in a Tort state things are a bit less complex and easier to comprehend. In a nutshell if you are in a car crash and you’re”At Fault” then you are accountable for the injuries of others. You will be sued for many, injuries to the other motorists, passengers and any property damage that you brought.
What were the problems with PIP?
The spirit of PIP was quite noble, instead of suing everybody for small accidents the PIP policy would cover”most” medical costs, loss of work and even some household chores you were not able to do because of this accident.
Thus there would be a reduction in lawsuits.
Well, though noble the law almost instantly added a fresh level of lawsuit and/or discussion, that’s ascertaining if a threshold was crossed. Loss of a physical function 2. Permanent injury . Death.
Death is the simplest threshold to ascertain, if a person is breathing then clearly the threshold has not yet been crossed and the person can not sue for”non economic” injuries like pain and distress. But the other thresholds such as: Significant scaring may be harder to interpret.
So much with fewer suits.
I would like you to consider the last time you were driving and drove by means of an auto collision. How many people did you find in each van or car? What ever the amount multiply that amount by $10,000.
The problem turned into”Fraud”. However small the harm unethical medical practitioners bilked the companies. Artificially increased invoices paid by insurance were finally passed on to people, insureds.
The CFO for the state of Florida is doing his part to crack down on PIP fraud.
This will hopefully reduce the number of fraudulent claims and ‘staged accidents’ that are becoming all too prevalent in our fair state.
By cracking down on these knuckleheads and others like them, hopefully the rising costs of insurance will be mitigated.
Good work and good news from our elected officials.
Bravo!
To find out more about PIP and other Auto Insurances give me a call or email at
Keith Royle
Triton Insurance Agency
561-293-2884
k.royle@tritonagency.com
