PIP returns next week
Wednesday not only rolls in a new year, it reinstates Florida’s no-fault insurance for motorists.
Personal injury protection (PIP) will be required again after a three-month hiatus from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.
The insurance covers the first $10,000 incurred for medical expenses as a result of an accident and prevents drivers from being sued to recoup those costs.
Officials say the law may confuse motorists who aren’t sure whether they are covered properly. Many chose to retain personal injury coverage when the law changed in October, but some did not. Those are the drivers law enforcement officers will be seeking when PIP returns.
“You must reinstate the required PIP effective Jan. 1,” said Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Ann Nucatola. “If you do not, the law requires that the insurance carrier cancel your policy and inform the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, who will then suspend your driver’s license and registration.”
This violation could cost up to $500 to correct, according to the FHP.
After the PIP requirement expired Oct. 1, Gov. Charlie Crist signed it back into law Oct. 11, effective 2008, with a few revisions.
Insurance companies supported eliminating PIP because it prompted fraud and misuse. But hospitals, trauma centers and ambulance companies said they would suffer financially by the lack of personal injury protection to pay for treating accident injuries.
With many Americans carrying no health insurance, the industry expected to suffer. But Crist supported the PIP law and said the new legislation helps protect against fraud and misuse by requiring specific qualifications by healthcare providers before they would be reimbursed.
For more information about the law, call (877) MyFLCFO (693-5236) or visit www.my floridacfo.com/NoFault/.