Florida is one of twelve states that have no-fault accident laws. A no-fault state requires that drivers carry a certain amount of personal protection insurance. People who are injured in an auto accident must first seek compensation from their personal injury protection policies. If the medical bills and other damages amount to more than the PIP policy pays, then the victims may seek other avenues of compensation, including litigation. In Florida, there have been bills presented to legislators to end Florida’s decades’ old no-fault laws. However, the Orlando Sentinel reports that the no-fault laws may endure.
On Tuesday, the House Government Operations & Technology Appropriations Subcommittee voted 13-4 to end the no-fault system. HB 779 would require motorists to carry bodily-injury liability insurance.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Senate version of the bill, SB 378, was not brought up as scheduled in the Senate Insurance and Banking Committee.
The proposal may be currently stalled over a proposed amendment that would restrict “bad-faith” lawsuits. The bad-faith provision is not included in the bill that was introduced by the House. Tom Lee, the senator who sponsored the bill, had no intention to bring the bill up before the committee due to the amendment.
Senator Jeff Brandes added the bad-faith amendment to another insurance measure. Brandes’ bill had to be postponed after Lee objected to the bill.
Brandes said that that no-fault bill will not be seen back in the committee until the bad-faith cases are addressed.