House panel considers PIP insurance overhaul
Jan 25, 2012
The following article was published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on January 25, 2012:
House Panel Considers PIP Insurance Overhaul
By The Associatied Press
A House panel will consider overhauling Florida’s personal-injury insurance that is now overcome with fraud.
The Civil Justice Subcommittee is meeting on Wednesday to work on a bill (CS/HB 119) overhauling the state’s personal injury protection – or PIP – coverage.
The proposed law requires those hurt in a wreck to go to a hospital emergency room or hospital-owned walk-in clinic for PIP coverage to kick in.
PIP insurance pays up to $10,000 to cover medical bills and lost wages after an accident. It doesn’t matter who caused the wreck. All Florida drivers must carry such “no-fault” insurance.
But fraudsters have turned Florida into the top state for staged accidents. PIP fraud is estimated to reach $1 billion this year.
Find this article here: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120125/APN/1201250578