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Florida insurance consumer advocate Robin Westcott is launching an effort to help rein in rising coverage costs.
Online PR News – 18-August-2011 –There may be a glimmer of hope for Florida residents struggling to pay ever-increasing car insurance premiums, as officials get to work on a bill targeting the effects of fraud on the state’s beleaguered personal injury protection (PIP) system.
That could be good news down the road for consumers who compare car insurance in Florida hoping to maintain coverage without going broke, according to OnlineAutoInsurance.com.
Florida’s newly appointed insurance consumer advocate says she is working with state legislators to hopefully craft a bill to reform the PIP system.
Robin Westcott, who was named to the post in July by Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, has called fraudulent PIP claims one of the chief causes of the state’s rising car coverage rates.
Florida law mandates that all drivers have at least $10,000 in PIP—or “no-fault”—coverage, which protects policyholders up to that limit no matter who causes an accident.
The PIP system was created to reduce the need for Florida residents to sue over injuries sustained in vehicle accidents.
Source: http://www.myfloridacfo.com/consumers/Guides/Auto/docs/autoGuide2008.pdf
But staged crashes, inflated claims and other forms of fraud are driving coverage costs up, lawmakers and industry officials say.
Florida has the fourth-highest average no-fault claim costs nationwide, according to a report released earlier this year by the Insurance Information Institute, with the size of those losses increasing by 23.7 percent since 2006.
“Both the severity and frequency of … personal injury claims are rising at an alarming rate, at a time when the number of traffic crashes has been trending down,” the report stated.
The Institute reports that Florida insurers must spend more than half as much again each year on the cost of fraud just to keep pace.
Westcott said she plans to meet through November with state lawmakers and other players in the state’s PIP system, then submit the group’s findings to Atwater and legislative leaders.
To read more about this and other car coverage issues, go to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/florida/quote-comparison/ where you will find informative resource pages and a free-to-use quote-comparison generator that consumers can use to get sample premiums for many vehicle makes and models.
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