Joe I. Mier, CPIA, Author
The original vision of Florida's “no-fault” insurance law, also known as Personal Injury Protection or simply “PIP” was to provide a medical “safety-net” to Florida drivers. For example, if a driver becomes injured in an automobile accident but has no medical insurance, the driver would still receive medical care without creating a financial burden on legitimate medical care providers and congesting the court system with unnecessary litigation.
Unfortunately, PIP has been terribly exploited by unscrupulous legal entities and fraudulent medical care practitioners. Because of this, insurance companies are abandoning the marketplace, the amount of uninsured drivers is increasing at an alarming rate and the financial burden of increased insurance premiums are significantly affecting the middle class, the working class and seniors on fixed income.
The causes of the problem are obvious. Staged accidents, where those involved clearly know they are engaging in criminal activity, account for only a small percentage of fraudulent PIP claims. Due to media bombardment, PIP has become, in the minds of Floridians, just another “benefit” or “entitlement”. Radio stations are playing commercials and hip-hop artists are referencing injury clinics and legal referral services in their songs, essentially turning a crime into an accepted trend. Drivers are becoming indoctrinated that any time they are involved in an automobile accident they are “entitled” to “collect” under PIP “benefits”. Furthermore, only hours after an accident, even the most minute fender-bender in a parking lot, the involved parties will be contacted by numerous legal entities and fraudulent medical care practitioners and clinics. They become the prey of the PIP fraud “cartel”.
This problem of “passive” PIP fraud needs to be addressed with the same vigor as the staged accidents are addressed. Because insurance companies will be challenged in court if they refuse to pay a fraudulent medical care provider or clinic, they have few choices except paying the fraudulent claims and raising everybody's premium or simply not doing business in the State of Florida altogether. The law is allowing these professional criminals to get away with this fraud. Any type of reform has to render the State of Florida as no longer profitable for the PIP “cartel” to conduct “business” in.
We strongly believe that Florida must maintain it's PIP “no-fault” coverage, while also mandating Bodily Injury Liability (BI) and Property Damage (PD) coverages. We must ensure that any reform will restore PIP to it's original intended purpose while maintaining affordability and availability.
Sincerely Yours,
Joe Mier, CPIA
Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services
Past President, Latin American Association of Insurance Agencies