Lawmakers could change Florida's no-fault auto insurance system

TALLAHASSEE — House Insurance & Banking Chairman Wyman Duggan indicated Friday that lawmakers could address the state's longstanding no-fault auto insurance system during the 2024 legislative session.

Otherwise, lawmakers who appeared on a panel at the Florida Chamber of Commerce's annual Insurance Summit said they don't expect major insurance action during the session, as changes made during the past year continue to take hold.

Duggan, R-Jacksonville, suggested lawmakers will consider repealing the no-fault system and its requirement that motorists carry $10,000 in personal-injury protection, or PIP, coverage, "but with some safeguards."

Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, and Rep. Danny Alvarez, R-Hillsborough County, have filed identical bills (SB 464 and HB 653) to eliminate the no-fault system and PIP requirement, while requiring motorists to carry bodily injury coverage.

The $10,000 PIP requirement, an amount that has been unchanged since 1979, is designed to help defray medical costs after accidents.

Critics of repeal efforts have argued such a change would drive up costs for low-income Floridians and could put more motorists on the road without coverage.

Sen. Linda Stewart, an Orlando Democrat who was on the panel Friday, said she doesn't see repeal efforts "going anywhere" but said the $10,000 limit should be increased.

"When you go up, realize the insurance cost does go up. So we can't be terribly high on that end," Stewart said.

Duggan also said lawmakers might look at a cap that prohibits Citizens Property Insurance Corp. from writing policies in most parts of the state for properties with replacement costs over $700,000.

House Commerce Chairman Bob Rommel, R-Naples, said he expects "some modest reforms" but was more guarded about potential insurance changes during the session, which will begin Jan. 9.

"As we're negotiating things, I don't want to also just say something that's a good press clipping," Rommel said.