The Florida Insurance Group, an auto coverage provider, has applauded the efforts being made by the Legislature in that state to help to reduce the rampant frequency of insurance fraud.
According to Lee Rogers from the Florida Insurance Group, the personal injury protection (PIP) fraud that is occurring within the state has grown from the level of being a problem to the degree that it has become an “outright disaster.”
Rogers explained that “It is not fair for the law-abiding citizens of Florida to have to pay higher premiums because of people who stage accidents to cheat the system.”
There are currently two bills under consideration this session in Tallahassee, as the state drives its efforts forward for cutting back on the PIP fraud that is costing drivers in Florida an estimated $910 million every year. Each of the proposed bills would function to reduce fraud either by attempting to eliminate “pain clinics” that bill unscrupulously, by giving priority to claims from hospitals, or by changing the fee schedule.
Rogers said that if fraud is going to be reduced, then the PIP system will need to be entirely overhauled. He added that the patches that are currently under consideration don’t seem to have the necessary power to truly repair this system.
Detectives from the Sheriff Department addressed lawmakers in 2011 regarding their opinion about what they have witnessed in their undercover efforts for fraud reduction. They have found that there are full pain clinics that are packed with the victims of staged accidents that were created specifically to receive fraudulent payments from the system.
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