According to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), the imperfections of Florida’s no-fault car insurance system are causing abuse that is system-wide, and the number of fraudulent claims is larger than it has been at any other time.
This national association issued a special report on the no-fault auto coverage in the state which showed that the resulting costs from the false claims have meant that drivers are paying over $800 billion more than they would otherwise be required.
According to a senior vice president at PCI, Paul Blume, “Regrettably, the Florida no-fault system is completely broken.” He went on to say that the no-fault system in the state is riddled with fraud, and that the cost of this practice is notably higher in this state than in any other state in the country with no-fault auto insurance.
PCI’s report used National Insurance Crime Bureau data to illustrate Florida’s leadership over the other states in “questionable claims” made connected to staged car accidents in the years 2007 through 2009. It stated that among the ten cities in the United States with the largest number of questionable auto claims, four are located in Florida: Hialeah, Orlando, Miami, and Tampa.
PCI’s report also went on to mention the Report on Review from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, which examined the 2011 Personal Injury Protection Data Call, and indicated that though there are fewer drivers, collisions, and related injuries in the state, there was a 35.7 percent increase in the number of claims for personal injury protection (PIP) that were made in the years 2008 through 2010.
