Why would I be entitled to compensation for my injuries and damages if I am involved in a car, motorcycle, bus, or trucking type accident in Florida?

#2 in a series of discussions on Florida’s Motor Vehicle No-Fault

Prior to the passage of Florida’s Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law anyone involved in a car or motor vehicle accident had the legal right to seek damages for their accident related injuries without any pre-conditions to filing a lawsuit. In addition, car or motor vehicle insurance was not mandatory in the state of Florida prior to Florida’s Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law (and in fact, approximately 60% of all car owners in the state of Florida were uninsured prior to the passage of Florida’s Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law). It is this writer’s opinion that the insurance industry and their special interests intended to have laws passed that would make it mandatory that all operators of cars or motor vehicles must obtain car or motor vehicle insurance in order to astronomically increase their gross revenues by collecting previously non-existent insurance premium payments from that non-participating 60% of the car owners in Florida – an extraordinary increase in the sheer number of payments, alone.

The insurance industry’s premise for making car insurance mandatory was predicated upon a misleading concept that their insured would receive greater value in not having to prove fault before being able to receive benefits for medical expense and lost wages, instead of having to wait for medical or chiropractic care and the payment of lost wages until a court of law determined who was at fault for the accident. The original enactments of this Act provided for these benefits (PIP or Personal Injury Protection Benefits) with up to $10,000 of benefits, at 80% of any related medical expense including chiropractic care, and inclusive of 60% of a claimants gross lost wages to be paid, also from that $10,000 source. Fault would not be a determining factor in order to receive these PIP benefits. What was not and has never been candidly revealed to the insured public in the state of Florida at that time was that the insurance industry was permitted to sell this $10,000 PIP coverage with an $8,000 deductible – meaning that before the insurance company would pay dollar one, the injured insured would have to personally pay the first $8,000! Frankly, no one could easily afford to do so then, or now, and therefore obviously the intention of this act was not to actually pay the average insured one penny!