Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is an insurance coverage for medical and other expenses resulting from an automobile accident, for people specified in the policy, regardless of who is at fault in the accident. The best way to find out about your personal injury protection (PIP) coverage is by contacting your insurance company or agent.
Florida drivers trying to follow the changes in PIP ( personal injury protection in the event of a crash) might have experienced whiplash keeping track of the law's demise and revival.
The state stopped mandating $10,000 in PIP coverage on Oct. 1. Days later, lawmakers approved legislation that makes PIP mandatory again, but not until Jan. 1.
Now that three-month suspension of the PIP requirement is about to end. Some drivers never lost PIP coverage and will see no change, but others will pay more for their insurance to get PIP back in their policies.
"It has been very confusing for folks, because it has been all over the place," said Dan Tarantin, chief executive officer of Direct General Insurance Company, which sells insurance through the Florida No-Fault, Cash Register and Direct General brands. "I think there are a lot of people who don't know about it really."
Tarantin said the most vulnerable drivers are those who dropped PIP coverage after Florida's no-fault auto insurance system expired on Oct. 1. In addition, he said drivers who bought auto insurance after Oct. 1 also might lack the coverage required by Florida law Tuesday.
Drivers who went without PIP coverage could save money. But Tarantin said when the requirement resumes Tuesday, the law has "real teeth." Reinstatement fees for a suspended license range from $150 to $500, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. By law, insurance companies must cancel the polices of drivers that do not have PIP and notify the department, which will then suspend those drivers' licenses.
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