For years now, Florida has been a no fault state when it comes to car insurance. This meant that a driver must carry a state minimum for bodily injury only; collision and property coverage was optional. That may change however as the Florida House of Representatives voted to approve the repeal along with other property and casualty rules.
Now that it passed it will head to the Florida Senate for the vote. Should it pass it will head to Governor DeSantis’s desk for approval. This bill however is unpopular in a bi-partisan manner. DeSantis himself is also against the change. The reason is this will seriously hike insurance costs in the State of Florida for drivers.
When we only had to have bodily injury the prices remained lower. Right now Florida’s homeowners insurance has skyrocketed over the last five years as Florida has been pummeled by hurricanes that wiped out properties with billions of dollars in damage. Most insurance companies are trying to pull out of Florida. The skyrocketing costs have made it almost unaffordable costing people the ability to buy a home or risk their mortgage being cancelled because the insurance premiums are too high to pay. Adding the no fault repeal will only add to that financial burden.
The no fault rule also can impact one’s ability to be sued and held liable for any amount not covered by their insurance. This will be very unpopular among the residents of Florida. So how much farther it goes from here is yet to be seen.
