House Proposals Address Auto Insurance Issues
Two bills of interest to the auto insurance industry have been filed in the Florida House of Representatives. Neither has a Senate companion yet, although it is still early.
HB 323 attempts to address concerns with an explosion of auto glass claims and resulting litigation. The bill would prohibit motor vehicle repair shops and their representatives from offering rebates, gifts, gift cards, cash, coupons, or other things of value for making an auto insurance glass claim. It is not clear that eliminating the referral gifts would completely stem the tide of questionable claims, but it certainly would be a step in the right direction.
Another bill, HB 301, covers a range of issues. Among them is the PIP deductible issue that was the subject of a recent Florida Supreme Court case, Progressive Select Insurance Co. v. Florida Hospital Medical Center. The Supreme Court found that the PIP deductible applies to a provider’s billed charges before application of a fee schedule. HB 301 would allow an insurer, with notice, to adopt a methodology that allows the provider’s charges to be reduced by the fee schedule prior to application of the deductible.