MIAMI – In Miami Monday, Gov. Rick Scott continued a series of roundtable discussions on auto insurance fraud, looking for ways to reverse Floridians' rising insurance rates because of it.
"People are worried about their insurance going up, not being able to afford it," Scott said. "You hear about small business owners who not cannot afford their auto insurance."
By Florida law, every driver must carry $10,000 of PIP or Personal Injury Protection insurance to pay for possible medical bills and lost wages after an accident. And, by law, insurance companies must pay a PIP claim within 30 days. That paves away for unscrupulous lawyers, clinics and drivers to game the system.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle explains the fraud her office sees.
"Clinics usually have what they call runners, and the runners go out and they stage the accidents. They find people and say 'these six people were in this car', and then they bring those people back to the clinic and the clinic runs up all these bills, up to $10,000 because it's automatically paid for by the insurance company," said Fernandez Rundle.
Spurred by a series of roundtable discussions around the state, the governor is making auto insurance reform a goal of the upcoming legislature. He already has the ear of several lawmakers ready to frame the bills.
