A national survey ranks Florida in the top quarter for states with the highest car insurance rates. And with personal injury protection insurance fraud costing Floridians an estimated one billion dollars a year, many are questioning how much that fraud is impacting your car insurance.
Irina Ramos, a mother of two, knows her money well when it comes to car insurance in the state of Florida.
“It’s kind of pricey here in Florida,” she says.
Car insurance agent Mercedes Wheeler says PIP fraud has a lot to do with it.
“It’s been the reason that we’ve been told we are having the increases,” she says.
It increases from 8 to 16 percent every six months.
“We probably wouldn’t have that as much if we didn’t have the fraud,” she says.
To give you an idea of how much you’re paying for the illegal act, a 35-year-old female Florida minivan driver like Irina pays about $100 a month for basic car insurance.
Without having to pick up a piece of the fraud tab, she could be paying closer to $75 or $80.
That figure is shocking to Irina, but also disappointing.
“I am a good driver and I am paying for everyone else,” she says.
A PIP reform bill is headed to Governor Rick Scott’s desk. The bill states that in order to be reimbursable by PIP, a victim must initially be treated within 14 days of an accident. The bill also allows a 90 day time period for investigation of claims where reasonable suspicion of fraud exists.