CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.Senate Bill 0186
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 186
By Senator Grant
13-158-98
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to insurance; amending s.
3 627.736, F.S.; specifying the time when
4 personal injury protection benefits are
5 overdue; providing an effective date.
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7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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9 Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 627.736, Florida
10 Statutes, is amended to read:
11 627.736 Required personal injury protection benefits;
12 exclusions; priority.--
13 (4) BENEFITS; WHEN DUE.--Benefits due from an insurer
14 under ss. 627.730-627.7405 shall be primary, except that
15 benefits received under any workers' compensation law shall be
16 credited against the benefits provided by subsection (1) and
17 shall be due and payable as loss accrues, upon receipt of
18 reasonable proof of such loss and the amount of expenses and
19 loss incurred which are covered by the policy issued under ss.
20 627.730-627.7405. When the Department of Health and
21 Rehabilitative Services provides, pays, or becomes liable for
22 medical assistance under the Medicaid program related to
23 injury, sickness, disease, or death arising out of the
24 ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle, benefits
25 under ss. 627.730-627.7405 shall be subject to the provisions
26 of the Medicaid program.
27 (a) An insurer may require written notice to be given
28 as soon as practicable after an accident involving a motor
29 vehicle with respect to which the policy affords the security
30 required by ss. 627.730-627.7405.
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 186
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1 (b) Personal injury protection insurance benefits paid
2 pursuant to this section shall be overdue if not paid within
3 30 days after the insurer is furnished reasonable proof
4 written notice of the fact of a covered loss and of the amount
5 of same. If such reasonable proof written notice is not
6 furnished to the insurer as to the entire claim, any partial
7 amount supported by reasonable proof written notice is overdue
8 if not paid within 30 days after such reasonable proof written
9 notice is furnished to the insurer. Any part or all of the
10 remainder of the claim that is subsequently supported by
11 reasonable proof written notice is overdue if not paid within
12 30 days after such reasonable proof written notice is
13 furnished to the insurer. However, any payment is shall not
14 be deemed overdue when the insurer has reasonable proof to
15 establish that the insurer is not responsible for the payment,
16 notwithstanding that written notice has been furnished to the
17 insurer. For the purpose of calculating the extent to which
18 any benefits are overdue, payment shall be treated as being
19 made on the date a draft or other valid instrument which is
20 equivalent to payment was placed in the United States mail in
21 a properly addressed, postpaid envelope or, if not so posted,
22 on the date of delivery.
23 (c) All overdue payments shall bear simple interest at
24 the rate of 10 percent per year.
25 (d) The insurer of the owner of a motor vehicle shall
26 pay personal injury protection benefits for:
27 1. Accidental bodily injury sustained in this state by
28 the owner while occupying a motor vehicle, or while not an
29 occupant of a self-propelled vehicle if the injury is caused
30 by physical contact with a motor vehicle.
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 186
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1 2. Accidental bodily injury sustained outside this
2 state, but within the United States of America or its
3 territories or possessions or Canada, by the owner while
4 occupying the owner's motor vehicle.
5 3. Accidental bodily injury sustained by a relative of
6 the owner residing in the same household, under the
7 circumstances described in subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2.,
8 provided the relative at the time of the accident is domiciled
9 in the owner's household and is not himself or herself the
10 owner of a motor vehicle with respect to which security is
11 required under ss. 627.730-627.7405.
12 4. Accidental bodily injury sustained in this state by
13 any other person while occupying the owner's motor vehicle or,
14 if a resident of this state, while not an occupant of a
15 self-propelled vehicle, if the injury is caused by physical
16 contact with such motor vehicle, provided the injured person
17 is not himself or herself:
18 a. The owner of a motor vehicle with respect to which
19 security is required under ss. 627.730-627.7405; or
20 b. Entitled to personal injury benefits from the
21 insurer of the owner or owners of such a motor vehicle.
22 (e) If two or more insurers are liable to pay personal
23 injury protection benefits for the same injury to any one
24 person, the maximum payable shall be as specified in
25 subsection (1), and any insurer paying the benefits shall be
26 entitled to recover from each of the other insurers an
27 equitable pro rata share of the benefits paid and expenses
28 incurred in processing the claim.
29 (f) Medical payments insurance, if available in a
30 policy of motor vehicle insurance, shall pay the portion of
31 any claim for personal injury protection medical benefits
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 186
13-158-98
1 which is otherwise covered but is not payable due to the
2 coinsurance provision of paragraph (1)(a), regardless of
3 whether the full amount of personal injury protection coverage
4 has been exhausted. The benefits shall not be payable for the
5 amount of any deductible which has been selected.
6 (g) It is a violation of the insurance code for an
7 insurer to fail to timely provide benefits as required by this
8 section with such frequency as to constitute a general
9 business practice.
10 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1998.
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13 SENATE SUMMARY
14 Provides that personal injury protection benefits to be
paid by an insurer are overdue if not paid within 30 days
15 after the insurer has been furnished reasonable proof of
a covered loss and the amount of the loss.
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