| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to a public records exemption; creating s. |
| 3 | 324.242, F.S.; creating a public records exemption for |
| 4 | certain information regarding personal injury protection |
| 5 | and property damage liability insurance policies held by |
| 6 | the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; |
| 7 | authorizing conditional release of confidential and exempt |
| 8 | information to specified persons; providing for |
| 9 | retroactive application of the exemption; providing for |
| 10 | future review and repeal of the exemption; providing a |
| 11 | statement of public necessity; providing a contingent |
| 12 | effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Section 324.242, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 17 | to read: |
| 18 | 324.242 Personal injury protection and property damage |
| 19 | liability insurance policies; public records exemption.-- |
| 20 | (1) The following information regarding personal injury |
| 21 | protection and property damage liability insurance policies held |
| 22 | by the department is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) |
| 23 | and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution: |
| 24 | (a) Personal identifying information of an insured or |
| 25 | former insured; and |
| 26 | (b) An insurance policy number. |
| 27 | (2) Upon receipt of a written request and a copy of a |
| 28 | crash report as required under s. 316.065, s. 316.066, or s. |
| 29 | 316.068, the department shall release the policy number for a |
| 30 | policy covering a vehicle involved in a motor vehicle accident |
| 31 | to: |
| 32 | (a) Any person involved in such accident; |
| 33 | (b) The attorney of any person involved in such accident; |
| 34 | or |
| 35 | (c) A representative of the insurer of any person involved |
| 36 | in such accident. |
| 37 | (3) This exemption applies to personal identifying |
| 38 | information of an insured or former insured and insurance policy |
| 39 | numbers held by the department before, on, or after the |
| 40 | effective date of this section. |
| 41 | (4) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset |
| 42 | Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed |
| 43 | on October 2, 2012, unless reviewed and saved from repeal |
| 44 | through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 45 | Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 46 | necessity to make confidential and exempt from public records |
| 47 | requirements certain information regarding personal injury |
| 48 | protection and property damage liability insurance policies held |
| 49 | by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. In order |
| 50 | to effectively and efficiently administer and enforce personal |
| 51 | injury protection and property damage liability insurance |
| 52 | coverage requirements, the Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 53 | necessity to protect the release of personal identifying |
| 54 | information of an insured or former insured and the insurance |
| 55 | policy number of an insured. In order to ensure public safety on |
| 56 | the roads and highways of this state, it is imperative that |
| 57 | automobile drivers be properly insured for damage to personal |
| 58 | and real property, as well as personal injury. As such, insurers |
| 59 | are required to report to the Department of Highway Safety and |
| 60 | Motor Vehicles and verify the issuance of a new policy to a |
| 61 | driver, as well as the renewal, nonrenewal, or cancellation of |
| 62 | that policy. When this information is compiled it could result |
| 63 | in a customer list of every insurer in the state. Customer lists |
| 64 | contain detailed client and policy information that is |
| 65 | traditionally considered proprietary business information |
| 66 | because such lists could be used by competitors to solicit |
| 67 | customers. Consequently, the release of that information could |
| 68 | injure the insurer in the marketplace by diminishing the |
| 69 | advantage the insurer maintains over those who do not possess |
| 70 | such information. Therefore, the Legislature finds that it is a |
| 71 | public necessity to prevent the release of such information held |
| 72 | by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and |
| 73 | thereby makes such information confidential and exempt from the |
| 74 | requirements of s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), |
| 75 | Art. I of the State Constitution. |
| 76 | Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date |
| 77 | that HB 13C or similar legislation takes effect, if such |
| 78 | legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an |
| 79 | extension thereof and becomes law. |