Florida Senate - 2015 SB 1268
By Senator Soto
14-00875-15 20151268__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public records; amending s.
3 324.242, F.S.; providing a public records exemption
4 for certain information regarding bodily injury
5 liability insurance policies; providing for future
6 legislative review and repeal of the exemption;
7 providing a statement of public necessity; providing a
8 contingent effective date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1. Section 324.242, Florida Statutes, is amended to
13 read:
14 324.242 Personal injury protection and property damage
15 liability insurance policies; public records exemption.—
16 (1) The following information regarding personal injury
17 protection, bodily injury liability, and property damage
18 liability insurance policies held by the department is
19 confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I
20 of the State Constitution:
21 (a) Personal identifying information of an insured or
22 former insured; and
23 (b) An insurance policy number.
24 (2) Upon receipt of a written request and a copy of a crash
25 report as required under s. 316.065, s. 316.066, or s. 316.068,
26 the department shall release the policy number for a policy
27 covering a vehicle involved in a motor vehicle accident to:
28 (a) Any person involved in such accident;
29 (b) The attorney of any person involved in such accident;
30 or
31 (c) A representative of the insurer of any person involved
32 in such accident.
33 (3) This exemption applies to personal identifying
34 information of an insured or former insured and insurance policy
35 numbers held by the department before, on, or after October 11,
36 2007.
37 (4) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
38 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
39 on October 2, 2020, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
40 through reenactment by the Legislature.
41 Section 2. The Legislature finds and declares that it is a
42 public necessity to make certain information regarding bodily
43 injury liability insurance policies held by the Department of
44 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles confidential and exempt from
45 the requirements of s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s.
46 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. In order to ensure
47 public safety on the roads and highways of this state, it is
48 imperative that automobile drivers be properly insured for
49 liability for bodily injury, as well as damage to real property.
50 As such, insurers are required to report to the Department of
51 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and verify the issuance of a
52 new policy to a driver, as well as the renewal, nonrenewal, or
53 cancellation of that policy. Such information includes the
54 personal identifying information of an insured or former insured
55 as well as the insurance policy number of the insured. If this
56 information is compiled, it could result in a customer list of
57 every insurer in the state. Customer lists contain detailed
58 client and policy information that is traditionally considered
59 proprietary business information because such lists could be
60 used by competitors to solicit customers. Consequently, the
61 release of that information could injure the insurer in the
62 marketplace by diminishing the advantage that the insurer
63 maintains over those who do not possess such information.
64 Further, public access to such information could be used to
65 perpetuate fraud against an insured and put him or her at risk
66 or to make the insured the target of uninvited solicitations
67 from other insurers or from others seeking to profit from motor
68 vehicle accidents.
69 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
70 SB ____ or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
71 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
72 thereof and becomes a law.