Florida Senate - 2017                                    SB 1768
       
       
        
       By Senator Lee
       
       
       
       
       
       20-02001-17                                           20171768__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s.
    3         324.242, F.S.; revising an exemption from public
    4         records requirements to exempt certain information
    5         held by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
    6         Vehicles relating to medical payments coverage and
    7         liability motor vehicle insurance policies, rather
    8         than relating to personal injury protection and
    9         property damage liability insurance policies;
   10         requiring the department to provide certain policy
   11         numbers to specified parties; providing for future
   12         legislative review and repeal of the exemption;
   13         providing a statement of public necessity; providing a
   14         contingent effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Section 324.242, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   19  read:
   20         324.242 Medical payments coverage and motor vehicle
   21  Personal injury protection and property damage liability
   22  insurance policies; public records exemption.—
   23         (1) The following information regarding medical payments
   24  coverage and motor vehicle personal injury protection and
   25  property damage liability insurance policies held by the
   26  department is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s.
   27  24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution:
   28         (a) Personal identifying information of an insured or
   29  former insured; and
   30         (b) An insurance policy number.
   31         (2) Upon receipt of a request and proof of a crash report
   32  as required under s. 316.065, s. 316.066, or s. 316.068, or a
   33  crash report created pursuant to the laws of another state, the
   34  department shall release the policy number for a policy covering
   35  a vehicle involved in a motor vehicle accident to:
   36         (a) Any person involved in such accident;
   37         (b) The attorney of any person involved in such accident;
   38  or
   39         (c) A representative of the insurer of any person involved
   40  in such accident.
   41         (3) The department shall provide motor vehicle personal
   42  injury protection and property damage liability insurance and
   43  medical payments coverage policy numbers to department-approved
   44  third parties that provide data collection services to an
   45  insurer of any person involved in such accident.
   46         (4) Before the department’s release of a policy number in
   47  accordance with subsection (2) or subsection (3), an insurer’s
   48  representative, a contracted third party, or an attorney for a
   49  person involved in an accident must provide the department with
   50  documentation confirming proof of representation.
   51         (5) Information made confidential and exempt by this
   52  section may be disclosed to another governmental entity without
   53  a written request or copy of the crash report if disclosure is
   54  necessary for the receiving governmental entity to perform its
   55  duties and responsibilities. For purposes of this subsection,
   56  the term “governmental entity” means any federal, state, county,
   57  district, authority, or municipal officer, department, division,
   58  board, bureau, or commission created or established by law.
   59         (6) This exemption applies to personal identifying
   60  information of an insured or former insured and insurance policy
   61  numbers held by the department before, on, or after October 11,
   62  2007.
   63         (7) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   64  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   65  on October 2, 2022, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   66  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   67         Section 2. The Legislature finds and declares that it is a
   68  public necessity to make certain information regarding bodily
   69  injury liability insurance and medical payments coverage
   70  policies held by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
   71  Vehicles confidential and exempt from the requirements of s.
   72  119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the
   73  State Constitution. In order to ensure public safety on the
   74  roads and highways of this state, it is imperative that
   75  automobile drivers be properly insured for liability for bodily
   76  injury and damage to real property and be properly insured for
   77  personal medical expenses. As such, insurers are required to
   78  report to the department and verify the issuance to a driver of
   79  a new policy as well as the renewal, nonrenewal, or cancellation
   80  of that policy. Such information includes the personal
   81  identifying information of an insured or former insured as well
   82  as the insurance policy number of the insured. If this
   83  information is compiled, it could result in a customer list of
   84  every insurer in the state. Customer lists contain detailed
   85  client and policy information that is traditionally considered
   86  proprietary business information because such lists could be
   87  used by competitors to solicit customers. Consequently, the
   88  release of that information could injure the insurer in the
   89  marketplace by diminishing the advantage that the insurer
   90  maintains over those who do not possess such information.
   91  Further, public access to such information could be used to
   92  perpetuate fraud against an insured and put him or her at risk
   93  or to make the insured the target of uninvited solicitations
   94  from other insurers or from others seeking to profit from motor
   95  vehicle accidents.
   96         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
   97  SB ____ or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
   98  is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
   99  thereof and becomes a law.