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 21Personal injury protection and property damageliability 22 insurance policies; public records exemption.— 23 (1) The following information regarding medical payments 24 coverage and motor vehiclepersonal injury protection and25property damageliability 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 vehiclepersonal42injury protection and property damageliability 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.