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No more FLORIDA no-fault Auto Insurance

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by FloridaWen, Aug 15, 2007.

  1. FloridaWen

    FloridaWen New Member

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    :angry:
    http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/N...mp;pageId=3.1.1

    Governor Crist had planned to call a special session to continue our no-fault insurance. But now he says it probably won't happen, and the coverage will likely expire in October.

    Analysts at AAA Auto Club South say that means we won't need to carry any insurance to drive in Florida (except for convicted drivers who are court ordered to purchase coverage).

    "Otherwise, you can renew your license and tag with no proof of insurance," said AAA Auto Club South Managing Director Toniu Germinario.

    Our current no-fault system guarantees injured drivers up to $10,000 in medical coverage.

    "It's redundant for drivers who already have health insurance," said attorney Jay Avril. "But for the 20 percent of accident victims who have no health insurance, they'll receive Medicare, Medicaid, we'll pay for them-- we'll pay with our tax dollars."

    Hospitals say they'll get saddled with unpaid emergency room bills. Lawyers say the courts will bog down in minor lawsuits.

    The insurance lobby pressed state leaders to cancel no-fault insurance. They say it's susceptible to abuse—and many agree. Police say some doctors over-treat patients. Some even bribe people to fake accidents, so they can bill their insurance for bogus treatments.

    State leaders hoped to reform the system. But they would have to pass a bill within the next six weeks. Governor Crist and other Tallahassee insiders now say that's highly unlikely.
     
  2. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    they should just make proof of insurance required to register a vehicle. when we cancelled insurance on our smashed up camry, i got the 3rd degree about whether i turned in my plates, etc.

    just because there won't be no-fault anymore, which i don't hear great things about anyway, doesn't mean they can't require insurance. sounds like they just don't want to bother.
     
  3. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

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    This is pretty ridiculous... the "it's redundant" statement is pure BS... Sure, my insurance *could* pay for it if i'm hit by someone, but as everyone knows, insurance rates increase as you make claims against them... why should my insurance have to pay for something someone else caused?

    At any rate, i don't think i'll ever be driving in Florida now...
     
  4. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    In California, you have to provide proof of insurance if you are pulled over for any reason by a CHP or other police officer. There is a pretty substantial fine ($1000 or more) if you cant provide it. Its been that way for several years now.

    I was hit by an uninsured driver many years ago (before the current law) and got shafted on the repair cost.
     
  5. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dogfriend @ Aug 15 2007, 10:14 AM) [snapback]496122[/snapback]</div>
    I recently got hit by an insured driver and still got shafted by his insurance company on my rental car. I'm going to small claims in two weeks unless a check arrives in the mail. Before I filed I called him and left a message for him to contact his insurance company or I'd take him to court. After I filed, I got the card proving his received the court papers. Now he can show up and pay. Or he can contact his insurance company and pay. It's not like I didn't warn them.
     
  6. FloridaWen

    FloridaWen New Member

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    :angry:
    My Wife and I want to get OUT of Florida and move back to Connecticut where our Friends and Family are, and where we were born and grew up for 48 years. We had a chance a couple of years ago a blew it.... now it's impossible to sell our house down here (Florida) so we are stuck here to our dismay :(

    My Wife, who works for the County just had her wages frozen for two years and then a treat of layoff on top of that.... all because of Tax Cuts to lower homeowners Taxes by Governor Charlie Crist and save each household approx $175 off of a $4,500+ yearly tax bill. Doesn't make any sense either.............

    Soon OVER 25% of the friggin' "redneck" and elderly drivers, as well as teenagers will be driving WITHOUT ANY INSURANCE.........
     
  7. jamesbugman

    jamesbugman New Member

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    Arizona requires insurance, yet 20-50% supposedly don't have insurance. Talk to your agent about under/uninsured motorist coverage in October when no-fault goes away. It's just a few bucks a year and will cover you when some deadbeat hits you. Eating your deductable is cheaper than paying the entire cost of most repairs.
    James
     
  8. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ Aug 15 2007, 11:52 AM) [snapback]496152[/snapback]</div>
    So move! :p

    Its getting bad TRUE, allstate has threatened to cancel homeowners inurance to 1 million customers along the coasts & south fla. :(

    My home owners insurance was giving rate increases every 2 months, Excuse? because of katrinas costs. Im glad the state put their foot down on insurance rate increases! Why should we have to suffer and foot the bill for New Orleans? the living costs are far more than our pay scale as it is... :eek:

    In one way Im glad to see the govener taking a stand there are benifits across the board if the tax cuts go through... But there are others that will have to tighten up their bugets.. We all know how Govt likes to throw money around when they want to..... :rolleyes:

    Will I be affected? yes I will, as I too work under county govt. :unsure:

    But in the liberal mind set (Gov. christ) is taking from the rich and giving to the poor. we save 174.00 or more on our homestead taxes for homes from 100.000 to 250,000 , persons living in homes under 100,000 will pay little to nothing in property taxes.... ;)

    Wren? How does it feel? knowing your getting the shaft? that is if your in the 174.00 bracket??? So move back up norht and keep this home as a winter retreat. (become Snow Birds) B)

    Im in that bracket too, again it means we will have to tighen our belts a little in some areas. :mellow:


    In florida you are required to have a minimum of PIP insurance. If you do not have insurance. get your license suspended (driving is a privalige not a right) the only motor vehicle that you do not have to have insurance on, is a motorcycle..

    Florida is a no fault state but your still required to have auto insurance!

    If you would like to read the State Satutes on Insurance click here:
    http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index....%2D%3EPart%20XI
     
  9. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Aug 15 2007, 08:31 AM) [snapback]496129[/snapback]</div>
    Did he have Farmers? They seem to be the most uncooperative insurance co from the stories that I have heard.

    I have AAA. Long ago when I got hit by someone with Farmers (his fault) and Farmers stalled on paying, AAA went ahead and paid for my repair and then got the money back from his insurance.
     
  10. viking31

    viking31 Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ Aug 15 2007, 11:52 AM) [snapback]496152[/snapback]</div>
    Sour grapes. Yea, I wish I bought a thousand shares of Yahoo at $25 and sold them when they reached $400 plus. But I didn't. Because I cannot predict the future along with everyone else. Same goes with real estate.

    You are are asking too much for your house. Plain and simple. Your house is only worth what the market is willing to pay, not what you think it is regardless of what you paid for it in the past. You just happen to be on the wrong side of the market. Reduce your price of your house accordingly and it WILL sell. It might be a loss, but that is how a free market operates.

    While I am sure you and your wife are disappointed with her layoff, you are sure to get little sympathy from the millions of overtaxed homeowners in FL. $175 IS a lot of money to most. We, as Floridians, have seen our property taxes skyrocket in the last ten years due to wildly increasing home valuations with little or no change in government service. BTW, as a small business owner, my wages have been frozen (and even dropped in some years) for the last 10 years, but I still get by just fine. You just have to learn to live within your means. Oh, and nonetheless my property taxes did increase this year by 3%.

    Everyone knows PIP is a fraud. "Clinics" are set up throughout the state which overcharge for staged accidents and injuries. Google "clinics fraud florida PIP" and you will find no shortage of the scams that take advantage of the PIP law in FL.

    Rick
    #4 2006
     
  11. drrjv

    drrjv New Member

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    Only way to reduce insurance costs are to:

    1. Get rid of lawyers.

    2. Make everyone have some form of insurance (? if government should provide 'basic' universal insurance).

    3. Put deductibles on insurance to reduce unneeded over-utilization.

    4. Keep No Fault concept for property damage and medical bills.

    5. Use regular health insurance for accidents and injuries.

    6. Limit 'pain and suffering' awards, especially for non-objective complaints.

    7. Get rid of lawyers. Oops, said that already!
     
  12. Pinto Girl

    Pinto Girl New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(viking31 @ Aug 15 2007, 12:31 PM) [snapback]496240[/snapback]</div>
    $175/year is...what...not even $0.50/day...?

    That's a lot of money to most...?

    do not know, but Starbucks is doing pretty good, selling $3.50 coffees...

    *Buy one fewer coffee every week* and you've covered what you'll be saving in property taxes for the year.

    Big, big sacrifice...isn't it...?
     
  13. viking31

    viking31 Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Aug 15 2007, 02:50 PM) [snapback]496303[/snapback]</div>
    For perhaps for you and me $175 really is not a lot, maybe a half or a quarter of a days worth of work. Peanuts.

    And I can understand you mindset being from a area of the nation with some of the highest land values in the nation. You will most likely receive the same response from any number of people waiting in the drive thru in their Lexus 400's and new Prius waiting for their daily Starbucks fix.

    (BTW, Starbucks is NOT doing well. Numerous reports have been floated on the financial wires about Starbucks's financial issues. For the past year their stock has plummeted with no light at the end of the tunnel.)

    But travel to the more rural and inner city parts of this country. Please tell the hard working (and some not so hard working ;-)) folks with families to support that $175 is, well, only less than .50/day. Tell that to millions of elderly widows living on fixed pensions that $175 is not much and we'll just use it for another bloated government job. Poll the 10's millions of people who regularly shop at Walmart, Family Dollar, and other discount stores; ask them if $175 is a big deal. For many families that's at least two weeks of food. Maybe a weeks rent. Maybe a car payment for a month. Maybe a bus pass for a few months. Probably more than they have in their checking account at any given time. I can assure you Starbucks for these folks is a three pound can of "Sams Best" premium coffee.

    Yes, for a few $175 isn't much. But for 10's of millions more, it is a lot.

    I expected more from you. Your response is a silly rebuttal, simply posted to argue for the sake of argument, and way off your purported liberal character.

    Rick
    #4 2006
     
  14. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(viking31 @ Aug 15 2007, 01:31 PM) [snapback]496240[/snapback]</div>
    :mellow: :) WOw Rick, very well said!

    Add this up PLEASE:
    Figure the average Joe makes 7.50 to 9.00 an hour x 8hrs or for sum 9.00 to 10.00 x8 hrs. although some may work a 12hr day...

    Whats the total? :

    How about this (a waitress makes 2.00 to 3.00 an hour + tips, and works an 8 hr shift , but only is allowed to work 31 hrs a week so she doesnt have to be insured. What is her total earnings just on her hourly wage?
    Tips can range from 10. to 100 a shift. but she is still required to claim the tips to the IRS..
     
  15. Pinto Girl

    Pinto Girl New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(viking31 @ Aug 16 2007, 08:32 AM) [snapback]496830[/snapback]</div>
    I don't think I'm being silly. This sort of tax reduction decimates government services on a variety of levels, doesn't it...? All for the price of one coffee per week.

    A "car payment"? You're saying these folks can afford a new car, but can't afford $175/year to support the government? Gee, who's being a bit selfish here?

    I choose to make personal sacrifices for the greater good, instead of whining about not being able to donate *a cup of coffee per week* or *the price of one rental movie* to the agencies providing services that --I'd argue-- actually increase the value of your property by more than $175/yearly.

    And, please, I don't make a lot of money, either --I'm "just" a receptionist. I may work in a city full of restaurants, but I can't afford to eat in most of them; I bring my lunch every day and commute on the train.

    I don't think it's fair of you to make assumptions about me, based only on my geographic location.

    I net about $90 daily. Does that make my viewpoint more worthy of your consideration?

    Besides, we're talking about people who *own property* right? So they're probably not at the absolute bottom of the barrel, economically speaking. How much are they saving for a new roof, or other repairs, I wonder? This is simply the price of doing business; if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you can't afford to pony up a certain amount of money, then you *can't afford the property you're living in.*

    That's true with anything; I'd say that, generally, American's aren't really great at setting themselves financial limits. There are things which --no matter how much we'd like otherwise-- we *can't afford.* And, at some point, we've just got to draw the line.

    I'm sorry; I was homeless when I was younger, pulled myself up by my bootstraps, make $90/day as a receptionist, am not married, and *still* (after much persistence) was able to buy a (small) house in a good neighborhood in the Bay Area.

    I'm not feeling the pain.

    If you don't want to deny yourself the price of *one rental movie* weekly, to ensure reliable governmental services, then maybe you really can't afford your property in the first place.

    I'm sorry, this is not a large amount of money. The very fact that you mentioned "car payments" as something that prevents folks from paying this sum pretty much killed your argument for me.

    We're discussing properties that are worth likely $50-$100,000, at the minimum, aren't we?... $175 is scarcely more than 0.01 percent of that.


    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Aug 16 2007, 01:31 PM) [snapback]497081[/snapback]</div>
    This issue has nothing to do with what you've mentioned. Are you suggesting socialized medicine for America?

    Your example waitress' problems (with not making enough hourly and being uninsured) aren't going to be solved with tax cuts for property owners.

    Actually, it's the current administration which is making it even more difficult for this person. And "Rudy's" plan would also (as has been demonstrated here) not be of much help to her, either (the small savings she'd get from pre tax deductions wouldn't be nearly enough for her health insurance).

    Sounds to me like you're turning Democratic on us? Your folks don't seem to care about this waitress very much at all.
     
  16. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

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    On the contrary, we just tip her more.... ;)
     
  17. priusmaybe

    priusmaybe New Member

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    Not all of us spend $3.50 on a coffee or lunch out. I can buy a pound of coffee for that.

    I think we should each be able to to choose what to spend oour $3.50 on. Most of us don't want to spend it to support deadbeats that expect the "government to pay".

    Please don't spend my money for me. $179.00 pays for my insurance premiums for 2 months and I am a responsible driver. It is all I can barely afford, but it is my choice.
     
  18. Pinto Girl

    Pinto Girl New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ Aug 16 2007, 05:15 PM) [snapback]497289[/snapback]</div>
    I don't live in FLA, but if I did, I'd respond:

    I think y'all are being penny-wise, and pound-foolish.

    And we *do* have certain responsibilities to the state (but where that line is, is extremely vague, I'll admit).

    How many of these folks, do you think, will go out and spend that $175 (as families did with our federal tax gifts a few years back) ---and then some--- on things they "want"?

    I believe that the very article which started the debate quoted one property owner as saying, "with this tax break, now maybe I can take the kids to Disneyworld..."

    Sounds convincing to me.

    You likely are not be one of them, but most Americans simply can't be trusted to save or spend wisely a gift like this. It's a fact; we prove it time and time again.

    This isn't about people in poverty squeaking by, this is about "wanting to take the kids to Disneyworld" at the expense of the functioning of local government.

    At least, that's how I see it. That's why I cited those examples.

    Still not backing down on the "car payment" one, though...most folks with not so great credit are socked with high rates, as we know...why they'd still take out a car loan on a new vehicle, even under those circumstances, is a BIG mystery to me.
     
  19. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    I bought my house for $315,000 and now am selling it for $274,000 because I can't sell it otherwise. And it sits here. Not moving. So some of us know that we have to bite the bullet, and are doing so.

    I will have to lose more money on this house, and that's a fact, jack. But I can't go below the mortgage. And that is also the fact, jack.

    I don't think any politician here is trying to do anything to help things here. I think that the insurance, taxes, and general cost of things will drive the middle class out of this state. Soon it it will be the poor and the rich, and nothing in between.

    I would love to have the tax break promised us, but it ain't happening.