FL H1181

Repeals Florida's No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Law (ss. 627.730–627.7407, F.S.) effective July 1, 2026, eliminating mandatory personal injury protection (PIP) coverage and replacing it with a tort-based bodily injury liability system, renamed the "Financial Responsibility Law of 2025."

Establishes new mandatory insurance minimums for all Florida-registered motor vehicle owners/operators: $25,000/$50,000 bodily injury liability and $10,000 property damage liability per crash, or a $60,000 combined single-limit policy. DUI offenders must carry $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury and $50,000 property damage for at least 3 years.

Creates enhanced requirements for for-hire passenger transportation vehicles (taxicabs, limousines, jitneys) including $125,000/$250,000 bodily injury and $50,000 property damage minimums, with policies from Florida Insurance Guaranty Association member insurers; operators of 300+ vehicles may self-insure up to $300,000 per occurrence with adequate excess coverage.

Increases financial responsibility thresholds for self-insurance and certificates of deposit: individual net worth requirement raised from $40,000 to $100,000; certificate of deposit calculation raised from $30,000 to $60,000 per vehicle (maximum $240,000); commercial motor vehicle liability minimums increased for vehicles 26,000–44,000 lbs GVW.

Requires insurers to notify policyholders by April 1, 2026 of the no-fault repeal, new minimum liability requirements, availability of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, and transition rules. Motor vehicle policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2026, may not include PIP; existing compliant policies remain valid until renewal, nonrenewal, or cancellation.

Updates uninsured motorist coverage to explicitly include damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, disability, and loss of enjoyment of life, removing the prior tort threshold tied to the repealed no-fault law.

Replaces all PIP references across dozens of statutes — including those governing transportation network companies, peer-to-peer car sharing, autonomous vehicles, rental/leasing companies, health care clinics, fraud enforcement, Medicaid recovery, premium finance companies, and insurer experience reporting — with references to bodily injury liability and medical payments coverage as applicable.

Updates fraud and enforcement provisions so that fraudulent claims formerly prosecuted under PIP now apply to medical payments coverage, retaining felony penalties including minimum 2-year imprisonment for staged crashes, mandatory 5-year license revocation for health care practitioners committing fraud, and a 10-year bar on medical payments reimbursement.

Mandates rate filings implementing the new requirements be approved through the file-and-use process, and appropriates $83,651 in nonrecurring funds from the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund to the Office of Insurance Regulation for implementation, effective July 1, 2025.

Preserves pre-existing license and registration suspensions for failure to maintain required coverage, ensuring all suspensions in effect before July 1, 2026, remain enforceable, with reinstatement available under existing statutory procedures.