CAN INSURANCE COMPANIES SUE SCHOOLS FOR PIP CLAIM
REIMBURSEMENTS?
Florida lawmakers modified the no-fault auto insurance law to cover school bus injuries under parents’ auto insurance back in 1997.
The goal of the modification was to provide a way for school kids injured in school bus accidents to have some of their medical bills covered by their parents’ auto
insurance carrier.
Since then, there have been conflicting court decisions on whether insurance carriers can sue school districts for PIP claims
reimbursement.
On July 3, 2024, the 4th District Court of Appeals ruled that school districts retain sovereign immunity from such suits, conflicting with a
2019 2nd District Court of Appeals decision.
The Florida Supreme Court will likely have to resolve this issue.
The 4th District got it right, said Robert Hauser, attorney for the Florida School Board’s Insurance Trust. Hauser argued that the law intended to shift costs from schools to insurers. The unclear
language of the law creates a necessity to obtain clarification by the court or legislature.
“Everyone knows why the 1997 law was written,” he said Monday. “It was
to shift costs away from schools and to insurance companies.”
“That exclusion meant that injuries sustained on a bus by a public school pupil were subject to the
Florida tort system rather than the No-Fault system, which was perceived to be more quick and efficient,” and “The goal of the legislative tweak was to shift payments for most injuries on school buses away from the school district’s liability insurance under the tort system and instead to parents’ private PIP insurance,” Hauser wrote.
