Marjorie was a single mother of two children, Andrea and Robert, aged 11 and 12 at the time of her passing. She was known for her vibrant personality, infectious sense of humor, and her deep devotion to her children. Marjorie was involved in various organizations from a young age, and particularly drawn to events that focused on helping children. Her love for horseback riding led her to volunteer with Horses for Handicapped.

Marjorie believed that personal appearances didn’t matter as much as what was in people’s hearts. She had a unique ability to connect with troubled teens and would often bring them to church in the back of her pickup truck. Her passion for helping others was evident in everything she did.

Marjorie’s children, Robert and Andrea, have grown into amazing individuals who actively help run the organization and volunteer with their families. Marjorie’s Hope provides backpacks and other donations to the same children she reached out to during her lifetime, continuing her legacy of love and service.

Marjorie’s Hope is a testament to the life of a woman who touched the hearts of many.

For more information, to volunteer, or donate, please visit their website. The Law Office of Philips & Raaymakers proudly supports this organization.

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Sarah and Chuck

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In 2023, House Bill 425 went into effect, making Florida’s “Move Over Law” official. It required motorists to move over into the next lane or reduce their speed to 20 m.p.h. below the posted speed limit if they encountered a stopped first responder, tow truck, or other emergency vehicle. Despite these measures, and particularly in Florida, roadside injuries persisted at an alarming rate.

Approximately 350 people are killed per year standing outside a disabled vehicle on the side of the road. In Florida alone, there were 176 crashes in 2023 due to vehicles not moving over. Tow truck drivers are particularly vulnerable, with 43 out of every 100,000 being killed in roadside crashes.

Clearly more safety measures were needed. Effective January 1, 2024, Florida’s Move Over Law has been expanded to require motorists to move over not just for first responders, but for any stopped vehicle with warning/hazard lights, emergency flares/signals, or that is stopped with at least one person present. . . more

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An exclusion is a contractual provision in your insurance policy that states what the insurance company Will Not cover on a claim for damages. Often it seems there are more of these clauses in an insurance policy telling you what your company Won’t cover than there are saying what they will pay for on a claim.

Prior to buying a policy of insurance, or renewing one for your car, motorcycle, home, or health to name a few, make sure you consult with an agent to find out what your policy Will Not cover.

We often assume that the insurance we are purchasing will cover us on any claim for the type of coverage we bought, but this is not true.

If your claim falls under an exclusion, it means that the insurance company Will Not pay that claim and you are now personally exposed to the payment of those damages.

A common exclusion in an auto policy is for business use of a personal vehicle, such as driving for Uber or Lyft, delivering pizza, food, or flowers, etc. Personal use of a commercial vehicle could be excluded as well. Motorcycles, golf carts, or ATV’s can be excluded from a standard auto policy requiring the insured to purchase a separate policy for those vehicles.

Auto policies also have exclusions for “Acts of God”, which can include unforeseen medical events which cause a driver to have an accident, such as a heart attack or stroke.

Unnamed, or unknown drivers (ones the insurance company is not aware of living in the household) can be denied coverage under an auto policy exclusion. Vehicles not listed under the policy can be excluded too.

Homeowners’ policies often have clauses excluding damages caused by flooding, water leakage for a long period, or mold.

Damage caused by settling or shifting of the soil can be denied under the policy as well. A claim arising out of faulty or poor construction of a home or addition could be excluded also.

Dogs, specific types of breeds, or certain types of pets are often excluded from insurance coverage leaving the owner of those animals exposed to personal liability.

Of course, with health insurance, a common exclusion can be for pre-existing conditions.

Prevent yourself from being denied coverage under an exclusion by asking your agent if there are any riders or supplements to the policy that you can purchase to cover you if there is an exclusion for a particular situation or event under your main policy of insurance.

Always read your policy and be familiar with what it covers, as well as what it Doesn’t!

We have fought and litigated many of these exclusion issues, so if you should have any questions concerning this topic or any other legal matters, contact us. We are always here for YOU!

Chuck and Sarah

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In March of this year, the Florida Tort Reform Act became law on the same day that the Governor signed the law. It made extensive changes to laws governing personal injury cases and how they are handled in Florida. It also applied most of these changes retroactively, meaning that it automatically applied these changes to cases that were already pending before the new law passed, unless they were already being litigated in court. The following are bullet points of some of the most significant changes that Sarah and I believe you should be made aware of.
1. THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS – meaning the time you have to bring your personal injury case and file suit is now 2 years, substantially reduced from the prior 4 years you had to resolve or file suit in your case. This is one of the only changes that was not applied retroactively, so it only applies to new cases after the legislation went into effect.
2. COMPARATIVE FAULT – meaning the degree of fault for the accident that could be alleged against or attributed to the plaintiff/the injured party. Prior to this year, the injured party could bring a case for their injuries regardless of the degree or level of fault they might have had for those injuries. Their damage recovery would have just been reduced by their degree of fault. Now, if the injured party can be found to have had greater than 50 percent of the fault for their injuries (i.e. 51% or greater), then they are barred from bringing a case forward for personal injury. This new change was applied retroactively to any cases that were not in suit at the time of the passage of the law.
3. MEDICAL BILLS AND DAMAGES – under this law, you now will only be able to collect for what health insurance would have paid towards your medical bills/damages, regardless of whether you had health insurance or not and even if the doctor or medical facility charged you more than what health insurance would have paid. This could leave you with medical debt and damages you cannot collect from an insurance company/jury. It will also potentially affect which doctors will treat you as they will be limited to what health insurance would have paid, not what they normally charge for their services. This change was applied retroactively too.
Sarah and I believe the retroactive/backward application of many of these tort reform changes are unconstitutional because they make substantial changes to people’s cases and rights without prior notice of the changes and how they will affect their cases. There are countless prior Florida Appellate cases that say that if a substantial change is made in the law that affects people’s cases and their rights and is not a mere change to the procedure, then it must be applied prospectively, meaning in the future to new cases that come after the passage of the law.
However, it does not matter what we think presently, as we have to follow the new law and apply it to our cases until, and if, the Courts decide otherwise.
If you should have any questions concerning this new tort reform law or any other legal matters, please feel free to contact us at your convenience at 727-494-2008.
We are always here for YOU!
Chuck and Sarah

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Sarah and I have received countless phone calls from Friends of the Firm who are upset, frustrated, overwhelmed, and bewildered by the astronomical increases in their auto insurance rates at the time of renewal of their policy.  Some people have even been dropped completely by their insurance company despite the fact that they have been with them for many years. Insurance agents are faced with these same issues as well with regard to insurance rates.
Unfortunately, this is the current economic and insurance climate we are in presently in the State of Florida. Florida’s legislature is very friendly to insurance companies and, thus, they are allowed to discontinue writing policies for certain types of insurance that they feel puts them at greater financial risk of making a lower profit, or they just raise their rates unfettered to increase their bottom-line returns.
We are repeatedly asked, “What can I do to reduce my auto insurance premiums?”
1. Call your agent, captive (such as State Farm, Allstate) or independent (sells auto insurance coverage for multiple companies) and see if they can shop your coverage for better rates, or for recommendations on how to lower your insurance rates.
2. If you have an adult child (18 or older) living in your household, then remove your name from their vehicle and transfer title solely to them. Then have them obtain their own policy of insurance. They can purchase the least amount of bodily injury liability coverage available (between $10,000.00 and $25,000.00), as they will not have the same liability exposure (due to a lack of assets) as you would have if you continued to have ownership interest in their vehicle. There are some potential exceptions to this, such as when you have an umbrella liability policy, then your insurance company might still require you to insure your adult child.
3. You still want to have all of your resident relatives, including your adult children listed on your policy so that they are covered if they have an accident in one of your vehicles.
4. Roadside assistance on your policy is NOT a benefit to you! Remove it from your policy if you are paying a premium for it or if it is just an add-on to the policy with no premium charged then DO NOT USE IT!! Insurance companies are treating each call for roadside assistance as an INSURANCE CLAIM under your policy and will raise your rates as if you had an accident claim when all you did was utilize the towing service at a cost of about $80.00 to the insurance company.
5. Check on the claims history that your insurance company has listed for you as it could be wrong. Get this corrected by disputing in writing any alleged claims that are not accurate as these will increase your rates as well.
6. Do your research as some companies will increase your rates just because you are a loyal customer and they do not expect you to shop your coverage due to years of complacent renewal. Consumer Reports magazine wrote an article some years ago and identified several companies that imposed a “loyalty penalty” rate increase hoping that your complacency would keep you paying the auto increases without question. Unfathomable, but true.
7. Remove anyone from your policy who no longer resides in the house and does not drive your cars on a regular basis.
8. Do not specifically exclude drivers who might at some time use your car while living in your household.
9. If at all economically possible, DO NOT drop Bodily Injury Liability coverage and Uninsured Motorist coverage from your policy. You will need to carry as much of these coverages as you need to protect your assets and your person/family. Dropping important coverages is not the wise financial decision.
10. An increase of deductibles on coverages that offer them can somewhat reduce your premiums (insurance rates) as well, but be careful as it exposes you financially to that deductible amount when you have a claim.
We highly recommend you take these actions to protect your financial interest the best you possibly can.
If you should have any further questions concerning this or any other legal issues, please contact us. We are always here for You!
Chuck and Sarah

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