Basic Insurance Coverage For Auto Accidents
As a Florida Driver, you must have certain auto accident insurance as required by law in order for you to drive legally. The first necessary insurance is “No Fault” or “Personal Injury Protection” (PIP), which provides you with frontline coverage for medical care and lost wages in the event of an accident, no matter who is at fault. The other is Collision, which pays for property damage for your vehicle or other vehicles involved in an accident.
Other Insurance Options
Other types of insurance are optional. These include Bodily Injury (BI), which protects you from personal liability for injuries you cause to other drivers, and Medical Payments (Med Pay) Coverage, which assist with your medical bills in the event of an accident.
The most important of these optional coverages, and often not chosen, is Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UM). This coverage provides you with payment for injuries you sustain in an accident when the person that caused the accident does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance to compensate you fully.
Let’s say, for example, a person driving without Bodily Injury insurance negligently hits your car and injures you in an accident. As mentioned above, Bodily Injury (BI) is not required by Florida law, and many drivers are on the road without this crucial, yet still optional coverage. Although the at-fault driver is, by law, owing to you for any injuries you sustain, they most likely will not have the means to compensate you since they do not have Bodily Injury coverage. Your Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage would then step into the shoes of that individual and compensate you for any injuries you sustain (up to the limits of coverage you purchased).
Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UM) works similarly, however, it steps in when the other driver has Bodily Injury insurance, but the limits of their policy are not large enough to fully compensate you. For those that choose to buy Bodily Injury, in Florida, insurance companies are allowed to sell Bodily Injury Insurance for as low as $10,000. If you are seriously injured in an accident, this amount will not even begin to pay your medical bills. Underinsured Motorist Coverage once again picks up the tab after the other driver’s insurance is exhausted.
There are all types of drivers in Florida. Some do not have insurance at all, drive illegally, and endanger themselves and everyone around them every time they get on the road. Some, in an attempt to lower their insurance bill, do not purchase Bodily Injury (BI) coverage or buy the minimum amount allowed to be sold in Florida, thus leaving those they negligently injure in an accident to pay their own medical bills. Although Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist (UM) may slightly increase the amount you pay per month for insurance, it may mean the difference between you being compensated and being left to foot the bill in the event you are seriously injured in an accident.
Get Help When You Need It
We are here to help you when you need it most. If you or a loved one has been involved in an auto accident, call us for a free consultation. We can help you make sense of a bad situation and help prevent to the insurance companies from short-changing you.
Call us at (800) 848-6168 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation.
