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Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage is Crucial in Florida

Posted by: James Gitkin
June 13, 2008
Topic: Auto Accidents

As a lawyer practicing personal injury law in Florida, many of my clients ask me about the different types of auto insurance available to drivers.  There are four main types of auto insurance in Florida:  no fault/personal injury protection (PIP); property damage (PD); bodily injury (BI); and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM).  Florida law requires car owners to carry PIP insurance.  It provides medical benefits and lost wages up to $10,000.00 for a driver involved in an accident, regardless of who is at fault for the accident (thus the phrase 'no fault' insurance).  If a driver is responsible for an accident, PD insurance will compensate the other driver for the property damage sustained by that person's car, and BI insurance will compensate the other driver if he or she is injured.  If you carry ample property damage and bodily injury insurance, you can reduce the potential for injured persons attempting to seek out your personal assets after an accident.

While personal injury protection, property damage, and bodily injury insurance are very important to carry in Florida, perhaps the most import auto insurance a driver can and should carry is uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.  The way UM/UIM coverage works is as follows - in the event you are injured in a car accident and the other driver is at fault and is either carrying no bodily injury insurance or inadequate bodily injury insurance, you can recover from your own insurance company for the injuries you sustained and the pain and suffering you experienced (in some circumstances).  This is so important because Florida law does not require drivers to carry any bodily injury insurance.  Thus, in the event you are in an accident with one of these drivers, if you are carrying UM/UIM insurance, you will have an avenue to be compensated for your losses.

In handling auto accident cases throughout Florida, I have found that too many at-fault drivers simply do not have bodily injury insurance, or they are carrying very low BI insurance.  If the injured driver does not carry uninsured/underinsured coverage, the results can sometimes be devistating.  I currently represent a man who was involved in a very serious accident.  He has endured multiple surgeries, has been laid up in the hopspital for two months, and it looks as though he may never work again.  There were two other vehicles that were partially responsble for the crash and both drivers were carrying very little insurance.  Unfortunately, my client was not carrying UM/UIM insurance.  We are now struggling to find any sources of coverage to compensate him for his very extensive damages.

Conversely, I have had some nice recoveries over the last few years for people who were fortunate enough to carry UM/UIM motorist coverage.  Last year, I was able to recover $250,000.00 for an eighty plus year old man whose car was rear-ended in Delray Beach by an uninsured driver.  My client suffered shoulder and back injuries and spent additional time in the hospital after incurring an infection.  Thankfully he was carrying enough uninsured coverage to appropriately compensate him.  Recently, I was also able to obtain $115,000.00 for a man who suffered nerve damage after his arm was pinned by a car backing out of a parking space - again the other driver was not carrying any insurance.

 It's amazing how many people I talk to in Florida who do not know how crucial it is to carry UM/UIM insurance until it is too late.  The bottom line: if you are not carrying this very important insurance, you should consider adding it soon to your policy.  I personally recommend carrying at least $100,000.00 in coverage, but at least carry something because if you are in an accident, there is a very real chance that the other driver will not be carrying insurance.


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