When it comes to automobile insurance, many people are looking for “the best deal” they can find.  We’ve all seen the commercials and heard the radio ads telling us that we can save money by going to this company or that company; one company even shows us the money we can be saving in their ads.  But what many people fail to understand is that, to some degree, you get what you pay for.  When you pay less, you tend to get less.

UNINSURED MOTORIST (“UM”) COVERAGE

UM Coverage is the key to protecting yourself and your family in the event of a car accident.  You are not required carry UM coverage, and many people waive their right to purchase UM to bring the price of their insurance down.  The term “Uninsured” covers two possibilities: First, it refers to the person who causes an accident that has no insurance – hence the name, uninsured.  Second, and equally important, is that Uninsured also refers to the negligent driver who has insurance coverage to pay for your injuries, but simply not enough coverage to pay all your damages; this is the Under-insured motorist.  Both Uninsured and Underinsured motorists are covered by the blanket term “Uninsured Motorist” Coverage.

FLORIDA LAW

Florida is a “No-Fault” state.  This means that, regardless of who is at fault, or if nobody is at fault, your medical bills and lost wages are covered by your own insurance policy.  To make this work, the State requires all Florida drivers to carry a minimum of $10,000 of personal injury protection, or “PIP” insurance, as well as  Property Damage (“PD”) insurance.  PIP will generally pay 80% of your medical bills, and 60% of your lost wages, up to the policy limits that you select with your insurance company; insurance companies are required by law to sell a minimum of $10,000 in PIP coverage.  Again, PIP generally covers you and your injuries, but not the other people in the other vehicle(s).   PD coverage will pay the costs to repair or replace personal property (like the vehicles themselves) that was damaged in an accident.

BUYING INSURANCE TO COVER THE DAMAGE YOU CAUSE TO OTHER PEOPLE

Apart from PIP (read above for details), you can also purchase Bodily Injury (“BI”) coverage.   Bodily Injury coverage will pay for the personal injuries you cause to another person.

WHY BUY BODILY INJURY COVERAGE IF THE OTHER GUY HAS TO HAVE HIS OWN PERSONAL INJURY/NO-FAULT INSURANCE?

For several reasons.  As a public policy concern, you cannot lawfully purchase UM coverage (to protect you and your family) unless you also purchase BI coverage with at least the same coverage limits.  This means that, if you are going to protect yourself above the minimum required by law (as you should), you must also protect the people you might injure as well.   An example:  If you want to buy $100,000 in UM coverage in case you get hit by an uninsured motorist, you must also buy $100,000 or more in BI coverage.  The public policy behind those rules are simple:  You can’t protect yourself from an uninsured motorist and be an uninsured motorist at the same time.  This is a lot like the Golden Rule we all learned when we were kids: treat others as you would like to be treated.

Another reason to buy BI coverage is that, with BI coverage, your insurance company will be required to provide a lawyer to defend you in the event that you are in an accident and somebody decided to sue you for their bodily injuries.  The cost of hiring an insurance defense lawyer could be even more then the damages from the accident.   With BI coverage, you can look to your insurance company to cover those expenses.

WHAT IF MY FAMILY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE INJURED BY SOMEONE ELSE?

Hopefully, the negligent driver will have enough insurance (or personal assets) to pay the damages you or your family sustain.  Many times, however, especially in our down-turned economy, people try to shave costs and cut corners.  Non-essentials are the first expenses to go, and many people are driving on the road with little or no insurance.  If you are injured by an Uninsured Motorist (or Under-insured Motorist), it would serve you well to have UM coverage on your own insurance policy.

UM COVERAGE WILL GENERALLY PAY FOR YOUR INJURIES AND LOST WAGES IN THE EVENT YOU ARE INJURED BY A NEGLIGENT DRIVER WHO HAS LITTLE OR NO INSURANCE.

The lawyers at Silver & Silver believe that failure to prepare is preparing to fail.  If you wait until after an accident, it will already be too late.  We do not encourage the public to gamble their family’s financial future on the chance that a negligent driver will have enough coverage to pay for his own mistake.  If you can’t look to their insurance, at least you know you can look to your own.

Insurance companies are required by Florida law to offer every policy-holder with BI coverage the opportunity to also buy UM coverage.  Realize that the insurance company may not be happy about that, because they would be paying for the negligence done by another, non-insured person.

The insurance company may provide you with a form to sign that waives your right to elect UM coverage.  If you sign the form, or if you already have done so, you have waived your right to UM coverage.  We, the lawyers at Silver & Silver, believe this is a mistake, a mistake that is unknowingly made all the time.

HOW MUCH COVERAGE IS ENOUGH?

That depends on the individual.  With serious injuries, no amount of money is enough to take away the pain.  Get the coverage you can afford.  In our view, you get what you pay for, and paying the extra cost of BI and UM coverage goes a long way toward making sure you and your family are protected.  Isn’t that the best deal?

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR COMMENT THAT YOU DO NOT WISH TO POST PUBLICLY ON THIS BLOG, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT THE LAWYERS AT SILVER & SILVER BY CLICKING HERE

THIS BLOG IS NOT INTENDED AS LEGAL ADVICE.  THIS BLOG IS INTENDED TO INCREASE THE AWARENESS OF PUBLIC CONSUMERS SO THEY CAN MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS WHEN CHOOSING TO PURCHASE INSURANCE COVERAGE.