vehicle insurance in florida
If you own a car in Florida, you must purchase insurance for it. However, only two types of insurance are needed: personal injury protection (PIP or no breakdown insurance) and property damage.
Personal Protection Insurance (PIP)
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance covers you (and in some cases anyone who lives in your household) if they are injured in a car accident.
Regardless of who caused the accident, medical bills and lost wages must first be submitted to your auto insurance company. This is why PIP insurance is also known as “harmless insurance”.
PIP insurance pays 80% of your medical expenses and 60% of your lost wages. The PIP may also include a percentage of other expenses such as lawn maintenance or housekeeping required for injuries and also miles in Medicare treatment.
You only have 14 days to seek initial medical treatment in order to file a claim for PIP insurance coverage. If you fail to seek treatment within 14 days, your insurance company may deny payment.
Florida law requires a minimum of $10,000 in PIP coverage. However, you have the right to buy more than $10,000.
Cover for lost wages under PIP
One of the great advantages of having a PIP policy is the fact that it will pay out 60% of your lost salary if you are hurt.
Insurance companies need proof from your doctor that you are unable to work. Once the insurance company has this information, it must start paying the lost wages within 30 days. As long as the doctor keeps saying you can’t work, you will be entitled to a check from the insurance company every two weeks.
Remember that PIP only pays 60% of lost wages. You are entitled to this regardless of who caused the accident. The negligent driver responsible for the accident will also be liable for the remaining 40% of your lost wages not paid by the PIP. However, you will not be entitled to 40% of unpaid wages until your case is closed. Also, any missed wages payments made by your PIP will reduce the amount available under your PIP for your medical care.
Medical Insurance (MedPay) Insurance
Since PIP only pays 80% of your medical bills, many people buy additional coverage known as “medical payments coverage” (MedPay). This type of coverage complements PIP insurance and pays the extra 20% of medical bills not covered under your PIP policy.
Property damage coverage
The other type of insurance required by Florida law is Property Damage Liability Coverage. Florida law requires a minimum of $10,000 in property damage coverage. This insurance covers damages you cause to the property of another motorist.
Property damage liability coverage does not protect your vehicle if it is damaged in an accident. It only protects the property of the other driver in the accident. You need collision insurance to cover your vehicle.
Uninsured Insurance (UM) and Uninsured Insurance (UIM)
Uninsured and Uninsured Insurance (“UM-UIM”) coverage protects you from personal injury caused by another driver if the driver does not have insurance coverage or enough to pay all of your damages.
Unfortunately, there are many drivers who operate cars that do not have insurance to cover injuries. Most UM-UIM policies will cover you, your spouse, all relatives residing in your household, and often all passengers. Also, UM-UIM policies will cover you if you are riding in someone else’s vehicle, and even if you are a pedestrian or on a bicycle.
We believe that UM-UIM coverage is one of the most important insurances that every person who owns a vehicle should own.
How secure is a UM-UIM to buy? Stacked or non-stacked?
You must first determine how many cars you have in the policy. This is because there are two types of UM-UIM coverage, ‘stacked’ and ‘non-stacked’ coverage.
Anyone who purchases a UM-UIM has the right to have a “stack” or group UM-UIM added together to their policy in order to determine the total amount of coverage available. For example, if a person owns two cars each with a limit of 25,000 UM-UIM, he or she will receive 50,000 coverage for each accident.
If you have “non-stacked” coverage and own more than one vehicle, you will be limited to UM-UIM coverage for the specific vehicle that was involved in the collision.
It’s best to buy stacked coverage if you own more than one vehicle.
Are you sufficiently insured?
Many people assume they have “full coverage”. However, in Florida, “full coverage” only means you have a PIP and Property Damage Liability policy. There are other types of insurance coverage available, such as:
Collision coverage – which pays for damage to your car, even if you are at fault.
Bodily Injury Liability Coverage – which pays for injuries to the other driver and passengers if you are at fault.
Uninsured or Uninsured Motor Cover – which pays for your injuries if the other driver does not have or does not have enough insurance.
Many people think they have enough coverage to protect themselves in the event of an accident. In our practice, we often see people who simply have the minimum coverage required by law.
You may not realize that the minimum coverage in many cases is not enough. You should carefully examine your current insurance coverage and make sure that you understand exactly what you have and, most importantly, what you do not have. We suggest that you go through your insurance with your agent, long before an accident occurs.
body injury liability :
It literally means bodily injury liability; It will give you financial and legal coverage if you injure or kill someone while driving your car; The insurance company employee will provide you with a series of numbers representing the amount of coverage ranging from the lowest coverage of $5,000 to the largest coverage of $500,000; The more coverage you buy, the more you pay the insurance company; This applies to the types of coverage below, with a slight difference in the minimum and maximum price.
Vehicle insurance in Florida
Medical payments, no-fault or personal injury
To cover the costs of medication for injured passengers and drivers in your car, as well as if you were injured by a car while on foot
Uninsured motorists coverage
- It means ensuring the car in the event of a collision with another car, the owner of which does not have insurance; This case applies to accidents during which the other party flees from the scene of the accident; At that time, he is considered as a driver without insurance or coverage
Comprehensive physical damage :
Covering the costs of repairing your vehicle in the event that it is damaged due to other than collision accidents; like theft; fire; floods; Animals falling from a pole or a tree…
collision coverage:
Financial and legal coverage in the event of a collision, whether it was a mistake or another mistake. But you should take into account that this type is determined by the financial value of the car on the market;
property damage liability :
Image removed. When you are hit by the ownership of others or another car and it is your fault, this type of coverage will protect you legally and pay the fees and repair for you. In addition to the above types of coverage, there are other services that insurance companies can offer you that is added to the list above; Among these services are:
- Emergency Road Service: Helps you if your car has a mechanical breakdown on the road
Rental Reimbursement: If your car is broken or in Mareb auto repair after a traffic accident, this service I subscribed to gives you a free car until your car is repaired - Mechanical Breakdown Insurance: Coverage for mechanical breakdowns of the vehicle.
Now after reading this topic, do you know the meaning of comprehensive coverage and partial coverage? The latter means when you buy only one type or some type of coverage in order to reduce the cost of insurance - for car accidents; As for the comprehensive coverage, it means what the meaning of the word means, that is, the purchase of all types of coverage.
- There are some other words that you may hear or read about car insurance, we mention:
Deductible:
or discount means how much you will pay from your own money; For example, you purchased a specific coverage, for example, a collision coverage, at a value of 25,000 dollars for each accident; And in return you - chose $500 as a Deductible; This means that the insurance company will pay you or the driver of the other car
- up to 25,000 dollars, depending on the type of losses resulting from the collision and deducting from them 500 dollars as a contribution from me in the repair costs.
- The more you choose a large discount, the cheaper the insurance will be and vice versa
Vehicle insurance in Florida
