According to a statistic by the Insurance Information Institute, approximately 1 of 8 drivers that get in car accidents don’t have insurance. That in itself is extremely concerning. But that’s not the worst part.

As a law firm in Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale, we focus on the statistics for our locality. 

In Florida, one in 4 drivers that get in car accidents are uninsured. This is double the national statistic and it is concerning. 

Why is it concerning?

Well, it means that getting financial coverage for a car accident that wasn’t your fault might be harder than you think. 

Uninsured motorist coverage will give you financial coverage for bodily injury, medical bills, and future lost wages for severe car accidents in Miami that go beyond your PIP coverage. 

Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida

Florida law requires that everyone at least has PIP.

Also known as personal injury protection (PIP), it is meant to protect the driver from immediate damages and having to pay everything out of pocket. However, PIP is limited to a certain dollar amount that is different for each state. For Florida, PIP coverage is $10,000. But there are plenty of cases when PIP will not cover for the full extent of damages. 

This is where uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM) coverage comes in. 

Uninsured coverage and underinsured coverage will protect a policyholder from a car accident where the at-fault driver doesn’t have liability insurance. This is also the same for underinsured motorist coverage, except that it helps the driver cover for whatever the insurance policy couldn’t cover. 

Pause. What is liability insurance?

Liability insurance is coverage that is used when the at-fault party is also the insured party. So for example, if you were in a car accident in Fort Lauderdale and found to be largely or substantially at fault for the accident, liability insurance coverage would pay for the damages that you caused to the other driver. 

Anyways, uninsured motorist coverage will protect you from extra costs that go beyond PIP coverage. Losses that could be covered by uninsured motorist coverage include lost wages, medical bills, and bodily injury.

Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage Mandatory in Florida

The quick answer is no. 

Although insurance companies are required to offer it, it is not required for individual drivers to have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in Florida. 

The driver or policyholder has the right to reject the offer for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

For policy limits on uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, the limits cannot exceed the limits for bodily injury coverage. 

Contacting a Personal Injury Lawyer for Uninsured Motorist Coverage

At FLL Accident Lawyers, our main goal is to make sure that our clients are back to their desired health and not in pain and suffering from the car accident injuries. 

After a car accident, there is only pain and suffering. There is almost nothing good that comes out of being in a  car accident. 

To add insult to injury, being left out to dry with the medical bills and potential other losses that result from a car accident will only make it worse. 

Our team of personal injury lawyers in Fort Lauderdale are here to serve you. 

We start with a free consultation to hear what happened to you and to determine the best route to help you with your case. 

Once our team determines that we can help you and provide value to you, we will immediately start gathering evidence such as photos and medical bills to build you a strong case. 

We don’t win until YOU win, so don’t worry about fees and payments right now, only worry about recovering and getting your health back.