In this edition, we continue our discussion about auto insurance policy coverage and what they mean. Next is UM coverage, it stands for Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. This insurance coverage covers YOUR bodily injury in the event of an auto accident where you are NOT at fault and the person that hits you either does not have coverage in place at the time of the accident or does not have adequate limits to cover your injuries. You may ask your self....isn't auto insurance required here in Florida? Yes it is... PIP coverage (we'll cover this later) and 10k in PROPERTY DAMAGE liability is the state's requirement to get a tag here in Florida. OOOOF
This coupled with the fact that Florida is plagued with millions of uninsured drivers everyday on our roads. While terrible, it does us little good to discuss the whys of this in this forum but rather focus on how we protect ourselves. Uninsured motorist coverage is one way to make sure that you have some first party (you) bodily injury protection in place in case one of these folks injure you. It is generally recommended that you match the limits of your bodily injury liability. So, if you carry 250/500/100 liability limits it is generally recommended that you carry 250/500 limits for UM as well.
Now with UM you have another decision to make. To stack or not to stack.... "Stacking" is an option that you can purchase for your UM coverage where if you have multiple cars you can draw on those UM limits also for that coverage only. So if you have 100/300 stacked limits on 2 cars, you essentially have access to 200/600 worth of UM protection.The decision to stack or not to stack should be discussed with your agent weighing all of the factors in play....
Moving on to PIP as we call it stands for Personal Injury Protection coverage.... this coverage is one of the required ones in Florida. It is what makes Florida a "no-fault" state. So in Florida, in a car accident everyone is responsible for the first 10k of their medical bills. That is where PIP comes in. PIP covers 80% of the first 10k in medical bills regardless of fault in a auto accident. It will also cover such things as lost wages, death benefit and essential services but all top off at 10k unless more is purchased.
I am not setting out to make insurance analysts out of everyone, but rather give folks a decent overview of what all of there line items mean, so I hope I am doing that. If you have further questions or would like to dig deeper on any of these subjects, please reach out to me at charlie@heritagenaples.com.
Have a great day,
Charlie