Recent studies suggest that about 20% of motorists in the state of Florida are driving around without any insurance. That breaks down to about 1 in 5 drivers operating a vehicle without any insurance coverage.
If you happen to be involved in a car crash with an uninsured driver, then you are left paying for all the damages and expenses of the accident. While you may assume that your auto policy will cover everything, unless you have uninsured motorist coverage (UM), then you could be out of luck.
Florida auto policyholders have the choice of including UM coverage as an optional extra.
What is UM Coverage?
UM coverage protects a policyholder if they are involved in an automobile collision with a negligent party who has no liability insurance. When the at-fault driver’s liability limits have been reached, but there are still costs to be paid, such as property damage or medical expenditures, then UM coverage can bridge the gap in costs.
All motorists in the Sunshine State are mandated to have at least $10,000 in property damage and personal injury protection (PIP) on their auto policy.
Since Florida is a “no-fault” state as well, there may be instances where an accident results in losses that PIP and property damage liability do not cover; uninsured motorist coverage will step in and provide the necessary funding in these cases.
Do You Want Your Policy Stacked or Non-Stacked?
When it comes to purchasing these extra protections on your auto policy, the question comes up as to whether you want these stacked or non-stacked. Most people have no clue what this really means other than stacked costs more money. Our Florida Auto Accident Lawyers at Whittel & Melton want to help you understand why.
When you have your UM coverage stacked this is to provide you with more uninsured or underinsured coverage in the unfortunate event that someone hits you and they have no insurance or not enough insurance to cover all the damages.
Why do they call it stacked? Insurance can be stacked either horizontally (across numerous policies) or vertically (within a single policy). If you have a policy that is different from your auto policy, such as a motorcycle policy, then you can stack those together. If you have multiple vehicles, it becomes a multiplier to your policy and your financial protection is much better than unstacked coverage.
Likewise, if you have stacked insurance, then your UM coverage follows you everywhere. It follows you when you are in your roommate’s car, it follows you in a rental car, it follows you when you are on a school bus, and more, so you are essentially always protected in a car accident. Sometimes when your UM coverage is non-stacked, coverage can be limited to just the vehicles on that policy, and you do not want that to happen when you are in a bad accident with somebody that has no insurance or not enough insurance.
If you have anymore questions about an auto policy or a car accident, please call us at 866-608-5529 or contact us online to request a FREE consultation.