TYPES OF INSURANCE
There are several types of insurance that will provide benefits to you.
BODILY INJURY
Bodily injury coverage is the first coverage that we look to for benefits. Bodily injury coverage is the insurance that the at-fault party may have purchased to protect their assets and pay you for your injuries.
The State of Florida does not require motorists to purchase bodily injury insurance so its best that you protect yourself and purchase UM insurance.
UNDERINSURED/UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE
UM coverage is insurance that you purchase to protect you in the event you are injured and the other party does not have bodily injury insurance.
UM insurance comes in a variety of forms, stack and non-stacked.
Non-stacked coverage can be purchased in an amount not exceeding your bodily injury coverage. If you purchased $50,000 in bodily injury coverage you can only purchase $50,000 in UM insurance. Florida law does not allow you to purchase more UM coverage than your bodily injury limits.
Another benefit of purchasing stacked coverage, even if you only have one vehicle, is that the coverage follows you. If you are a motorcyclist and are injured by a car your UM coverage should provide benefits to cover you even though you did not have UM insurance on your motorcycle. The same applies if you or a resident relative are walking and hit by a car or riding a bicycle and hit by a car. In my opinion this is the most valuable coverage you can purchase.
PIP
PIP insurance is commonly referred to as Florida No-Fault insurance. This does not mean that the other party was not at fault. It just means that each side will receive the benefit of this insurance regardless of who is found at fault. Even if you caused the crash your PIP insurance will provide benefits to you.
PIP will pay for 80% of your medical bills up to $10,000 minus your deductible. PIP also provides a percentage of your lost wages. If you use $2,000 for lost wages then you have $2,000 less to pay for your medical bills.
UMBRELLA POLICIES
An umbrella policy is insurance that goes above and beyond the bodily injury or your homeowner’s insurance policy. A typical umbrella policy provides around a million dollars in coverage to protect your assets and provide coverage if you injure someone.
HEALTH INSURANCE
Health insurance is secondary to PIP coverage meaning that health insurance will not provide coverage until your PIP coverage is exhausted. If health insurance does pay for your medical expenses you have a duty to reimburse health insurance out of any settlement.
