By Ricky D. Gordon, Attorney at Law
Check your automobile insurance policy. Do you have uninsured motorist coverage (UM)? It is the most important coverage you can have to protect yourself and your resident relatives.
Florida leads the nation with 26.7% of uninsured motorists.
Florida is the only state that does not require bodily injury liability coverage.
Did you know that the bare minimum requirements for automobile insurance is (1) personal injury protection (PIP) that covers you for accident-related medical bills up to $10,000, and (2) property damage liability coverage that pays for damages to another’s vehicle up to $10,000 if the accident is your fault? That’s all you need to get your license tag. All other coverages are elective.
Did you know that if you elect to have bodily injury (BI) liability coverage that stackable UM coverage is automatically included on your policy for the same limits as your BI coverage, UNLESS, you sign an election to have lower UM limits and/or non-stackable UM limits, or, completely reject UM coverage? Stackable coverage adds the UM limits of all vehicles in your household. Example: if you have $25,000 of stackable UM limits on each of 3 vehicles, then you will have $75,000 of UM benefits available to compensate you for your injuries in addition to any BI coverage.
Having UM coverage is important to protect yourself from uninsured and underinsured at-fault drivers. Without it, you may be left without any compensation for your car injury Queens. UM coverage provides compensation for your injuries in case the at-fault driver doesn’t have any or enough BI coverage. If the at-fault driver has the minimum $10,000 BI coverage and you don’t have UM coverage, you’ll only be compensated up to that limit. If the at-fault driver has BI coverage and you have UM coverage, but their BI coverage doesn’t cover your full claim, your UM coverage will pay for the additional value of your claim, up to your limits.
While the examples may sound complicated, they illustrate the importance of having UM coverage to protect you if an uninsured or underinsured motorist causes an accident and you suffer injuries.
UM coverage is a necessity.
Insurance is something we should always have and hope to never have to use.
If you are in accident or would like advice on your insurance policy, call Ricky Gordon as soon as possible to explore your options at (954) 753-0200.
See www.RickyDGordon.com or
Email: rdg@RickyDGordon.com
