A dental hygienist is stopped at a light on State Road 436 in Altamonte Springs when a pickup slams into the back of her car. She spends weeks in physical therapy and misses work. The other driver admits fault, but his policy carries only the state minimum, with no bodily injury coverage at all. Her own PIP pays a portion of her medical bills and lost wages, and then it runs out. What happens next depends almost entirely on one line of her policy: uninsured motorist coverage.
Uninsured motorist coverage, often called UM, is one of the least understood parts of a Florida auto policy and one of the most important. In a state where bodily injury liability is not required for most drivers, the person who hits you may have nothing to pay your injury claim with. UM is the coverage that steps into their place.
What Uninsured Motorist Coverage Does
UM pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has no bodily injury coverage, or not enough of it. In Florida it typically covers medical expenses beyond what PIP pays, lost income, and in serious cases pain and suffering, up to the limit you choose. It also generally responds when you are hit by a driver who leaves the scene.
Because it is tied to the at-fault driver’s lack of coverage, UM also works as underinsured coverage. If the other driver has a low bodily injury limit that is exhausted, your UM can pay the difference up to your own limit.
It Protects People, Not Cars
UM in Florida is about bodily injury. Damage to your vehicle from an uninsured driver is handled by your collision coverage, subject to your deductible. Some drivers assume UM will fix the car, and it will not.
Who It Covers
UM generally covers you and the relatives who live in your household, whether you are driving your own car, riding in someone else’s or walking across a parking lot. It also covers other passengers in your insured vehicle. That breadth is part of what makes it valuable, because a pedestrian struck by an uninsured driver can still turn to their own policy.
Stacked and Non-Stacked UM
Florida lets you choose between stacked and non-stacked UM. With stacked coverage, the UM limit is multiplied by the number of vehicles on your policy. A household with two cars and a UM limit of a given amount per person could have twice that amount available for one injured person. Stacked UM costs more but provides much more protection.
Non-stacked coverage is limited to the amount shown for one vehicle and usually applies only when you are in a vehicle you own that is insured on the policy, or as a pedestrian or passenger in someone else’s vehicle. The choice has to be made in writing on a form the carrier provides, and it is worth reading carefully rather than signing quickly.
Rejecting UM Requires a Signature
Florida requires carriers to offer UM with limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits. You can choose lower limits or reject UM entirely, but only by signing a written rejection or selection form. That form is easy to sign without much thought at the start of a policy, and many people later discover they waived the coverage they needed most.
Because UM is offered alongside bodily injury liability, a policy with only the state minimum generally does not include it. That is one more reason the legal minimum rarely makes sense, as we explain in auto insurance requirements in Florida.
Why It Matters So Much in Florida
Florida’s rules leave a large number of drivers on the road with little or no coverage for the injuries they cause. Even drivers who carry bodily injury liability often choose low limits. When the at-fault driver cannot pay, an injured person’s options are limited to their own health insurance, their PIP and their UM. Health insurance does not replace lost income or pay for pain and suffering, and PIP is limited.
UM usually adds a moderate amount to the premium compared with the protection it provides. If you are deciding where to spend your auto insurance dollars, our article on auto insurance cost in Florida explains where it makes more sense to save.
Choosing a Limit
The simplest guide is to match your UM limit to your bodily injury liability limit, which is what Florida carriers must offer by default. The reasoning is straightforward. Your bodily injury limit reflects what you are willing to pay to protect other people from your mistakes, and your UM limit reflects what you want available for yourself and your family when someone else makes one. It is hard to argue that the second should be smaller than the first.
Households with more than one vehicle, young drivers or members who walk or ride bicycles regularly tend to get the most value from higher limits and stacked coverage. Households that already carry strong disability and health coverage may weigh it differently, but lost wages and long recoveries are still where UM does its most important work.
How It Fits With an Umbrella Policy
Many umbrella policies, which add liability limits above auto and homeowners coverage, do not include UM by default. Some carriers offer it as an option. If you carry an umbrella, it is worth asking whether your uninsured motorist protection extends above your auto policy or stops at it.
Worth Confirming With Your Agent
-
Whether your policy includes UM, and at what limits
-
Whether you selected stacked or non-stacked coverage, and what the difference would cost
-
Whether you ever signed a form rejecting or lowering UM
-
Whether your UM limits match your bodily injury liability limits
-
Whether your umbrella policy includes uninsured motorist coverage
-
Who in your household is covered when they are passengers or pedestrians
Talk to Prestige Insurance Group
Prestige Insurance Group reviews uninsured motorist coverage as part of every auto policy we write, and often as part of a home or business review for clients who already work with us. If you are not sure what you signed or what your policy would pay after an accident with an uninsured driver, we can go through it with you.
Call the office nearest you. Se habla español.
Orlando: 407-993-2331
Miami: 305-969-8776
Stuart: 772-247-3788
Prestige Insurance Group, License L057894
