It’s no doubt, you have heard someone say: “I have full coverage” talking about their car insurance. If you’ve heard an insurance salesman say “we can sell you full coverage,” you may have believed him. Some people believe they are protected with this Florida “full coverage.” Do not be fooled. It’s not what you think.
Insurance has been a confusing necessity for hundreds of years.
They are not. You are not.
The Florida Legislature (taking its lead from the insurance companies) doesn’t really require much car insurance to drive in Florida. This is weird because your car is the legal equivalent of a handgun in Florida law. Nevertheless, to drive in this state all you have to have is PIP or “No-fault” and PD. PIP covers medical bills, lost wages, and household expenses. PD covers “property damage” of other people. Then, according to the Florida Legislature you have “full coverage.” The Legislature wants everybody to drive a motor vehicle so they make it cheap as possible to drive a car with low insurance requirements.
There’s a problem with that.
Insurance is something you buy so the insurance company is on the hook to pay if someone or something is injured in a crash. It is protecting you from big financial loss by paying by a small premium. Fake “full coverage” insurance means somebody’s going to get damaged and not get paid for it. So, when you are on the road, you are surrounded by people who don’t have the necessary insurance.
What’s the problem? The Legislature does not require anybody to carry bodily injury or uninsured motorist coverage. It wrote Florida law so “full coverage” really only pays the ambulance, hospital and doctors of the driver and fixes the cars of other people. So, even with this inadequate coverage, insurance salesman can tell you have “full coverage.” It’s more like “bull” coverage.
Every hour of every day people without insurance are next to you on Florida roads. They are thinking they have “full coverage.” The hard truth comes when they have a crash with you and both of you find out it’s not the necessary coverage. “Full coverage” means everything is covered. That means all the available types of coverage have been bought so it is “full.” If the driver just has PIP and PD, that’s not full coverage; so many things are not insured for. So what are those types of coverage necessary for full coverage?
Bodily injury
1. Bodily injury. You need “bodily injury” or BI if you hit somebody’s car and injure them. Without that, the person you hit will not get paid for the damage done to them. You may get sued and lose everything.
2. Uninsured motorists. This is insurance that protects you. If you are injured and the other person doesn’t have “bodily injury/BI” coverage this insurance pays you.
3. Medical payments. Your automobile insurance PIP coverage only pays 80% of medical bills. The other 20% is supposed to be paid by you or the person that injured you in the crash. With medical payments coverage, that 20% is paid. This will cover all the bills if you have no health insurance.
4. Collision or Comprehensive. If a driver hits a ditch and damages her car, she needs “collision” or “comprehensive” coverage. If she doesn’t have it, her car won’t get fixed by insurance. Most folks don’t have five to ten thousand dollars lying around spare.
5. Towing. Unless you have a towing service paid for (which is another type of insurance) if your car is damaged and must be towed or
you can’t drive it, towing coverage pays for towing and storage for a certain number of days (generally 3 to 4 days).
Without these five different types of coverage, a Florida motorist does not have “full coverage.”
Don’t be fooled. Get protected. If you have questions, contact me.
If you are injured and searching the web for an attorney, you can stop clicking. I am a full-service personalized, personal injury lawyer with a statewide practice in all 67 counties. I have 31 years of experience to put to work for you. Please give me a call so I can answer your questios: 800 – 535 – 3002. Email: [email protected] Skype: ScienceCan; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JSteeleLaw/ Twitter: @JsteeleOlmstead or @FlaBicyleLawyr and Instagram: jsteeleolmstead.