Do You Need Advice For Buying Car and Motor Vehicle Insurance
We represent clients after a loss has occurred. Unfortunately, we find that our client's are underinsured or do not understand important components of automobile and motor vehicle insurance polices. As a result, our clients are sometimes left without an avenue of recovery. From our experience in automobile and motor vehicle accidents and injury cases, we provide the following suggestions when purchasing insurance that can make the difference in whether you can make a recovery:
1. Insurance is driven by premium prices. Many companies offer cheap insurance or represent how much money the insurance company will save you from your current premiums. Recognize that a low premium may mean a reduction or elimination of many important types of coverage. Insurance companies and insurance agents are not always working for your best interests because they often want to quote you the lowest price, not lose your potential business.
2. Do not be fooled by the term "full coverage". This term has no definite meaning. The term could simply mean that you are fully covered under Florida law to drive your vehicle but do not have many other critically important coverage benefits.
3. Florida law only requires a car owner to have two types of insurance to legally drive on the road:
a. Property Damage Liability with limits of $10,000.00- this coverage provides coverage for you or the car owner if the driver causes an accident and damages property (but not to your vehicle); and
b. Personal Injury Protection with limits of $10,000.00- this coverage is referred to as "no-fault" coverage. Regardless of the fault of the accident, personal injury protection benefits pays a portion of the medical bills resulting from injuries in the accident and lost wages for a combined limit of $10,000.00. Medical bills are paid at 80% of the amount while lost wages are paid at 60% of the loss. Coverage is provided to the driver and passengers. Many people logically assume that the at fault driver's insurance company will pay all their medical bills and lost wages. This is not the case. Generally, the insurer for the at-fault party is only responsible for medical bills and lost wages not paid or payable under personal injury protection benefits. Personal injury protection benefits are also primary before health insurance. The good news is that as long at the driver is not at fault for the accident, under Florida law, an insurer is not permitted to raise premiums after a claim is made for personal injury protection benefits. Florida case law on personal injury protection insurance disputes is voluminous and can be very complicated. Please contact our office for a free consultation should you have any questions about personal injury protection benefits.
4. Strongly consider buying underinsured motorist coverage. This coverage provides benefits should you, your family members or passengers be injured in a motor vehicle accident as result of another driver's negligence who is not insured or does not have enough insurance coverage to pay for the personal injury damages. Many, many drivers in Florida have failed to purchase insurance or only have the minimum insurance to legally drive and have not purchased coverage for bodily injury liability. Bodily injury liability protects the at-fault driver or car owner for injuries caused to others. Beware - many insurers do not like to sell this coverage because of the increase in premium cost and internal administrative difficulties in handling uninsured motorist claims, however, all Florida insurers are required to offer uninsured motorist benefits to their customers. Florida law requires that you must have bodily injury liability insurance to purchase uninsured motorist coverage, and the limits of the uninsured motorist coverage may not exceed the bodily injury liability limits. In our practice, we have encountered many claims where the at fault party has severely injured our client but does not have insurance, the proper insurance, or enough coverage to pay our client's damages. Due to the lack of assets of the at fault driver and car owner, recovery is often not possible. Especially in our current difficult economic times, purchasing uninsured motorist coverage is extremely important.
5. Read your insurance application carefully. We have found that many insurance applications are hastily prepared by the insurance agent or insurance company. Make sure you carefully read the application. The bottom of the application always has language that states that you have carefully reviewed the application and that all information is true and complete. Failure to take such due care may permit your insurer to deny your claim. Many claims are denied due to "material misrepresentation" that occurs due to error or oversight on the completion of the insurance application. For example, if not all residents over fifteen are not listed in the application, when your fifteen year old is later injured in car accident, the insurer may not have to pay for his or her damages.
6. If you need to save money on your premiums and are driving an older car that you own, consider bypassing collision and comprehensive coverage. These coverage's pay for damage caused to your vehicle in an accident regardless of who caused the accident (collision) or for non accident damages to your vehicle caused by another vehicle, such as a falling tree or hail (comprehensive). These coverage's are generally a large potion of your premium. Obviously recognize that not having this coverage may leave you without recovery for damage to your car, however, if you know your car's value, compare the amount of premiums you are paying over the next several years if you plan to keep your vehicle to the car's value. Alternatively, consider a higher deductible (the loss must exceed the amount of the deductive for the insurer to pay) that can also lower premiums.
7. If you have financed a car, consider "gap" insurance. Gap insurance pays for the financing costs between what you owe your finance company and the fair market value of your vehicle. For example, if your car is deemed a total loss, the at fault party's insurer is only legally required to pay the fair market value of the car (yes, this is a term of art) not the entire payoff amount of your loan. This could leave you "upside down" for thousands of dollars. Gap insurance is usually available from the financing company when you purchase your car and is typically not very expensive. These are just a few suggestions. Insurance can be very complicated. Should you have any questions regarding automobile and motor vehicle insurance, please contact our firm for a free consultation.
