Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is the most common insurance upon which auto accident injury claims are made. In Florida, a no-fault state, every motorist is required to have PIP. Typical PIP coverage will pay 80% of your accident related medical bills up to the policy limit. Most PIP policies have a $10,000 limit per accident. PIP can also be used to pay up to 60% of your accident related lost wages. Once PIP is exhausted you will need to find a way to pay the 20% outstanding as well as your bills over and above the $10,000. Your Accident Attorney can advise you on this.

Bodily Injury Liability Insurance (BI) is optional coverage which is used to pay the medical bills of the person who is injured. A Tampa Accident Attorney will prepare and file a claim for the bodily injury limits of the person who injured you. This usually happens after your Doctors write their final reports regarding your accident related injuries.

Un or Under Insured Motorist Coverage (UM) is also optional coverage which protects the injured person when the at-fault person does not have enough insurance to pay the bills. I think that this is the most important coverage you can have for your family. If you are in an accident with an under insured person this coverage could be the difference between thousands of dollars in medical bill debt and thousands of dollars recovered for your injuries. This claim is made by an Injury Attorney after all of the above listed coverage is exhausted.

Health Insurance should be your last option for paying your accident related bills. Be sure to ask your accident lawyer about using this coverage. If you use your health insurance to pay your auto accident bills you will have to pay your provider back from your recovery. This is called subrogation and it is the law in Florida. For more details on using health insurance for your accident case you should speak with a Tampa Accident Lawyer.

If you have been injured in an auto accident you should seek the advice of an experienced auto accident attorney. It could be the difference between winning and losing your case.

Remember, everyone in Florida must carry car insurance coverage.  The specific amounts policies cover vary.  There is a required coverage that’s a must in Florida, the $10,000 PIP coverage.  It may have a deductible or it may have no deductible at all.  Hopefully you never need your PIP coverage.  If you do have a deductable, remember having one can cause problems in receiving treatment promptly sometimes.  All policies after January 1, 2008 will be amended according this new version of an old law.  Not only that, but if the old policy didn’t have personal injury protection it will be rewritten to have it after January 1, 2008.  The new forms, or rates, are in force on everyone’s policies in Florida.  Check with your insurance agent to make sure you have proper coverage.

An important side note is the fact that any accidents occurring between December 31, 2007 and January 1, 2009 will be limited in the scope of the tort, a legal wrong.  This will be for all involved party’s policies, unless these policies meet the requirements in effect as of September 30th of 2007.  Why one may ask. Simple, there was a window of a few months where the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault was repealed until December 31, 2007.  Insurers during this time frame weren’t required to notify the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles about anyone’s status on the personal injury portion of their policies. Drivers didn’t escape the need to carry this type of insurance though during that period of time.

Now that everyone in Florida is long past this transition period, everyone’s policy should be correctly written with the required PIP feature.   Motorcyclists are not required to carry PIP.  Pure and simple PIP coverage is required by law.

There is another required provision in Florida that PDL, or Property Damage Liability, must be carried by drivers also.  One cannot even buy a four wheeled vehicle without showing both PIP and PDL coverage.  No license plate can be transacted until proof of these is given on the driver and the vehicle.  Car owners and drivers cannot escape responsibility for maintaining the property damage liability coverage that is required by law.
 
Under Florida’s Financial Responsibility Law every driver in Florida must have Bodily Injury Liability coverage for two or more people.  In addition, there must be coverage for Property Damage Liability with Combined Single limits at least $30,000.  Florida requires drivers and vehicle owners to maintain coverage before an accident occurs and before a DUI occurs resulting in a license suspension.  One must have this type of insurance in force if one is a habitual traffic offender or has too many points against their driver’s license.  Of course this includes any other serious violations beyond what has been mentioned here.

There are no loopholes in either the No-Fault Law or the Financial Responsibility Law.  Both must be carried throughout the given registration term of a vehicle; no exceptions.  If there are any concerns you have consult your insurance carrier or a competent accident attorney who knows personal injury law in Florida.