By Shaun Plymale, Esq. of Treasure Coast Legal

If you don’t know what Uninsured Motorist (UM) is or you don’t have UM coverage on your auto insurance policy, keep reading! If you do know what UM is and have it under your policy, send your insurance agent a thank you card.

Every week, without fail, I meet with at least one potential client that has been injured in an accident that wasn’t their fault and I have to tell them there is no insurance to cover their losses beyond the first $10,000 in medical bills. The next ten minutes is spent explaining what “UM” insurance is and why, in my opinion, it is the most important coverage to have.

The State of Florida only requires $10,000 of “PIP” coverage and $10,000 in property damage coverage. In other words, if you get hit by a driver that buys the cheapest auto insurance they can find, there is no coverage for anything other than the damage to your car.

Estimates are that 20% of Florida’s licensed drivers are only carrying the minimums and that doesn’t include the unlicensed drivers driving without any coverage at all!

How do you protect yourself? You have to buy UM coverage. UM stands for uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. It is additional coverage you pay for under your policy just like collision or rental car coverage. It provides compensation when you are injured, and the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough insurance. The State of Florida does not allow you to carry more UM coverage than BI coverage, which simply means you can’t buy more coverage for yourself than you are willing to buy to cover other people if you are at fault.

There is, however, an exception. If you have more than one vehicle on a policy you can “stack” your coverage, which will multiply it times the number of vehicles. For example, if you carry $100,000 per person / $300,000 per accident BI and UM and it is “stacked,” your UM coverage will be $300,000 per person / $900,000 per accident in total UM coverage.

UM is so important, Florida Law requires you to sign a rejection form when you don’t buy it, although most people that don’t have UM coverage do not remember signing the rejection form. We all pay a lot of money on auto insurance premiums, so make sure you are getting your monies worth by having not only coverage to protect yourself from claims of other drivers if you are at fault, but to protect yourself if your hit by an irresponsible driver that has either no insurance or the bare minimums. Everyone needs UM, so if you're without it, be sure to speak to your insurance agent today.

Treasure Coast Legal offers representation in a wide variety of practice areas and is the first place to call with your legal needs. Contact us today for more information by calling 772-621-2886 or visit us online at TreasureCoastLegal.com.