Is your Florida State Auto Insurance Enough?

Whether you're moving to Florida or simply purchasing your first car, being knowledgable about the states auto insurance laws can save you money and potential lawsuits. Auto insurance is meant to protect you from accidents, however, not all of them come in a one size fits all, in fact, many never know the length of their coverage until they get into an accident and informed that they will have to pay out of pocket. Here is a list of some of the most important auto insurance services that are either required or recommended.

It's The LawSimply said, it's the law for a Florida Driver to acquire auto insurance for their vehicle. Deciding or ignoring purchasing a plan can potentially land you without a license and hefty court costs.

The Minimum

Florida actually has a very low monetary requirement for auto insurance, with only a $10,000 liability plan required many see this is a money saving law. However, $10,000 is certainly not enough to cover your medical expenses, lost wages and additional expenses for anyone in your car. At this point, it really comes down to choosing a plan you are comfortable knowing that it could cover multiple people. The following are not required by state law but are recommended to keep you out of debt in the case of an accident and more importantly, give you peace of mind that you are covered.

Bodily Injury Liability Insurance

This is amongst the first insurance plans that many families tend to get because it protects the families assets in the case that you are responsible for the accident and injure the other individual in the process. Often, these individuals will be instructed by their lawyers to sue you for their injuries which leaves you at risk for asset collection. The minimum can cover over $10.000 per person in an accident.

Uninsured Motorist / Underinsured Motorist Plan

Simply put, this add -on insurance plan allows you to either pay for all the damages in the case of an accident where the motorist does not have insurance or if they simply don't have enough to cover all of your damages costs. In addition, this plan also covers any lost wages or pain and suffering that you may experience. Again, this is not required but it is noted that you must physically reject this add -on when choosing your basic plan if not it will be included by default.

Stacking Your Auto Insurance

Today the average family household owns at least two vehicles with many others owning up to four in total. Stacking Auto Insurance allows an individual to protect all of their vehicles within one insurance plan. Note that only the people and vehicles placed on the plan are covered by this insurance.

Extending Your Basic Plan

As we stated before, car insurance florida law does not require an individual to purchase above $10,000 in insurance, however, knowing that the amount will not be enough for an accident we highly recommend extending your current plan. Simply ask your insurance provider to show you their extended plans as every company differs in price and perks.

Medical Payment Insurance

Unfortunately, many people live without healthcare insurance and therefore are more at risk of falling into debt from an auto accident. Purchasing this insurance plans allows you to have up to 80% of your medical bills covered in the case of an accident. The plan, however, does not cover any additional passengers or lost wages that may incur during the person recovery time.

In conclusion, if these add -ons are simply too much for your current budgetary position, we would advise on simply purchasing a liability insurance plan, this way if the accident happens to be your fault then the other individual is fully covered and you are not in a worse position to be sued or lose your assets. We hope this was informative and allowed you to be a little more confident in your decision when you ultimately choose an insurance plan.