According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, automobile insurance is required for any vehicle that has four wheels and is registered. The minimum amount of insurance required is $10,000 for personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 property damage liability (PDL). PIP and PDL insurance must be maintained continuously throughout the licensing and registration period.
As a Florida driver, you may also obtain bodily injury liability (BIL) insurance, which covers serious personal injury and death to others when in a crash involving your vehicle. Your insurance policy will cover injuries up to the limit of your policy and will also provide legal representation for you if you get sued, even if someone else was driving your vehicle with your permission.
There has, for many years, been a push for Florida’s lawmakers to repeal mandatory PIP coverage in favor of bodily injury liability insurance, which is what is required by most states in the nation. In 2013, a senate bill that would repeal mandatory PIP was introduced, and then later delayed, according to a report from the Online Auto Insurance News. The bill would have replaced the PIP coverage with mandatory bodily injury insurance of at least $50,000. The reasoning for the bill, lawmakers said, was to address skyrocketing insurance costs. 90 percent of Florida drivers already have the amount of bodily injury coverage that would be required and that repealing PIP would save drivers money on their premiums.
Auto insurers met the proposal with reluctance, but they were reportedly willing to consider the idea, the article noted. The reforms to the PIP law that were made the year before held, another report stated, and the urgency for repealing PIP and replacing it with mandatory bodily injury liability was lost.
Insurance companies, particularly those in no-fault states such as Florida, can be tricky to deal with. If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile accident, an experienced personal injury attorney can be extremely useful in handling a personal injury claim. For more information or to speak with an attorney about your case, contact the personal injury attorneys at DDB Law today.