Florida drivers are responsible for any losses that they experience when in an accident, including their own medical expenses. As with all states, however, Florida residents must carry a certain minimum amount of insurance in order to protect themselves from the expenses that may incur as the result of an accident.
Since Florida is a tort state, drivers do not receive financial support if they cause an accident. As such, drivers must rely on their insurance policies to help them recover the money that is lost in an accident.
In Florida, the mandatory minimum coverage that all drivers must carry is 10/20/10. This means that drivers must carry $10,000 of coverage for each person injured in an accident and must carry $20,000 worth of coverage per accident. Drivers must also carry $10,000 of coverage for property damage that results from an accident that is the driver’s fault. Drivers may also pick up a variety of different optional types of coverage, including comprehensive, collision, and uninsured and underinsured motorist’s bodily injury coverage.
The Bodily Injury Liability coverage, or BI coverage, that is required in Florida covers the driver when he or she causes personal injury or death in an accident. This coverage must provide $10,000 worth of coverage per person and $20,000 per accident. Bodily Injury Liability insurance coverage pays for injuries or death that results from the accident. This includes the driver of the other vehicle, the passengers in the driver’s vehicle or in any other vehicles involved in the accident, and any pedestrians injured in the accident.
Drivers in Florida must also carry Personal Damage insurance, which is known as PD. This insurance covers the driver when he or she is at fault for the accident and property is damaged. This coverage, which must be in the amount of $10,000 per accident, pays to replace or repair property that is damaged from the accident.
In order to register a vehicle and to legally drive in Florida, a driver must have auto insurance in place. There are many ways that a Florida driver can prove that he or she has coverage, with the easiest method being to carry the temporary insurance card that is issued by the insurer.
If the driver does not have the temporary insurance card, he or she can use several other methods for proving insurance coverage. These include showing the premium receipt or the insurance binder that was issued by the insurance agent. Another method drivers can use to prove insurance coverage is to show the current declarations page from the insurance policy or to show the actual policy. A certificate of liability insurance policy that was issued by an authorized agent or the insurer will also serve to prove coverage.
Drivers that have purchased a new vehicle within the past 60 days may also prove their coverage by showing a valid insurance card for the vehicle that was replaced by the new vehicle. In the case of renting a vehicle, drivers must be able to produce a rental agreement showing that the vehicle has the required amount of coverage.