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[U37]Uninsured Motorist Insurance Coverage

by James Dodson, Jam

Under Florida law, when someone makes an election not to have uninsured motorist coverage (UM) on their policy, a specifically worded form must be signed. The insured also has the right to accept or reject stacked uninsured motorist coverage. The effect of stacking such coverage would be to double the effective coverage, for instance, if there were two cars on the policy. The question of whether such coverage has been validly rejected often comes into question when the insured is involved in an accident, long after the insurance papers have been executed. The insured, at that point, is typically looking for additional coverage on their policy and challenging whether the rejection of such coverage had been validly executed. One of Florida's District Courts of Appeal recently considered the question of whether someone, other than the named insured on an auto policy, had the ability to make a binding rejection of such coverage.

The case, which came before the court, involved a husband and wife. The wife was made the "named insured" on the policy and the husband listed as an "additional insured". At the time that the policy application was completed it was done by the husband. He rejected stacked UM coverage which would have effectively quadrupled their coverage due to four cars being on the policy. Of course, years later they were in a serious accident and challenged the rejection of stacked coverage by the husband who is only listed as an additional insured on the policy.

They lost. The Court discussed the well established case law in Florida on this subject and recently issued a written opinion. Under the principles of agency law, the wife clearly gave her husband the apparent authority to obtain the insurance and waive the stacked coverage. The signature of an insured's agent on an insurance application binds the insured to the coverage selected. The insured's agent could be a spouse or even a broker. In that regard, there is case law which says that the insured is bound even if their broker applied for the wrong insurance coverage. The risk of such error lies with the insured who allowed the agent to act on their behalf.

It is not my intention, nor am I allowed, to give legal advice regarding any specific coverage question. However, this case raises an issue which is commonly encountered and one that consumer's need to specifically consider when they allow someone to act on their behalf in arranging insurance coverage.

While most states in America require all motorists to carry liability coverage in their car insurance policies, not all drivers comply with such a requirement. In some cases when these drivers do have coverages, they do not have enough in their limits to cover damages they cause on another driver and his vehicle. This is the one reason why protecting yourself with a car insurance coverage that includes an uninsured motorist coverage is so important. This kind of coverage is called as the uninsured-underinsured motorist coverage. The provisions under this particular coverage are added on to your basic policy and you are charged additional premium for including this coverage on your automobile insurance coverage. You might scoff at the additional expense but you will only realize its benefits when you actually get into an accident as a result of a negligent underinsured or uninsured driver. Now, you would not really want to get into this situation to prove that you really need such a coverage, would you?

Even if it is not a requirement, every motorist should have an uninsured motorist coverage in his own automobile insurance policy. Such a coverage provides protection for you, your passengers, or anyone else you list in your policy as an approved driver in case you get into a vehicular accident involving another driver who is either has no insurance or whose insurance coverage is insufficient to cover your costs. Among the costs that are covered by your insurance company under the uninsured motorist coverage include expenses for hospitalization or treatment, funeral services, car repair or replacement, content damage repair, and disability indemnity among others. The amount of insurance money that you can claim for these expenses would be the limit for which you are insured under your uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in your automobile insurance policy.

It is important for every motorist should take this optional coverage in his basic liability insurance coverage. While your basic policy can take care of personal injury and property damage that you cause on a third party, it does not cover your own personal injury and any damage to your car caused by another driver. Such expenses should be borne by the other driver and his automobile insurance. In cases when the driver is not insured or does not have enough insurance coverage, you will have no choice but to shoulder the costs yourself. You can get yourself in a financial bind this way. To protect yourself against such eventuality, you should have your insurer add provisions for such damages caused by any uninsured and underinsured motorist.

Ask about such optional coverage before you finalize your car insurance policy. Statistics show that a lot of deaths and injuries are caused by automobile accidents. You do not want to have to borne the costs of such accidental injuries. Find out from your insurance company how you could add this provision to your policy. Your limit for this kind of coverage is normally the same one as your limits for liability coverage. Some companies might have minimum required limits for uninsured-underinsured coverages. There are, however, some insurance companies that allow you to increase your uninsured-underinsured coverages up to the maximum limit which is usually your limit in your liability coverage.

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Both James Dodson & Ryan Paulin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

James Dodson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Injury Claims, Auto Insurance and Legal Matters. Attorney James W. Dodson is a Clearwater, Florida with over 20 years experience representing clients in all types of injury claims including v. James Dodson's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.

Ryan Paulin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Medicine, Auto Insurance and Finances. Looking for the possible'Â Visit