All About Auto Insurance

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you own a car, a light truck, a van, a quad, or a street-legal golf cart, then you’re required to carry auto insurance in Florida, because that’s the law.  While you may dutifully pay your premiums and do everything in your power to keep your auto payments as low as they can go, what you may not realize is what you get for your money.  So, I thought I’d take the time to tell you about the protection that’s afforded every motorist in the Sunshine State, as well as go over some valuable options you may like to know about.

While you may pay for one insurance policy, auto insurance is actually composed of many components. That’s because there are many things that a driver may be held responsible for in the case of an accident.   

1. Collision Coverage– This is the portion of your auto policy that pays to repair or replace your vehicle when it is involved in an accident.  The amount paid to replace your vehicle depends on whether you opted for replacement value or actual cash value, the latter of which is the blue book value of the vehicle at the time of the accident.  

2. Comprehensive Coverage – Comprehensive pays for damage done to your vehicle in situations other than an accident.  If a tree were to fall on your car, or if you hit a deer on your way home, that’s when this portion of the policy kicks in.  It’ll also help if a rock or a foul ball at a little league game cracks your windshield.  If someone steals your vehicle or it should catch fire, a comprehensive claim would be filed to help compensate you for the loss. It'll also kick in if your vehicle is submerged or swept away by floodwaters.

3. Liability Coverage – This part of the policy covers you in several ways.  First, it’s there to pay for property damage that can occur during an accident.  This not only includes damage done to another driver’s vehicle, but it also extends to the damage done to structures.  That means if your car were to knock down a fence or hit someone’s home, the damage will be paid up to the limit of your policy.  That’s also why you may want to think twice before opting for the state-relegated minimum coverage of $10,000 in Florida.  Bodily injury liability also helps cover expenses related to injury or death to other drivers and/or pedestrians.   

4. Personal Injury Protection – This is the part of your policy that covers you and your passengers for injuries sustained during an accident.  PIP pays 80% of your medical expenses up to the limit of the policy, including ambulance transportation, ER visit, x-rays, hospitalization, surgery, dental and rehabilitation treatments deemed medically necessary up to the limit of the coverage. PIP can also be used to pay 60% of work-related losses and a $5,000 death benefit.  In Florida, $10,000 in PIP coverage is mandatory.  However, the cost of medical treatment being what it is these days, $10,000 may not be sufficient coverage.  Speak to your agent to find out whether acquiring additional medical payment coverage is right for you.

5. Uninsured Motorist Protection – Even though Florida is a no-fault state, should the other driver involved in your accident be insufficiently insured or uninsured, this optional coverage helps cover your medical expenses up to the limit of the policy.  When you consider that as many as 1 in 8 drivers on the road are uninsured, this is something every driver should think about before waiving this coverage. 

6. Towing Coverage – If your vehicle is rendered undrivable either due to mechanical failure or accident, wouldn’t it be nice to have it towed to an auto mechanic at no additional cost to you?  By opting in on towing coverage, not only will you be able to have your vehicle towed, but you will also be able to have it jump started should the battery die on you, or a tire be replaced with the spare should it go flat.  

7. Do you have a spare car? – If not, then what would you do if your vehicle required extensive repairs that caused it to be unavailable to you for days or weeks?  If you were to opt-in for rental reimbursement, you wouldn’t be out the cost of a rental car should your vehicle be inoperable or unsafe to operate following a covered loss.

8. Do you use your vehicle for business? – Whether you work as a delivery or rideshare driver or you simply use your personal vehicle for business purposes, you should speak to your insurance agent to make sure you’re covered.  If not, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars should your vehicle be involved in an accident, or its contents get stolen.  While you may be required to purchase additional coverage, sometimes it's simply a matter of obtaining an endorsement on your existing policy instead of obtaining a new policy.

Catherine Powell is the owner of A Plus All Florida, Insurance in Orange Park, Florida.  To find out more about saving money on all your insurance needs, check out her website at http://aplusallfloridainsuranceinc.com/