Personal injury
The other driver has no insurance and I have no UM
Before you accept that there is nothing, check the rejection form, the car’s owner, the car’s own insurer and PIP. Each one is a separate question.
Do not conclude yet that nothing can be recovered. Your PIP pays up to $10,000 whoever caused the crash. Uninsured motorist coverage is in a Florida policy unless a named insured rejected it in writing on the approved form, so the first step is to ask for the signed form and see whether it exists. After that, look at the owner of the car, because a person who lends a vehicle can be liable for the driver, and at whether the driver was working. If every one of those comes back empty, the claim may be worth less than the effort, and that is something Jose A. Dapena will tell you on the first call.
01 Why this happens
Why a driver at fault can have no insurance for your injuries
Florida does not make an ordinary driver carry bodily injury coverage. The compulsory law requires every owner to carry Personal Injury Protection and property damage liability (§ 627.733; § 324.022). PIP pays the driver’s own medical bills, and property damage liability pays for the other person’s car. Neither one pays for a hurt passenger or for the injuries of the person in the other car.
A policy can be perfectly legal and still pay nothing toward your injuries. The figures that appear in the financial responsibility chapter, $10,000 for one person and $20,000 for two or more in bodily injury and $10,000 in property damage, are the amounts proof of financial responsibility is measured against (§ 324.021(7)). They are not a general duty to buy that coverage. A driver convicted of driving under the influence, however, must carry $100,000 per person, $300,000 per crash and $50,000 in property damage for at least three years (§ 324.023).
Some drivers have no coverage at all. An owner who has let the required coverage lapse has no tort immunity and is personally liable for the PIP benefits (§ 627.733(4)). That is a consequence for the owner. It does not give you a policy to collect from.
The law that makes people buy insurance requires PIP and property damage. It does not require anything that pays for your injuries.
02 Check your own coverage
How to check whether you really have no UM coverage
Uninsured motorist coverage is in the policy unless it was rejected in writing. A Florida liability policy must include it, for the protection of persons insured who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured vehicles, unless a named insured makes a written rejection on behalf of all insureds (§ 627.727(1)). Saying “I don’t have UM” is a statement about a signed form, and the form is the document that decides it.
The rejection has to be on a form the Office of Insurance Regulation has approved, and the form has a required heading. The heading must be in 12-point bold type and state, in the statute’s words, that you are electing not to purchase certain valuable coverage which protects you and your family. If a named insured signs it, the statute presumes an informed, knowing rejection on behalf of all insureds. The statute also says that receiving the annual notice from the insurer is not an affirmative waiver where the insured has not signed a selection or rejection form.
So ask the insurer, in writing, for the application and the signed form. If there is a form with a named insured’s signature on it, the rejection is presumed. If there is none, whether the coverage exists, and in what amount, is a legal question to put to a lawyer with the policy in hand. Do not assume the answer in either direction.
You may be insured under someone else’s policy too. A relative in your household may have uninsured motorist coverage that covers you, and if you were a passenger the policy on the car you were in may cover you. Whether a particular person is “insured” is defined by the policy, so every policy in the household and on the vehicle is worth reading.
UM is excess of other benefits. It sits over and above PIP, workers’ compensation and similar benefits and covers the difference up to its limit. It does not duplicate them, and it does not pay pain and suffering unless the injury meets the permanency threshold of § 627.737(2) (§ 627.727(7)).
03 The owner
Who else can be responsible when the driver has nothing
The owner of the car can be liable for the driver. A person who owns a car and lends it to a permissive user is liable for its operation up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per incident in bodily injury, and, if the user is uninsured or carries less than $500,000 in combined coverage, up to an additional $500,000 in economic damages only (§ 324.021(9)(b)3). The additional amount is reduced by what is recovered from the driver and from any insurance covering the driver. So when the driver has nothing, the first question is whose car it was.
A rental company is also treated as an owner, with limits. The lessor of a vehicle rented for less than a year is liable up to the same $100,000 and $300,000 for bodily injury, plus up to $500,000 in economic damages if the renter is uninsured or carries under $500,000 combined (§ 324.021(9)(b)2).
The limits do not apply to vehicles used for commercial activity. The caps on a lending owner’s liability do not apply to an owner of vehicles used for commercial activity in the owner’s ordinary course of business, other than a rental company (§ 324.021(9)(c)1). A pickup that belongs to a landscaping company and was being driven on a job is a different case from a pickup lent by a parent.
The car’s own insurer may owe something even if the driver has nothing. The policy on the vehicle, and any umbrella or excess policy, may cover a permissive driver. The insurer must provide a sworn statement of the insureds, the limits and any coverage defense within 30 days of a written request from the claimant (§ 627.4137), and the insured or the insured’s agent must disclose the name and coverage of each known insurer on written request.
Whether the driver was working matters. An employer can be responsible for an employee who was driving in the course of the job, and that can bring in a business policy with real limits. It is a separate question from the ownership of the car, and it is worth asking about before a claim is closed.
04 What still pays
What still pays while you look
PIP pays whoever was at fault. Up to $10,000, 80% of reasonable medical expense if initial care is within 14 days and 60% of lost gross income (§ 627.736(1)). A driver with no insurance has no effect on your PIP, and the 14-day rule applies in the same way (what happens if the 14 days pass).
Health insurance covers what PIP does not. Use it. A hospital bill that goes unpaid becomes a collection problem that is separate from the injury claim, and the right to be repaid from a recovery is something to sort out later (who pays while the case runs).
A judgment against the driver is only worth what can be collected. A person who has no insurance may own little. Florida exempts the disposable earnings of a head of family from garnishment up to a weekly amount (§ 222.11), and other property has protections of its own, which is why the search for another responsible party comes first.
The deadline does not wait for the search. The suit against a negligent driver has its own clock, and a claim under uninsured motorist coverage has a different one (which deadline is yours).
05 What to do now
What to do in the first week
Get the police report and the registered owner’s name. The driver and the owner are often different people, and the insurer the driver named at the scene may be out of date. The report is the first place to look, and the license plate is the second (how to get the report).
Do not tell any insurer that you have no UM. Say you are checking. An offhand statement to your own insurer that you declined the coverage is quoted back as an admission.
Do not sign anything the driver offers, including an informal payment plan. A release or a note can end a claim that other policies would have paid.
Write to every insurer you can identify, and say you are making a claim. Your own insurer, the car owner’s insurer and your household’s insurers each owe their own duties and have their own deadlines.
06 An example
The driver has nothing, and the truck was his employer’s
A driver is hit by a pickup that ran a stop sign. The pickup’s driver has no insurance of his own and says he is sorry. The injured driver says she has no uninsured motorist coverage because she rejected it, and her PIP pays the first $10,000 of her treatment.
Three questions change that answer. Was there a signed rejection form that matches the statute, and does it name the right policy? Whose pickup was it, and was the driver working that day? Where did the driver say he was coming from? The pickup turns out to belong to a landscaping company, and the driver was heading to a job. The caps on an owner who lends a vehicle do not apply to a vehicle used for commercial activity in the owner’s ordinary course of business, and a business policy may exist.
It is just as possible that the form is valid, the pickup belongs to the driver’s cousin, who is a natural person and had lent it, and the driver’s cousin has no assets. Then the claim comes down to the owner’s cap and what can be collected. This is an illustration of the questions that open a claim like this, not a prediction of what any one case will recover.
A constructed example, written to show how the rule works. It is not a case this firm handled and it is not a promised result.
07 What to do now
- Ask your insurer in writing for the application and the signed UM formSay you are checking your coverage. If the form is not there, or not in the right form, a lawyer should read it with the policy.
- Read every policy in the household, and the policy on any car you were riding inRelatives who live with you, and the vehicle you occupied, may bring coverage with them.
- Find out who owned the vehicle and who the driver was working forThe crash report lists both. Write down the plate, the company name on the door and the driver’s own account of where he was going.
- Use PIP and health insurance, and see a doctor within 14 daysNeither depends on who has insurance. The 14-day rule applies to PIP.
- Write to each insurer and ask for a sworn statement of coverageUnder § 627.4137 they have 30 days from a written request. Keep proof of the date it was sent.
- Do not sign a release or a payment plan with the driverInformal arrangements can end a claim that other policies would have paid.
08 What an attorney would look into
- Whether a signed UM rejection form exists, whether it names the right policy and whether it matches the statute
- Every policy that could cover you: your own, relatives in the household and the vehicle you were in
- Who owned the other vehicle, whether the owner is a person, a rental company or a business, and which cap applies
- Whether the driver was working at the time and whom he was working for
- What the owner’s own policy, and any umbrella or excess policy, says about permissive drivers
- Whether the driver owns anything that a judgment could reach, and what is protected by law
- Whether the damages justify the cost of pursuing every one of those, which is a question to answer honestly early
09 The sources
- Fla. Stat. § 627.727 Uninsured motorist coverageIncluded in the policy unless a named insured rejects it in writing on the approved form; a signed form is presumed an informed, knowing rejection for all insureds; UM sits over PIP and similar benefits.
- Fla. Stat. §§ 627.733, 324.022 Compulsory insuranceOwners must carry PIP and $10,000 of property damage liability. Bodily injury liability is not required of an ordinary driver.
- Fla. Stat. § 324.021(7), (9) Financial responsibility; owner liabilityProof amounts of $10,000 / $20,000 / $10,000; an owner who lends a vehicle is liable up to $100,000 / $300,000 plus $500,000 in economic damages if the user is uninsured; the caps do not apply to commercial use.
- Fla. Stat. § 324.023 Higher limits after a DUI conviction$100,000 per person, $300,000 per crash and $50,000 in property damage for at least three years.
- Fla. Stat. § 627.4137 Disclosure of liability coverageSworn statement of insureds, limits, coverage defenses and a copy of the policy within 30 days of written request.
- Fla. Stat. § 627.736 Personal Injury ProtectionUp to $10,000; 80% of reasonable medical expenses within 14 days; 60% of lost gross income, whoever caused the crash.
- Fla. Stat. § 222.11 Earnings of a head of familyDisposable earnings are exempt from garnishment up to a weekly amount, with conditions.
More questions
Do I have uninsured motorist coverage if I never signed anything?
The statute says UM must be in a Florida policy unless a named insured rejects it in writing on the approved form, and that receiving the annual notice is not a waiver where no form was signed (§ 627.727(1)). So the signed form is the thing to look for.
What the coverage is worth if there is no valid form is a legal question to put to a lawyer with the policy and the file in hand.
The other driver has insurance, but only a little. Is that the same thing?
It can be. Subject to the terms of the coverage, a vehicle whose liability limits are lower than the total damages counts as uninsured for the purposes of UM coverage (§ 627.727(3)(b)).
Before you accept the other insurer’s limits, § 627.727(6) requires written notice of the proposed settlement to your UM insurer, which then has 30 days to respond.
Can I sue the driver personally?
Yes, if the driver was negligent. A judgment is only worth what can be collected, and some earnings and property are protected by law (§ 222.11).
That is why the first question in these cases is who else is responsible: the owner, an employer, an insurer.
What if I was a passenger and the driver has no insurance?
A passenger can look to the PIP on the car, to uninsured motorist coverage on the vehicle or in the household and to the owner of the vehicle. Each of those is a separate question.
Which PIP applies depends on whether the passenger owns a car or lives with a relative who does.
Is it worth pursuing a driver who has nothing?
Sometimes, and sometimes not. It depends on the size of the damages and on whether any other responsible party or policy turns up. A claim that has to be pursued against an individual with no assets and no coverage may cost more than it returns.
Jose A. Dapena will tell you plainly, on the first call, which kind of case yours is.
What does it cost to find out?
The first consultation on an injury matter is free. Representation is on a contingency fee, generally payable only on recovery, with case expenses governed by the written agreement.
If the answer is that PIP is the whole story, he will say so.
Was the driver who hit you uninsured?
Tell Jose A. Dapena what the driver said, whose car it was and what your own policy shows. He will tell you which coverage to look for and which claims are worth making. The call is free and there is no obligation.