Miami and Tampa uninsured motorist lawyer

Florida does not require the coverage that pays you.

Florida requires drivers to carry PIP and property damage liability. It does not require bodily injury liability — the coverage that actually pays an injured person. That single omission is why uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage decides the outcome of so many serious claims in this state.

Free case review Miami (305) 662-4323 Tampa (813) 930-5422

BI liability: Not requiredFlorida does not mandate bodily injury coverage
Stacking: If electedMultiplies the limit across vehicles on the policy
Rejecting UM: In writingA rejection must be on an approved form. § 627.727
Deadline to sue: 2 yearsFla. Stat. § 95.11, for crashes on or after 24 March 2023

01 The gap in the law

Why so many Florida drivers carry no injury coverage

PIP stops at $10,000 and frequently at $2,500. Beyond that the injured person looks to the at-fault driver’s bodily injury coverage — which Florida never required them to buy, and which an enormous number of drivers here do not have.

Underinsured coverage fills the other half of the problem: a driver who carries the minimum against an injury worth many times it.

Section 627.727 requires an insurer to offer UM coverage and requires any rejection to be made on an approved form. Where a policy shows no UM, whether that rejection was validly obtained is a real question and worth examining rather than assuming.

02 Stacking, and your own insurer

Stacking uninsured motorist coverage in Florida

Stacked coverage multiplies the limit by the number of vehicles on the policy — three cars at $100,000 stacked is $300,000 available. It costs more and it is frequently declined at the point of sale by someone who did not explain it.

The second thing: once a UM claim is made, your own insurer is on the other side. It evaluates, disputes and defends the claim the at-fault driver would have defended. People are consistently surprised by this, and they should not be.

03 Where these cases come from

Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade has among the highest rates of uninsured driving in the country, which makes UM coverage less of a precaution here than a necessity. It is the difference between a recovery and a judgment nobody can collect.

The Miami office · Homestead

Hillsborough

Hillsborough runs on the same problem, with heavy commuter and commercial traffic on I-275 and I-4 where the at-fault driver frequently carries nothing beyond the state minimum.

The Tampa office

04 What damages a claim

Settling with the at-fault driver’s insurer before notifying your UM carrier, which can waive the UM claim entirely.
Assuming you have no UM coverage because nobody mentioned it.
Declining stacking at the point of sale without understanding what was declined.
Treating your own carrier as an ally once the UM claim is open.

Frequently asked questions about Florida uninsured drivers

The other driver offered their policy limits. Should I just take it?

Not before your UM carrier is notified and consents. Settling and releasing the at-fault driver without that step can destroy the UM claim, which is often the larger part of the recovery.

The order of operations matters more here than in almost any other kind of claim.

I was a passenger. Can I use my own UM coverage?

Often yes. UM coverage generally follows the person, so your own policy or a resident relative’s may respond even though you were in someone else’s car.

More than one policy can apply at once, which is why collecting every declarations page in the household is part of the first conversation.

05 Related matters

The full list is on the personal injury page.

Tell Jose what happened

A free review of your uninsured drivers case, with no obligation, and no fee and no costs unless there is a recovery. English or Spanish, whichever you would rather use. You speak with Jose A. Dapena directly at every stage, not with an intake department — and if there is no claim worth bringing, he will tell you that.

Miami (305) 662-4323 Homestead (786) 900-0184 Tampa (813) 930-5422