Do I Need Florida No Fault Insurance
Reader question:
Do I need Florida no fault insurance?
Mark
Thanks for asking, Mark.
A month ago, almost, the Florida no fault insurance laws sunset, and it wasn’t until a week or so ago that the law makers in Florida came to a decision on whether or not they would renew it. It is renewed, and with reforms, but the renewal will not take effect until January of 2008. This leaves policy holders here to choose whether or not that want Florida no fault insurance during the interim.
There are some definite positive aspects to carrying personal injury protection and property damage liability, although in some cases it will not be necessary. I would say that it would be best to carry it for convenience sake, and also to save yourself from having to deal with a court battle if you get into an accident in which someone else is at fault. However, I can’t fault you for wanting to save money.
If you have health insurance, then Florida no fault insurance might not be necessary for you. As it is, when you go to the doctor or the hospital they will ask for your health insurance before they ask for your Florida no fault insurance. If you have personal injury liability, though, you will be covered for more than just your medical expenses. You will also have more coverage for things such as therapy for serious injuries, and, unlike with health insurance, you will be able to make a claim for lost wages under Florida no fault insurance.
As for everybody else, there are many companies that renew policies automatically and so took the Florida no fault insurance coverage off for those policies that renewed after the Florida no fault insurance laws sunset. If you want to continue carrying personal injury protection, then you might have to call your company personally and request it.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Buying Auto Insurance in Florida
For the moment, auto insurance in Florida is in an in between state, but once it returns the requirements and penalties for owning a policy for auto insurance in Florida will be much the same. If you are purchasing a policy right now that will expire after January, it would be best if you keep with the minimum coverage detailed here, even if not all of it is required at the moment, so that you don’t have to bother with adding it later and being pro rated.
When you buy auto insurance in Florida, you are subject to financial responsibility laws like in other non fault and tort states. In order to prove that you are able to pay for any damages or injury you cause, you must carry, at a minimum, the following:
- $10,000 in bodily injury liability
- $20,000 for bodily injury liability for more than one person
- $10,000 liability for property damage
While you are driving, you may be required to show proof that you have auto insurance in Florida. Some of the situations in which this might happen would be when you get into a car insurance accident, if you are required to file an SR22 form for auto insurance in Florida, or when your license has recently been restored.
If your car is in Florida for at least three months every year, then you must have auto insurance ion Florida. Along with the above liability requirements, you are also required to carry no fault insurance, or at least you will be required to do so once no fault laws come back in January. This insurance is
- $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection
- $10,000 in Property Damage Liability
If you fail to carry no fault insurance, then you well have to pay over a hundred dollars to get your license back as well as being required to file an SR22 form for auto insurance in Florida for a period of three years.
Florida Car Insurance Fraud
According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, the annual dollar amount that car insurance fraud costs the United States is over twelve billion, most of that concentrated in states with no fault car insurance laws. However, it isn’t the country that’s paying this money, but the people. The cost of fraud is passed down to the consumer via their Florida car insurance quote, even if that person has no risk of fraud and has always been the most trustworthy customer without the least bit of misrepresentation.
While car accidents with uninsured drivers certainly do cause increases in the individual Florida car insurance rate, the effect of this has decreased thanks to reformed car insurance laws and the advent of people carrying new coverage such as uninsured motorist coverage. The loss that a car insurance company suffers each year goes into their decisions on your Florida car insurance quote, and fraudulent claims are included in that loss.
There is a array of different kinds of car insurance fraud that can affect your Florida car insurance quote. For example, two people might consent to get into an accident with each other and claim the the money as a result. Or, even worse, a person might get into a car accident with you on purpose, although you are unaware of it, and make it seem as though it was your fault. Car insurance fraud can also be committed by doctors, by repair shops, among others. All of it will affect your Florida car insurance quote. In order to avoid repair shop and doctor fraud, which could get you into legal trouble even if you did not intend to get involved and were unaware, you should double check the references for whom you are going to.
For those who fake accidents and try to blame them on you, here are some of their common methods.
- Signaling you that you can go ahead when they have the right of way, and then going ahead at the same time.
- Making injury claims for people who weren’t in the car.
- Coming to a sudden halt.
- Filing a car insurance claim for a stolen car when they still possess the car.
- Arson.
- Claiming a hit and run when none happened.
If you want to avoid a more personal rise in your Florida car insurance quote and do your part in stopping fraud, then the best thing for you to do is to avoid accidents with these people by practicing defensive driving. Make sure you get itemized bills from your repair shop and always order an official police accident report.
Getting Cheap Florida Car insurance
As a woman, you have a better chance than a man at getting a cheap Florida car insurance rate. When you’re under the age of twenty five, in fact, you will probably pay half as much on your cheap Florida car insurance than will a male who is around the same age as you. This difference in prices is justified by cheap Florida car insurance companies by the simple fact that women, especially younger women, file fewer car insurance claims and get into fewer serious accidents than do men, especially younger men. While during your years as a new driver the difference in cheap Florida car insurance rates between you and a guy can be as much as fifty percent, while as you get older the gap closes. That doesn’t mean that you can’t slow down the closing of the gap by taking advantage of other cheap Florida car insurance money saving options.
The most important arena to use your cheap Florida car insurance savvy is in the car lot, when you’re purchasing a new vehicle. It can be overwhelming to think about cheap Florida car insurance quotes while you’re in such a high stress environment, battling passive aggressively with the car salesman to lower the cost and interest rates of your new car, and hoping that your credit check passes. This is why you should always check cheap Florida car insurance quotes for your choices for a new car before you go to buy it.
While you’re at the lot, though, keep an eye out for the following features that will take your cheap Florida car insurance rates running away from you:
- super expensive cars
- cars with lots of add ons, such as sub woofers and DVD entertainment systems
- turbo charged vehicles
- sports cars
- convertibles
- high performance cars
- sports utility vehicles
- compact cars
- cars that are often stolen
If you want to buy a car that will get you a cheap Florida car insurance quote, then you need to get a mid sized one–even minivans are acceptable, but SUVs are not. These will cause less damage and take less damage as well. Get a car that’s not too expensive or too cheap, but ultimately get the car that you want.
Making Florida Auto Insurance Claim
Reader question:
Are there certain kinds of accidents for which the fault will be obvious when you make a Florida auto insurance claim?
Grace
Great question, Grace.
There are two kinds of accidents that will leave no questions asked ninety nine percent of the time on your Florida auto insurance claim. It would be very difficult for a car other than the typical one to be at fault in either of these types of accidents, so while it is not a lost cause if you get in one and believe you are not at fault, in most cases the fault for the Florida auto insurance claim will always be placed on the same car. Those types of accidents are left turn accidents and rear end accidents.
- Rear ends.
This is the type of Florida auto insurance accident that most people want to fight about, even if they have no ground to stand on. Whenever someone rear ends you, and it doesn’t matter why it happens, you will be considered innocent in your Florida auto insurance claim. It doesn’t matter if you screech to a halt every three seconds, because the other driver still should have been driving far enough behind you to have time to stop when you did without hitting you. It’s called the three second rule, and you should practice it on the road by keeping at least three seconds behind the car in front of you.
It’s pretty easy for your Florida auto insurance claim adjuster to tell when you have been in a rear end accident, too, because the wreck speaks for itself. One car will have damage on its front end, and the other on its back end. Problem solved, your Florida auto insurance claim adjuster will say.
Even if the person behind you rear ends you, which pushes your car up and you in turn rear end the person in front of you, all of the fault for the Florida auto insurance claim will not fall on the driver in the back. Each car is responsible for the car that it hits in this case, because if you had been far enough behind that other car, you probably would not have hit it.
There are times when, while you won’t assume all of the fault for the Florida auto insurance claim, you can assume some. This might happen if you have a tail light out, making it difficult for the driver that hit you to see you. The only way that I can think of where you might assume full fault for th Florida auto insurance claim would be if you backed into the car.
- Left turn Florida auto insurance accidents.
In some areas in my city, stop lights have protected left turns, and I love these. In other areas, the left turns are yield only, which are terrifying to me, and which is where this rule comes in. Almost anytime that a car accident happens when a car is turning left through a yield light, the car turning left will assume the Florida auto insurance fault. This might not be the case if:
- The car that crashed with the left turning car was violating the speed limit by quite a bit.
- When the car began to turn, the road was clear, but something else interfered.
- The other car ran a red light.
The second example would be hard to prove, because the road has to be clear to go when you start turning. However, if something off road happened you could probably use it as an excuse.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Car Insurance – How to Prove Fault in an Accident in Florida
Reader question:
Now that Florida insurance law has changed, how do you prove fault in an accident?
Allen
Great question, Allen.
I know a lot of Florida insurance policy holders are lost in the fault world that will last until the beginning of January next year, so it’s important that these drivers understand the laws before the laws come and find them.
When you get into a Florida insurance accident that involves another person, you will have to prove that the accident is the other person’s fault in order for you to get out of a Florida insurance liability claim. There are some basic elements to any collection of proof that would determine who is at fault, and here are a few to keep in mind.
- Police accident report.
When you get into a Florida insurance accident, you call the police and they file a report. It’s pretty simple, although the police usually only file a report when they believe the damages are equal to or above five hundred dollars, or when there are injuries involved. Whenever a report is filed for an accident you have been in, you can usually get an official copy of it from your local police department. If fault is in question, you should get this as documentation for your Florida insurance company.
In the police accident report, the officer will tend to say whether or not someone involved committed a traffic violation, and if that violation was a part of the cause for the accident. Sometimes, however, the police accident report will only note the violations committed, without any claims to their effects. Whatever the case, the contents of the police accident report are good proof for whoever is trying to prove that they are not at fault.
- The laws of the road.
If you know that the other driver has committed a violation of the vehicle code, even if it was not mentioned in the police accident report, then you might be able to use this as proof of fault in your Florida insurance claim. You should do a little research before you go ahead with it, and can check with the department of motor vehicles or with your local library to find the law’s statute number.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Should I Get Car Insurance From an Agent?
Reader question:
Should I get direct Florida auto insurance coverage, or should I buy my insurance through an agent?
Melinda
Thanks for asking, Melinda.
Both are perfectly respectable options, although you should make your decision on either direct Florida auto insurance, going through an agent, or taking another route depending on your situation. I’ll break down the three main methods of purchasing auto insurance so that you can make the decision for yourself.
- Direct Florida auto insurance.
When you buy direct Florida auto insurance, you buy it through the company itself. This can be good for your direct Florida auto insurance premium, especially if you buy the auto insurance coverage online, which most companies will give you discounts for. Direct Florida auto insurance coverage is also a good option for people who are moving around a lot. If you move and have your insurance with an agent, then you will have to find a new agent; however, if you have direct Florida auto insurance, then all you have to do is call up and get a new quote based on your brand new zip code.
- Car insurance agent.
Agents are slightly more expensive because they usually charge a fee, so if you’re interested in saving money then you want to avoid hiring a car insurance agent and instead go with direct Florida auto insurance. What agents are good at saving you is time, so if you don’t have sufficient time to research companies for yourself as you would when buying direct Florida auto insurance coverage, then you can hire an independent agent to do it for you from the selection of companies he or she represents.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Florida Car Insurance No Fault Laws
The video above addresses only one of the many problems involved with the Florida car insurance no fault system, which sunset on the first of October this year. The no fault laws were first enacted over forty years ago when Florida car insurance prices were sky rocketing, and policy holders were demanding some kind of action. At first, the Florida car insurance no fault laws had their desired effect, but after awhile reform was needed yet again. The law makers in the sunshine state have been messing around and avoiding the problem for awhile, and it wasn’t until after the Florida car insurance no fault laws had already expired that they got together and thought up some much needed reform of the system.
The new reform won’t go into effect until January first of 2008, though, which means that between October 1st and January 1st, Florida car insurance policy holders are in a state of tort limbo. The state is technically a tort state, although there are no specific laws defining it as such, and Florida car insurance policy holders might have to deal with issues in the next few months which they had never had to deal with before.
When Florida car insurance no fault laws expired earlier this month, many people who were renewing their policies did so without the previously required personal injury protection coverage. At the same time, there is no requirement on the books for Florida car insurance policy holders to carry under insured/uninsured motorist coverage. This puts Florida drivers who get into an accident during these months in a precarious position.
If you get into an accident before January and the other driver does not carry personal injury protection, then you might be held liable for the damages. This could mean a lawsuit and a trip to court, or it could simply mean a bad mark on your Florida car insurance record. Either way, unless you already understand it, it would be best to familiarize yourself with tort law in the meantime.
