I am going to explain how and why Uninsured Motorist Insurance is the best insurance
you can buy to protect you and your family.
There are two types of Uninsured Motorist insurance, Stacked and Non-Stacked.
The best one for you to buy is "Stacked" Uninsured Motorist Insurance
and I will explain why in a minute.
But first, let me explain how UM insurance works.
It will pay for your damages if you get in a crash with an at fault driver
who does not have ANY Bodily Injury Insurance, which is called an Uninsured Motorist.
Or it will pay when the at fault driver does not have ENOUGH Bodily Injury Insurance,
which is called an Underinsured Motorist.
And just so you know, in Florida, motorists are not required to carry Bodily Injury Insurance.
About half the cars on the road don't carry it.
This is why UM insurance is so important.
If you get in a wreck with someone who does not carry Bodily Injury Insurance
and you don't have Uninsured Motorist insurance,
you will likely be out of luck because there will not be any insurance to pay for your losses.
Now let me explain the difference between Stacked UM and Non-Stacked UM.
When you own more than one car, and you purchase Stacked UM insurance,
you get to add or "Stack" the UM policies.
For example,
let’s say you own two cars, and have coverage of one hundred thousand dollars per car,
and if you are in a wreck,
then you can stack the two coverage's and receive up to two hundred thousand dollars.
One hundred for the first car and one hundred for the second car.
Often times, people will ask me, since I only own one car,
so why should I buy Stacked UM since I don't have another car to stack the coverage on top of?
And the answer to this question is the most important reason of why you want Stacked UM coverage.
Stacked UM should also be called Follow UM coverage.
Because the coverage follows you wherever you go.
For example,
if you have Stacked UM and you are Driving someone else's car and get in a wreck,
your UM follows you and you are protected.
If you are a Passenger in someone else’s car, you are covered.
If you are a Pedestrian, or riding a Bike and a car hits you,
you are still covered since your Stacked UM coverage follows you.
So Stacked means it follows you everywhere.
My friend says Stacked UM will protect you even if you are in a submarine and you get hit by a car.
So now you know why stacked is so important.
Now if you only carry Non-Stacked UM,
then you can only recover benefits from your policy
if you are in a wreck while in your insured vehicle.
It does not follow you like Stacked UM.
And the other benefit of Stacked UM insurance, as I mentioned earlier,
is that whatever the UM policy limits are for each of your cars,
the limits are added together or Stacked on top of each other.
This is where the term Stacked comes from.
So five cars, with one hundred thousand dollars of UM on each car,
will provide you and your family with five hundred thousand dollars worth of coverage.
And another important fact you need to know about UM insurance,
whether it is stacked or not, is that if you are in another vehicle you own
and it does not have UM insurance,
you are NOT protected even though you have UM on all your other vehicles.
You will not be covered if you are in the one car that does not have UM coverage.
Now, some people say,
if I have health and disability insurance why would I need UM too?
And the answer to this is simple.
Let me explain by using an example.
Let’s say you are in a car crash and the windshield breaks,
and you lose vision in both of your eyes from the glass hitting you in the face.
Your medical bills will be paid by your health insurance.
And your disability insurance will pay you
only two thirds of your lost wages until retirement age.
But you won't get a single Penny for the non-economic damages you will suffer,
such as the loss of your ability to enjoy life.
You will not recover One Cent to help you cope with the loss of your vision
and the added expenses and frustrations of being blind.
So UM covers some of the non-economic losses you would suffer.
It is important to be aware that most auto insurance companies don't like to sell UM insurance.
But the State of Florida requires them to make you sign a form
rejecting it if you don't want to buy it.
The insurance agents usually don't explain the UM very well,
and may say to you we will give you Full Coverage.
But what they really mean by this, is that they are selling you
the Minimum Insurance required by Florida Law.
Let me tell you this.
I am a board certified civil trial lawyer.
And you need to know that Full Coverage is not a legal term.
There is no exact definition for Full Coverage.
This is just a saying that an insurance agent will use
so they don't have to explain in detail what you do or don’t have as far as insurance coverage.
So don’t be fooled by the term full coverage.
Make sure you get Stacked UM coverage to protect you and your family.
When you ask your insurance agent about purchasing UM insurance,
you will be told that you can only buy as much UM as you carry in Bodily Injury Coverage.
That is a correct statement.
Another important fact to keep in mind,
is that insurance policies differ,
so you must read yours to find out exactly what is and is not covered.
If you have more questions about this information, I suggest three things:
One, speak to your insurance Agent
and make sure he or she is able to answer all of your questions.
Two, read your policy, and
Three, call my office if you still have questions.
Thank you for watching this video.
I hope you have found it helpful in understanding
what Uninsured Motorist Insurance is and how it works.