By Gregory Maaswinkel, Esq. | Maaswinkel Law, P.A. — Orlando, Florida | Updated October 2026
Part 2 of our Florida Car Insurance series. Part 1 explains what PIP covers and the 14-day rule. Read that one first if your crash was recent.
Florida does not require drivers to carry injury coverage, and about one in five Florida drivers carries nothing at all. Uninsured motorist coverage is the one protection you control that fills that gap, and unlike PIP, it pays for pain and suffering.
You did everything right. You stopped at the light. Someone ran into the back of your car. And then the call comes: the other driver has no insurance. Or they have insurance, and it is $10,000, and your hospital bill is already past that.
People tell us it feels like being punished twice.
Most people do not learn this until they need it, but there may already be coverage sitting on your own policy for exactly this. It is called uninsured motorist coverage, and in Florida it is often the most important line on the page.
This guide explains what it pays, how to find out if you have it, and one deadline that can wipe it out.
Why Florida Has This Problem
Two things combine here.
First, Florida does not require drivers to carry injury coverage. To register a car, you need $10,000 in PIP and $10,000 in property damage liability. Bodily Injury Liability (the coverage that pays for the harm a driver causes to other people) is not required for most drivers. We cover why in Part 1.
Second, a lot of Florida drivers carry nothing at all. The Insurance Research Council put Florida’s uninsured driver rate at 20.6% using 2023 data. That is roughly one in five. It is the seventh highest rate in the country, against a national average of 15.4%.
Put those together and you get the situation we see every week: a legally registered driver causes a serious crash, and there is no money behind them.
Uninsured motorist coverage is the answer Florida law gives you. But it is your job to buy it, which is why so many people find out too late that they did not.
What Uninsured Motorist Coverage Is
Uninsured motorist coverage (UM for short) is coverage you buy on your own policy that pays you for injuries caused by a driver who cannot pay. It steps in for the at-fault driver. Instead of collecting from them, you collect from your own insurance company.
Florida Statute § 627.727 covers more situations than the name suggests. A vehicle counts as “uninsured” when:
- The driver had no insurance at all
- The driver’s insurance company went insolvent and cannot pay
- The driver’s limits were too low to cover your actual damages. This is the underinsured part, which is why people often shorten the whole thing to UM/UIM
- A nonfamily driver caused the injury and their policy excluded that liability
Hit-and-run and “phantom vehicle” crashes also generally fall under UM, which matters because in those cases there is no one to sue at all.
What Makes UM Different From PIP
| PIP | Uninsured Motorist (UM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Required in Florida? | Yes | No, you have to buy it |
| Looks at who caused the crash? | No | Yes, the other driver must be at fault |
| Medical bills | 80%, up to the $10,000 limit | Yes, including bills past PIP |
| Lost wages | 60% of gross | Yes, including future lost earnings |
| Pain and suffering | No | Yes |
| Your car’s damage | No | No, that is collision or property damage |
That row in bold is the key difference. PIP will never pay for what the injury did to your life, and UM can.
Where UM Coverage Follows You
UM coverage is tied to people, not just to one car. Depending on your policy, it generally protects:
- You, driving your own insured vehicle
- Family members who live in your household
- Passengers riding in your car
- You as a pedestrian or bicyclist hit by a vehicle
- You riding as a passenger in someone else’s car
That last pair surprises people. Say you were walking across a parking lot, or riding your bike, and a car hit you. You were not in a car at all. Your own auto policy’s UM coverage can still be the thing that pays. Our pedestrian and bicycle page goes deeper on those claims.
How to Find Out If You Have It
You do not have to guess, and you do not have to call your agent to start.
Look at your declarations page. That is the one- or two-page summary that comes with your policy, not the thick booklet. Insurance companies also post it in your online account.
Look for a line that says “Uninsured Motorist,” “UM,” “UM/UIM,” or “Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury.”
Next to it you will see one of three things: a pair of numbers like 25/50, which means $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash; the word Rejected; or a dash.
If you see numbers, you have coverage. Write them down. If you see “Rejected,” there is still a reason to keep reading.
Two other things to note while you have the page open. Check whether it says stacked or non-stacked, and check whether your UM limits match your Bodily Injury limits. Both are explained below.
“Rejected” Is Not Always the End of the Conversation
Florida does not let an insurance company simply leave UM off a policy. Section 627.727 says UM has to be included unless the named insured rejects it in writing.
The law is specific about how that rejection has to look. The form needs a heading in bold 12-point type. It has to open with a warning: “You are electing not to purchase certain valuable coverage which protects you and your family…”
If the insurer uses the approved form and gets it signed, the law treats that as a knowing, informed rejection. The statute says that presumption is conclusive.
The same rule applies to picking lower UM limits. By default, your UM limits should at least match the bodily injury limits you bought. Taking less requires the same kind of written election.
This matters because whether a valid rejection happened is a question about paperwork. So it is worth having someone look at the real file instead of taking “you rejected it” at face value.
We are not promising an outcome. Most of the time the paperwork is in order. But the question costs nothing to ask, and it has mattered in real cases.
Stacked vs. Non-Stacked Coverage
If you insure more than one vehicle, this choice changes how much money is available to you.
| Choice | Three cars at $50,000 each means… |
|---|---|
| Stacked | Limits add together: $150,000 available for one crash |
| Non-stacked | One set of limits regardless of car count: $50,000 |
Non-stacked costs less, so a lot of people have it without remembering they chose it. Florida law allows that choice. The policy language then spells it out: coverage for two or more vehicles “shall not be added together to determine the limit of insurance coverage available.”
Which one is right for you is a question for your insurance agent, not for us. We only raise it because after a serious crash, it is often the single number that decides whether the claim can cover what happened to you.
The 30-Day Rule That Can Erase Your UM Claim
Say the at-fault driver has a small policy, $10,000 for example, and their insurance company offers you the full limit. It is real money, you have bills piling up, and signing feels like the obvious move.
But if that settlement does not cover your full losses, you have an underinsured motorist claim too. And Florida Statute § 627.727(6) sets a rule for that moment.
⚠️ Before you settle, written notice of the proposed settlement has to go out by certified or registered mail to every underinsured motorist insurer on the risk. Your UM carrier then gets 30 days. It can approve the settlement, or it can refuse, protect its own rights, and pay you that offer amount itself.
Skip the notice and settle anyway, and you can lose the UM claim altogether, not just reduce it.
We do not want you to learn this after the fact. Before you sign anything from the other driver’s insurance company, have someone look at it. That one phone call is free, and it is far cheaper than the alternative.
While we are on timing: Florida now gives you two years from the crash to file most injury lawsuits. Your own policy may set its own deadline for reporting a UM claim. Both clocks are shorter than people expect. Our guide on how long claims take to settle walks through the rest of the timeline.
One Thing That Feels Strange About UM Claims
A UM claim goes against your own insurance company.
People find that uncomfortable, and we understand why. You have paid these premiums for years. It can feel like a betrayal to make a claim, or like you are doing something that might get you dropped.
You bought UM for exactly this moment. Making the claim is using a product you paid for, the same as using your health insurance at the doctor.
At the same time, your insurer will review your claim the way any insurance company reviews a claim. It will decide what your injuries are worth. It will decide whether the other driver was really at fault.
The relationship shifts from “my company” to “the company on the other side of this number,” and it helps to know that going in.
What to Do Next
- Pull your declarations page and find the UM line. Numbers, “Rejected,” or blank.
- Report the crash to your own insurer and open both your PIP and your UM claim.
- Keep every bill, work note, and photo. UM claims turn on proof of damages.
- Do not sign a release or accept a limits offer from the other driver’s insurer before the 30-day notice question is handled.
- Get your own coverage reviewed for the future, with your insurance agent, while this is fresh in your mind.
Questions People Ask Us
Is uninsured motorist coverage mandatory in Florida?
No. Florida does not require you to carry UM coverage. What the law requires is that your insurer offer it and include it in your policy unless you reject it in writing on an approved form. Only PIP and property damage liability are mandatory.
Am I covered if I am hit by an uninsured driver?
Your PIP covers your first medical bills regardless of who was at fault, up to its limits. Beyond that, it depends on whether you carry UM coverage. If you do, it can pay for medical bills past PIP, lost wages, and pain and suffering. If you do not, the options are narrower. Sometimes there is a claim against the at-fault driver personally, and sometimes another party shares responsibility. Either way, that is worth having someone look at rather than assuming.
What is not covered under uninsured motorist coverage?
UM covers bodily injury, not property. It will not repair your car, which is collision coverage or the at-fault driver’s property damage liability. It also generally does not apply if the at-fault driver had enough insurance to cover your damages, and it does not pay for your own intentional acts. Every policy carries its own exclusions, which is why the policy language matters in any claim.
Should I reject uninsured motorist coverage in Florida?
We cannot tell you what to buy. That is a conversation for a licensed insurance agent, and the right answer depends on your family, your assets, and your budget. What we can tell you is what rejecting means legally. You sign a state-approved form, and the law treats it as a knowing, informed decision. If a driver with no insurance hits you later, your own policy has no UM coverage to turn to.
Why are there so many uninsured motorists in Florida?
Several reasons overlap. Florida does not require bodily injury liability coverage, so the legal minimum is low. Premiums are high compared to income. The state has a large seasonal and transient population. The result, per Insurance Research Council data from 2023, is a 20.6% uninsured rate. That is about one in five drivers, and the seventh highest rate in the nation.
What is the new Florida insurance rule?
For crashes in 2026, the biggest recent changes are not about PIP, which stayed in place after Senate Bill 522 died in committee in March 2026. The 2023 changes matter more. If you are more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover for your injuries. And the deadline to file most injury lawsuits dropped from four years to two.
Do I have to tell my own insurance company before settling with the other driver?
If the settlement will not fully cover your losses and you have an underinsured motorist claim, yes. Florida Statute 627.727(6) requires written notice of the proposed settlement by certified or registered mail to every underinsured motorist insurer, and gives that insurer 30 days to respond. Settling without that notice can cost you your UM claim entirely, so talk to an attorney before you sign.
Not Sure What Your Policy Says? Send It to Us.
If you are holding a declarations page you cannot make sense of, that is a normal place to be. These documents are not written for regular people.
Our Orlando office has worked on Florida injury and insurance claims since 1997, and we help clients across Central Florida and the rest of the state. Tell us what happened, in English, Español, or Tiếng Việt, and we will walk through what coverage is available to you. The review is free, and there is no pressure to decide anything that day.
Call (407) 999-0045 or send us a message. You can also read more about how we handle these claims on our Orlando car accident attorney page. We are at 629 N Fern Creek Ave, Orlando, FL 32803, and we make house calls if you cannot travel.
Related Resources
- Did Florida No Fault Law Get Rid of PIP? — Part 1 of this series: what PIP pays and the 14-day rule.
- How Long Does It Take to Settle a Claim? — The realistic timeline, including medical bills.
- Orlando Crash Report Guide — How to get your report and fix errors in it.
- Pedestrian & Bicycle Accidents — Orlando — When UM coverage applies outside a vehicle.
- Car Accident Attorney — Orlando & Central Florida — How we build and value these claims.
External Legal References
- Florida Statute § 627.727 — Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage (Florida Legislature)
- Florida Statute § 627.736 — PIP Benefits (Florida Legislature)
- Facts + Statistics: Uninsured Motorists (Insurance Information Institute, citing Insurance Research Council 2023 data)
- Consumer Pamphlet: Automobile Insurance (The Florida Bar)
- Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
Florida Bar Disclaimer: The information on this page is general legal information about Florida uninsured motorist law as of October 2026 and is not legal advice for any specific situation. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page. We are not insurance agents and this is not insurance advice. Talk to a licensed agent about what coverage to buy. Policy language, statutes, and facts vary from case to case, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Maaswinkel Law, P.A. is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. This communication is not intended to constitute advertising under the rules of any jurisdiction other than Florida.
