legally speaking
reasons why You need uninsured Motorist coverage By hoWaRD ciTRon
T
here are Many reasons why you need uninsured
Motorist (UM) Coverage, whether your vehicle is a car, truck or motorcycle: ▸ More than 50% of drivers on Florida roads have little or minimal insurance. ▸ Many Florida drivers have no auto insurance at all. ▸ With UM coverage, your own insurance company may pay for bodily injuries you or your passengers suffer when the other driver is at fault and has: ▸ no insurance ▸ too little insurance to cover all your damages. ▸ You are the victim of a hit-and-run accident. ▸ Although UM coverage is not mandatory in Florida, it is a relatively inexpensive safeguard. ▸ In Florida, your Personal Injury Protection (PIP), or no-fault, benefits carry only a $10,000 limit. So there may be instances when your no-fault benefits will not cover a loss in full. Most people do not realize how many drivers on the road in South Florida either drive with the minimum amount of coverage required by the law or without any insurance at all. Under Florida law, the only coverage which an individual must carry is property damage coverage and personal injury protection. This insurance coverage does not pay for the victim’s medical expenses, lost wages, or injuries. What I have come to learn is that many individuals do not understand or realize the importance of their personal automobile insurance coverage, and do not carry uninsured motorist coverage, which protects individuals and their families from uninsured motorists on the roadway. As an attorney, my practice involves a great deal of automobile accident claims and litigation. I receive at least one call a week where an individual is the victim of an automobile accident, and the person who negligently caused the accident does not have insurance coverage to pay for any of the victim’s medical bills or injuries. Unfortunately I am forced to decline many of these cases, because there is no liability insurance available to pay for their damages. The most important coverage which an individual in South Florida can carry in their automobile insurance policy is uninsured motorist coverage. The way uninsured motorist coverage works is that if you are the victim of an automobile accident, and an uninsured or underinsured driver causes the collision, you are then able to make a claim against your own insurance policy to provide coverage for medical bills and/or future pain and suffering. This can be very important specifically for individuals who are forced to miss time from work, or sustain a serious injury which may alter their ability to continue to work and engage in their regular activities. As a practicing attorney in South Florida, it is my suggestion to all drivers to pay a little extra money for their automobile insurance coverage to purchase uninsured motorist coverage. The cost of the increased premium is the only way to protect you and your family from the negligence of uninsured or under-insured drivers. Citron & Bloom has offices in both Weston and Coral Springs and handles cases involving motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, dog bites/animal attacks, defective products, medical negligence and nursing home abuse. For information, call 954712-1686or visit www.GoLawyerNow.com.
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