Other types of auto insurance
Although it is not required by law, many drivers buy other types of insurance coverage in addition to the mandatory PIP and property damage liability insurance. Common optional coverage purchased includes: collision, comprehensive, uninsured motorist, medical payment, towing, rental reimbursement, and accidental death and dismemberment.
Collision insurance pays for repairs to your car if it collides with another vehicle, crashes into an object, or turns over. It pays regardless of who causes the accident. Collision insurance does not cover injuries to people or damage to the property of others.
Comprehensive insurance pays for losses from incidents other than a collision. Examples would be fire, theft, windstorm, vandalism, flood, or hitting an animal. Damage caused by falling objects is also covered under this policy. If you have comprehensive coverage, windshield replacement is the only claim for which you are not charged a deductible. Florida law requires this waiver to encourage drivers to immediately replace damaged windshields.
You may be required to purchase comprehensive and collision insurance if your car is financed. However, it is illegal for the lending institution to require you to purchase insurance from a particular company or agent.
Uninsured motorist (UM) insurance pays if you, your passengers, or family members are hit by someone who is “at fault” and does not have insurance or has insufficient liability insurance to cover the total damages sustained by you. This applies whether you are riding in your car, riding in someone else’s car or are struck by a car as a pedestrian. UM insurance also applies in a hit-and-run situation, or in a “phantom” vehicle accident. UM insurance pays for medical expenses, lost wages (beyond your PIP coverage), bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death resulting from a motor vehicle accident that you and your passengers suffer.
Medical payment insurance covers medical expenses, beyond those covered by PIP, that result from accidental injury. Medical payments insurance differs from bodily injury liability coverage in that it covers the medical expenses of you, members of your family and your passengers regardless of who is “at fault.” Medical payment insurance applies whether the injury occurs in your car or someone else’s car, or on the street as a pedestrian. Note that health insurance also covers medical expenses from auto accidents beyond those covered by PIP.
Rental reimbursement coverage will permit you to be reimbursed for car rental if an accident leaves your car unable to be driven. If the other driver was “at fault,” that driver’s liability insurance coverage may reimburse you for renting a vehicle similar to your own.
Accidental death and dismemberment insurance provides coverage, up to the limits of the policy, for accidental death or dismemberment in an auto accident, regardless of who is “at fault.” It covers you and relatives who live in your home.
Rental car companies often sell collision damage coverage that, although similar to insurance, is not insurance and does not fall under the regulatory authority of the Department of Financial Services. If you have collision coverage or property damage liability, you may be covered for damage to rental cars driven by you, depending on the terms and conditions of your policy. You also may be automatically covered by your credit card company if you used the card to rent the vehicle. Check your policy before you rent a car and call your agent or credit card company if you have any doubts.
PIP insurance