Auto coverage

What Florida requires, and what it leaves you exposed to

Florida requires two coverages to register a car: Personal Injury Protection, which pays for your own injuries regardless of who caused the crash, and Property Damage Liability, which pays for damage you cause to someone else's property. Neither pays to repair your own vehicle, and neither covers injuries you cause to other people.

Why a Miami premium is not a Florida premium

Two drivers with the same record and the same car can pay very different premiums depending on which side of the county line they park on. Miami sits above the Florida average, and the reasons are structural rather than personal: dense traffic, a high share of drivers carrying no insurance at all, claim patterns that carriers price for, and vehicle theft. None of that is something you can fix by driving carefully. What you can change is which carrier you are with and which coverages you actually hold, and that is the entire reason to compare rather than renew by inertia.

What Florida requires you to carry

Florida is a no-fault state. That phrase confuses people who moved here from somewhere else, and it is worth being precise about: it does not mean nobody is at fault. It means your own policy pays your medical costs first, regardless of who caused the crash.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

PIP pays a share of your own medical expenses and lost income after a crash, whoever caused it. It is the coverage that makes Florida a no-fault state, and it is required to register a vehicle here. It applies to you, not to the other driver, and it stops at its limit.

Property Damage Liability (PDL)

PDL pays for damage you cause to someone else's property — their vehicle, a fence, a storefront. It does not pay for your own vehicle, and it does not pay for anyone's injuries, including your own. If the vehicle is used for work rather than personal driving, that is a different policy: see coverage for a local business.

What the state minimum does not cover

The Florida minimum is a registration requirement, not a coverage plan. Carrying exactly the minimum leaves three specific holes, and each one has a name.

Damage to your own vehicle

Neither PIP nor PDL repairs your car. If you hit something, or something hits your parked car, the state minimum pays nothing toward your own repair. That is what collision and comprehensive answer for, further down this page.

Injuries you cause to other people

PDL covers property. It does not cover a person. Bodily injury liability is a separate coverage, and it is not part of the Florida minimum — which is the single most misunderstood thing about driving in this state.

The other driver having nothing

If someone hits you and carries no insurance, or carries a limit far below what the crash costs, their policy is not going to make you whole. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is what answers for that, and in Miami it is not a theoretical concern.

Every liability coverage on an auto policy stops at the limit written into it. What sits above that ceiling is liability above your auto policy limit, which is a separate policy.

The optional coverages, and what each one answers for

These are not upsells. Each one closes a specific hole left by the minimum, and which of them make sense depends on the car, the driver and what you could not afford to replace out of pocket.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist

Pays for your injuries when the driver who hit you has no coverage or not enough of it. In a market where uninsured drivers are common, this is the coverage that most often turns out to matter, and the one most often declined to save a small amount at renewal.

Collision

Pays to repair or replace your own vehicle after a crash, regardless of fault. If you have a loan or a lease on the car, the lender will normally require it.

Comprehensive

Pays for damage to your vehicle that did not come from a crash: theft, fire, hail, a tree, a flooded street. In South Florida the weather-related side of this is not hypothetical.

What moves your premium

A premium is assembled from factors about you, the vehicle and the place it sleeps. Roughly in order of weight:

ZIP code — where the car is parked overnight, not where you work
Driving and claims history, including claims you did not cause
The coverages, limits and deductibles you choose
The make, model, age and repair cost of the vehicle
How much you drive, and whether the car is used for work

The first four are largely outside your control on any given day. The third is a decision, and it is the one worth reviewing with someone before a renewal rather than after a claim.

Requirements at a glance

Minimum Personal Injury Protection: [XX]FLHSMV
Minimum Property Damage Liability: [XX]FLHSMV
Bodily injury liability required at minimum: [XX]FLHSMV
Deadline to seek treatment for a PIP claim: [XX]Florida Statutes

TODO(copy-compliance): the amounts above are a legal requirement in Florida and are shown in brackets until the agency confirms them against FLHSMV. Nothing here is published from memory.

Questions from Miami drivers

Do I need Florida car insurance if I am not here all year?: If the vehicle is registered in Florida, it needs Florida coverage, whether or not you are in the state. Owners who split the year between countries usually have the car registered here and insured here year-round. TODO(copy-compliance): confirm how the agency handles seasonal and non-resident owners before publishing.
What does PIP actually pay for?: A share of your own medical expenses and lost income after a crash, regardless of who caused it, up to the limit on your policy. It does not repair your car and it does not cover the other person. TODO(copy-compliance): the exact share, limit and treatment deadline need confirmation.
Is uninsured motorist coverage worth it in Miami?: It is the coverage that answers when the driver who hit you has nothing. Given how common that is here, it is the one most worth understanding before declining it. TODO(copy-compliance): the agency should confirm how it presents this recommendation.
Am I covered if someone else drives my car?: In general coverage follows the vehicle rather than the driver, but the details depend on who the person is, whether they live with you and whether they are listed on the policy. TODO(copy-compliance): confirm before publishing — this varies by carrier.
Can I insure a car in Florida with a licence from another country?: Some carriers write policies for drivers holding a foreign licence and some do not, and the terms differ. This is one of the cases where an independent agency is worth more than a comparison site, because the answer is which carrier rather than which price. TODO(copy-compliance): confirm which carriers the agency can place this with.

Questions like the last two rarely have a single answer. Romina Saaied works in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, which is often the shortest path to a straight answer.

Get a quote for your vehicle

Tell us about the car and how you use it. You do not need policy numbers or documents to start.