Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
Just because you have purchased an insurance policy with ample bodily injury coverage for your vehicles does not mean that you are adequately protected in the event that you become involved in a car accident. This is because bodily injury coverage pays out only if you cause an accident and injure somebody else.
If, however, you are struck and injured by another driver, you would at that point be at the mercy of the at-fault driver’s insurance policy for purposes of paying for your medical bills and lost wages, if need be. And that’s if the at-fault driver even has insurance to begin with. In fact, Florida ranks among the top states in terms of the number of uninsured or under-insured motorists on our roads. Therefore, it is all the more important that drivers purchase uninsured motorist coverage to protect you and your family in the event that you are injured in a car accident.
A 2014 study by the Insurance Research Council found the appalling truth: In Florida, 1 out of 4 people (23.8%) involved in a vehicle accident does not have insurance. Only Oklahoma ranks higher with 25.9%. In raw numbers, this means there are 3.2 million vehicles in Florida without insurance. Practically speaking, if you are involved in an accident, there is a 1 out of 4 chance that you will have to rely solely on your own insurance policy in order to repair your car, but most importantly, to treat for your physical injuries – and that does not even begin to address your claim for personal injury, which includes past and future pain and suffering.
Last April, the Office of Florida’s Chief Financial Officer released staggering numbers indicative of a systemic-induced fraud. In the fiscal year 2010/2011, the Division of Insurance Fraud investigated 13,452 cases of insurance fraud, which ultimately resulted in 997 arrests and 804 convictions. In only one year, Florida Courts have ordered restitution amounting to more than $156 million to defrauded insurance companies.