by Mel at Loss » Thu May 07, 2009 11:48 am
Hi I just join in now and have being for the past 2 hours goggling info on Florida insurance policies and protection against uninsured driver at fault in my car accident last week. I am afraid that if I use it Gaico in retaliation might hike my rate or drop me for good? Also; it was a hit-run situation which I was able to find the driver and have a police report on accident with driver at fault being sited for negligent driving and running away from accident scene. Since we found only at fault car w/o driver the police gave me info on at fault driver with an insurance that later on I found out was no longer active. At the moment am using my own PIP for the Chiropractor treatment but want to get my car fixed and I don/t have collision protection. What can I do without getting a lawyer?
Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 12:42 pm Post Subject:
If you do not have collision coverage or UMPD (uninsured motorist PROPERTY DAMAGE), there is nothing your carrier can do (other than PIP and UMBI, if your injury beats the thesold)...You can of course sue the owner of the vehicle, but without knowing who the driver was that will be difficult..
Your carrier cannot rate you up or drop you for a 'non-chargeble' (not at fault) accident.
check and see if you have UMPD
Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 01:54 pm Post Subject:
I'm not sure if I understand your situation completely...did the police give you the driver information that you found out an old policy? b/c if that's the case then you can sue the driver directly.
If you don't know who was driving perhaps the vehicle owner could help you locate the person...
I would go see a personal injury attrny to see what my other options be and perhaps they would be able to give you more information on how to go about finding info on this driver...
Good Luck
Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 02:03 pm Post Subject:
No UMPD in Florida.... or at least I've never seen it on any policy. OP, Lori is 100% correct. You have a civil complaint against the owner of the other vehicle. You need to make sure the police know the other owners policy is not active. That is, that they allowed their vehicle to be used without having insurance on it. Hopefully some citations will be issued. This should trigger a report to the state but you also need to send a letter to the state with a copy of the police report to let them know the owner did not have insurance (financial responsiblity) as required by state law. What they will do is suspend the owners drivers license until the owner can show that he/she paid you for your loss. They _will_ do this. I don't remember who you inform but you should be able to google the info or make a few calls to find out (state with the DMV). The letter needs to go to some place in Tallahassee.
PIP will address the 1st $10k in medical expenses and loss wages. After that your UIMBI will kick in to address them as well as your "pain and suffering". Keep in mind that your UIMBI coverage is _exactly_ like the other person's liability coverage. That is, it will be just like it's the other vehicle's owners insurance company and not your own.
Once your carrier makes a payment under UIMBI, they should seek recovery directly from the other vehicle owner for what they paid. The other owner does not get a walk.
Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 06:42 am Post Subject:
I agree with you about trying to negotiate myself with insurance instead paying lawyer fees. I do not have collision and only have UM 10k/20k and not UMPD. My PIP does require a $500 deductible and pays only 80% of medical bills.
When I went to see the Chiropractor the following day of the accident; their office gave me the impression that I would not have any bills that the other driver insurance would pay or my own under PIP (which at that time I could not remember what was the terms and conditions). Now I know there is no other insurance involved and I am afraid I am stuck with at least a $500 bill with a chiropractor which I probably could have used my own medical insurance for a co-pay of only $25
Also, I understand that small claims court is my only option to try to get the other driver to pay for damages. He has being arrested per my police report for negligent driving; evading accident scene, and I did inform to FLPD that the insurance they provided me for the other driver was lapsed and driver had no insurance.
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