Hollywood Uninsured Motorist Lawyer

You Purchased UM Coverage for Precisely This Kind of Accident

A person injured by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver may have nowhere else to turn for meaningful compensation. The responsible driver may have no bodily-injury coverage, no identifiable assets, or may never be located. That is why uninsured motorist coverage matters. A UM claim is made under the injured person’s own insurance policy, but the claimant must ordinarily prove the case that could have been brought against the uninsured driver. This means establishing that the other driver was negligent, that the negligence caused the collision, and that the collision caused or aggravated the claimed injuries. The evidence must also establish the nature, extent, and permanency of those injuries and the amount of the resulting medical expenses, lost income, pain, disability, and other legally recoverable damages. The fact that the claim involves your own insurance company does not eliminate the need for carefully preserved accident evidence, persuasive medical proof, and thorough preparation for negotiation or trial.

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Hit-and-Run Uninsured Motorist Claims

A driver who causes a crash and leaves the scene may also leave the injured person without an identifiable liability policy, making uninsured motorist coverage especially important in a Hollywood hit-and-run accident. Our investigation may include efforts to locate and preserve 911 calls and emergency-dispatch records; police body-worn and patrol-car camera footage; traffic, intersection, business, condominium, residential, Ring, and other private surveillance footage; dash-camera recordings; photographs of vehicle damage, debris, tire marks, and the accident scene; electronic vehicle data; witness identities and statements; license-plate descriptions or partial plate numbers; rideshare, delivery, and commercial-vehicle records; and documentation showing that the crash was promptly reported. This evidence can disappear quickly: video may be overwritten, witnesses may become difficult to locate, and physical damage may be repaired. A prompt investigation can help identify the fleeing vehicle, corroborate how the crash occurred, and establish compliance with the insurance policy’s hit-and-run requirements. Our guide to what to do immediately after a Florida car accident explains additional steps for reporting the collision and preserving time-sensitive evidence.  Read more on Uninsured Parties

 

Underinsured Motorist Claims After the Other Driver’s Policy Is Exhausted

Some drivers carry bodily-injury liability coverage, but not enough to cover a serious injury. A hospital admission, surgery, permanent impairment, substantial lost income, or long-term medical care can quickly exceed limited policy limits. Before accepting the at-fault driver’s insurance limits and signing a release, the injured person should identify every potentially applicable uninsured or underinsured motorist policy and comply with the notice and settlement requirements governing a UIM claim, because resolving the liability claim without properly protecting the UM carrier’s rights may jeopardize additional coverage. Our investigation may include the at-fault driver’s bodily-injury limits; the client’s automobile policy and declarations; policies issued to resident relatives; coverage on the vehicle occupied during the accident; employer or commercial automobile policies; rideshare or delivery-company coverage; stacked and non-stacked UM coverage; prior UM selection or rejection forms; excess or umbrella policies; and other potentially responsible people or businesses. We do not assume that the first insurance policy disclosed is the only available source of recovery.

 

What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida?

Uninsured motorist coverage—commonly called "UM" coverage—protects insured people who are legally entitled to recover damages from a driver who caused bodily injury but does not have applicable liability insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage, or "UIM" coverage, applies when the responsible driver has bodily-injury insurance, but the available coverage is insufficient to compensate the injured person fully. Florida generally treats uninsured and underinsured motorist protection as part of the same statutory coverage. A UM claim may arise when an at-fault driver has no bodily-injury liability coverage, a hit-and-run driver cannot be identified, the responsible driver’s insurance company denies coverage, or the liability insurer becomes insolvent. Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may also apply when the available bodily-injury limits are insufficient to compensate everyone injured, several claimants must share limited coverage, or a policy excludes liability coverage for the person operating the responsible vehicle. UM coverage can protect not only drivers and passengers, but also an insured pedestrian, bicyclist, or motorcyclist struck by an uninsured, underinsured, or hit-and-run driver. The existence and amount of available coverage depend on the policy language, UM selection or rejection forms, stacked or non-stacked coverage, the insured vehicles and household members, other potentially applicable policies, and the circumstances of the accident.  Read More on Coverage

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Who May Be Covered by a Florida UM Policy?

Uninsured motorist protection is not necessarily limited to the person whose name appears first on the insurance card. Depending on the policy and circumstances, UM coverage may extend to the named insured, a spouse, relatives residing in the insured’s household, passengers occupying an insured vehicle, a permissive driver, an employee occupying a covered company vehicle, a pedestrian or bicyclist who qualifies as an insured, or an insured person injured while riding in someone else’s vehicle. Coverage questions frequently turn on policy definitions, household residency, vehicle ownership, stacked or non-stacked coverage, the vehicle occupied when the accident occurred, and the injured person’s relationship to the named insured. Each potentially applicable policy should be investigated before anyone concludes that no UM benefits are available.

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Stacked and Non-Stacked UM Coverage

Florida automobile policies may provide either stacked or non-stacked uninsured motorist coverage. 

Stacked coverage may allow coverage associated with more than one insured vehicle to be combined, subject to the policy and applicable law. It may also provide broader protection when the insured is injured while occupying another vehicle, walking, bicycling, or otherwise not occupying the vehicle listed on the policy.

Non-stacked coverage is generally less expensive but contains important limitations. The available coverage may depend on which vehicle was occupied and how the injured person qualifies as an insured.

The words “stacked” or “non-stacked” on a declarations page are the beginning of the analysis—not necessarily the end. The policy, application, signed selection forms, vehicle history, household relationships, and accident circumstances should all be reviewed.

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Why Can a Claim Against Your Own Insurance Company Become Disputed?

Submitting a UM claim does not guarantee that the insurance company will agree about who caused the accident, whether the insured shares responsibility, whether physical contact occurred in a hit-and-run crash, or whether the accident was timely reported. Coverage disputes may also concern whether the injured person qualifies as an insured, whether a relative resided in the insured’s household, whether UM coverage was validly rejected or reduced, and whether the policy provides stacked or non-stacked coverage. Even when coverage exists, the insurer may dispute whether the collision caused or aggravated the diagnosed injuries, point to prior accidents or degenerative findings, question delayed treatment or gaps in care, challenge permanency or future medical treatment, and disagree about lost earning capacity and the full value of the damages. A UM case should therefore be developed with the same discipline as a claim against the at-fault driver by preserving accident evidence, obtaining complete medical proof, resolving coverage questions, preparing witnesses, and anticipating the defenses before litigation begins.

 

Can a Florida Jury Determine Damages Above the UM Policy Limits?

When a Florida UM claim proceeds to trial, the case should be prepared and presented to establish the full amount of the insured’s damages—not merely an amount equal to the available UM policy limits. That means presenting all legally recoverable damages supported by the evidence, including past and future medical expenses, lost income and diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering, disability, physical impairment, mental anguish, inconvenience, and loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life. In Fridman v. Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois, the Florida Supreme Court held that an insured is entitled to a determination of the full extent of the damages caused by the uninsured or underinsured motorist, even when the verdict exceeds the UM limits. The judgment in the UM action is ordinarily limited to the available policy benefits, but the jury’s determination of the insured’s total damages can become binding in a later bad-faith action. A UM case should therefore be developed and tried around the complete injury and its lifetime consequences—not artificially reduced to the amount of one insurance policy.

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Civil Remedy Notices and Florida UM Bad-Faith Claims

A Civil Remedy Notice, commonly called a CRN, gives the Florida Department of Financial Services and the insurance company written notice of alleged claim-handling violations and generally provides the insurer 60 days to pay the damages or correct the circumstances identified in the notice. Filing a legally sufficient CRN is a condition that ordinarily must be satisfied before pursuing a statutory bad-faith action under § 624.155, but filing the notice does not itself establish bad faith. The UM benefits claim must first establish the uninsured driver’s liability and the extent of the insured’s damages; any later bad-faith claim separately examines whether the insurer acted fairly, honestly, and with due regard for its insured’s interests. Dan has filed more than 100 Civil Remedy Notices on behalf of policyholders and understands how to identify the relevant policy provisions, document the insurer’s conduct, state the claimed violations with specificity, and preserve the insured’s potential remedies when the evidence supports doing so.

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Was Uninsured Motorist Coverage Properly Rejected?

An insurance company’s statement that UM coverage was rejected does not necessarily end the investigation. In Jervis v. Castaneda, a Florida appellate court found GEICO’s online non-stacking selection form invalid because the insured could not sign the required form itself, the statutory warning did not appear on the electronic signing page, and the system did not allow the insured to deselect the preselected non-stacked option. Because GEICO failed to comply with Florida’s mandatory written-notice requirements, it could not rely on an alleged oral rejection, and the insured was entitled to stacked UM coverage. A UM lawyer should therefore examine the actual rejection or selection form, required warning language, electronic-signature process, policy changes, and available coverage rather than relying solely on the declarations page.

 

Do Uber and Lyft Provide Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida?

Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare cases require a different analysis. The Florida legislature expressly mandated that Rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft must include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage “as required by” Florida’s general UM statute, § 627.727. This rideshare coverage statute itself does not expressly state that a transportation network company had the ability to reject that coverage. Nevertheless, the federal courts found that there is a loophole and the companies can reject the coverage despite the mandate.  In Progressive Express Insurance Co. v. Monasterio, the federal courts interpreted the statutory cross-reference as incorporating not only section 627.727’s UM coverage requirements, but also its provision allowing a named insured to reject UM coverage on behalf of everyone insured under the policy. The court also found that Florida’s mandatory UM requirements did not apply because the rideshare policy covered “any auto” being used for a ride rather than specifically identified vehicles. A passenger or rideshare driver should not assume either that the rideshare company provides UM coverage or that no coverage exists. The company’s commercial policy and rejection documents, the driver’s personal automobile policy, the passenger’s own policy, resident-relative policies, and every other potential source of uninsured motorist coverage should be reviewed.

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How Daniel B Reinfeld, PA Builds a UM Case

Dan begins by investigating both sides of the claim: the underlying accident and the available insurance coverage.  He examines the crash evidence to establish how the uninsured or hit-and-run driver caused the collision. At the same time, he reviews the declarations, policy language, endorsements, UM forms, vehicle history, household information, and other potentially applicable policies. The medical portion of the case is then developed over time. Records, imaging, physician opinions, prior medical history, treatment recommendations, functional limitations, lost income, and future needs must form one consistent evidentiary picture. When appropriate, the case may require testimony from treating physicians, radiologists, surgeons, reconstruction experts, economists, vocational experts, or life-care planners. Every case is different, but the objective remains the same: determine what the uninsured driver caused and present reliable evidence of the complete resulting loss.