Auto Insurance 101: Know Your Coverage

Gainesville is a diverse town. College students, young professionals, and families rooted for more than a hundred years call Hogtown home. Anyone who travels near the emerging technology hub on South West 2nd Avenue or who reviews the University of Florida’s strategic growth plans understands that there is potential for significant growth in our community over the next fifty years.

Students driving to and from classes, business people on their phones, and construction workers coordinating projects all share the roads of our community while busy interstates with massive tractor-trailers cut through the heart of our town. Crowded streets, like Archer Road and Newberry, are used to get people to work, retail locations, and hospitals, and our quiet little neighborhood roads form a diverse residential grid.

As personal injury lawyers in Gainesville, Daniel Glassman and I think about how our different roadways affect people’s safety. Unfortunately, there are times when people make choices not to be safe on our roads, and that can have devastating consequences. We may not be able to change the way people drive, but at Glassman & Zissimopulos Law, we do believe that we can make a difference by helping our clients better understand the complicated turmoil that follows a traffic accident.

One of the most complicated aspects of dealing with an automobile collision is dealing with insurance companies and the nuances of complicated insurance policies. Our job at Glassman & Zissimopulos Law is to determine what insurance policies exist and what coverage there is to help our clients recover from their harms and losses.

Bodily Injury (BI) and Under/Uninsured Motorist (UM) are integral parts of any secure insurance policy. Neither BI or UM are required in Florida. Before jumping into the more practical applications of BI and UM it’s important to understand the meaning of these policies. Simply put, BI is purchased preemptively to protect you whenever anyone on your policy is the cause of a car accident resulting in injury to the other party. UM protects your policy members if you are the victim of an auto accident and the at-fault driver has no BI coverage or too little insurance to cover the damages and losses caused by the collision. UM also protects your passengers who are injured in your vehicle.

How does this pertain to you and your family? Consider this common example.

Meet Joe Gator. Joe recently graduated from high school in Gainesville and is anxious to start college. He wants to get away from home, so he ironically chooses FSU to continue his studies. When Joe’s mother and father sit down to purchase auto insurance, it is important that they protect themselves and Joe. They can be sure to do that with a solid BI and UM plan. Of course, Joe’s family, like any family, wants to make sure they have plenty of coverage in case Joe is the victim of a disastrous accident, but they must also plan for a situation in which Joe causes an accident and injury. Joe’s parents are hardworking and make enough money to comfortably care for their family, but all in all, they wouldn’t be able to afford the responsibility of another’s medical bills if Joe were to be the cause of an accident. So as a family, they choose a BI and UM policy that protects Joe in both scenarios.

When deciding what coverage amounts are adequate protection for your household, it’s important to consider each side of the spectrum. At Glassman & Zissimopulos Law, we know evaluating the best auto insurance coverage is difficult and riddled with intricate terms. Several times, we have offered to help clients consider their insurance needs even before a traffic crash. We don’t sell insurance, but we do understand how insurance is used can help people make wise choices when purchasing those products. Both Daniel Glassman and I know that part of our pledge to put clients first is preparing and protecting families for every possible scenario. We can’t prevent tragedy or auto accidents, but we can do our best to protect your family and keep your future safe.