If you think back to your days in school, you probably remember doing the dreaded word problems in math. You know the ones. “If a car is traveling north at 20 mph, and another car is traveling south at 30 mph, how many minutes before they meet?” When it comes to traffic accidents, we ask these questions a little bit differently. “If I am traveling north at 25 mph, and another vehicle traveling west at 25 mph collides with me, who is responsible for paying the damages?”
Who Is Going To Pay?
If you’ve found yourself in this situation before, you have probably wondered about who was going to have to pay for the damages. However, assuming that both drivers are insured, the answer depends on what state you live in and what kind of insurance the drivers have.
In many states, drivers are required to carry two types of liability coverage. Property damage liability coverage is auto insurance is designed to pay for damages that you or members of your family may cause to another person’s property while driving a vehicle. This is only one part of the potential cost of an auto accident. There are also injuries that can be caused by an accident, and that can be costly as well. Bodily injury liability coverage exists for this very reason. It pays for medical costs related to injuries caused by you or your family while driving a vehicle.
Property Liability vs. Bodily Injury Liability
While property damage liability coverage is a requirement in all states, bodily injury liability is not. Florida is one of the states that does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability insurance. The reason is that Florida is known as a “no-fault” state. This does not mean that no one is to blame for the traffic accident. Instead, in a no-fault state, drivers are required to carry personal injury protection insurance. This means that regardless of who is at fault, if you get injured in an accident, your insurance company pays the claim for medical bills.
The Advantages Of Florida’s No-Fault System
There are many advantages to this system. If you need immediate medical attention, you don’t need to worry about trying to work it out with the other driver’s insurance, or worse, try to figure out who is going to pay. If it the damage is under a certain dollar amount, the PIP automatically kicks in. This keeps these cases out of court, which brings the overall cost of insurance down. Another added benefit of the no-fault system is that it even if the other driver is uninsured your medical bills will be covered. States that have a high number of uninsured drivers often prefer the no-fault system.
The minimum requirement for PIP coverage is $10,000, plus $10,000 for property damage. If your medical or property damage exceeds this number, you can then step outside of the no-fault system to sue the driver at fault for the remainder of the damages.
Who To Call When You Have Been In An Accident
If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident and your bills have exceeded your PIP coverage, you may still be entitled to more compensation. With over 20 years of experience, Bryan Caulfield and his team are committed to excellence and committed to getting their clients the settlements that they deserve. To schedule a consultation, contact us today.