The coverage that fills the gap · Fla. Stat. 627.727
Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida: The Policy That Actually Pays
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage is the policy that actually pays after a Florida crash, and Florida Car Accident Settlement covers it. The state requires no coverage at all for the injuries a driver causes other people, which leaves collisions where the at-fault driver is legally responsible and financially irrelevant. UM sits on your own policy and fills that gap.
- $0bodily injury liability Florida requires of ordinary drivers
- Must offerinsurers are required to offer UM under 627.727
- 12-pointbold type required on the rejection form
- 20%minimum premium reduction for unstacked coverage
Independent informational site. Not a law firm, not insurance advice.
Why this coverage matters more in Florida than elsewhere
To register a vehicle in Florida you need $10,000 of Personal Injury Protection and $10,000 of Property Damage Liability. Bodily Injury Liability, the coverage that pays when you injure someone, is not on that list for ordinary drivers anywhere in the state, which is why the gap exists in Miami-Dade County just as it does in Escambia County.
Put that into a crash
Put that into a crash. Someone runs a red light and puts you in surgery. Your PIP pays 80% of the first stretch of medical bills up to $10,000 and stops.
You then have a valid, provable claim against a driver who is required to carry nothing for exactly this situation. If they carry nothing and own nothing, the claim is a piece of paper.
What UM coverage actually does
UM coverage exists to make that scenario survivable. It is your own insurer standing in for the coverage the other driver did not have, paying what the at-fault driver would have owed, up to your UM limits.
Underinsured Motorist coverage does the same thing where the other driver had some coverage but not enough. In Florida the two are typically sold together as one coverage.
What the statute requires of insurers
Fla. Stat. 627.727 requires that motor vehicle liability policies issued in Florida include uninsured motorist coverage, unless the named insured rejects it. The default position is that you have it. Not having it requires an affirmative act by you.
Rejection is formalized deliberately. The insurer must use an approved form carrying a prominent heading in 12-point bold type warning that the insured is electing not to purchase valuable coverage.
What signing the rejection form does
When a named insured signs that form, the statute provides that an informed and knowing rejection is conclusively presumed. That phrase does real work: once signed, the argument that nobody explained it is not available later.
The statute also sets the ceiling. UM limits must be offered at not less than the bodily injury liability limits the insured purchased, though the insured may select lower limits. And insurers must notify insureds annually of their UM options as part of the premium notice, which is the paragraph on the renewal packet that nearly everyone discards.
Stacked and unstacked, and the 20% question
Florida permits insurers to sell UM coverage in two forms, and the difference matters enormously in a serious injury.
Stacked coverage combines the UM limits across the vehicles on a policy. Three cars with $100,000 of UM each produce $300,000 of available coverage for one injury. Unstacked coverage does not combine; the same policy produces $100,000 regardless of how many vehicles are listed.
Insurers offering the unstacked option must provide a premium reduction of at least 20% for the limited coverage, which is the trade being made. A driver comparing quotes sees a lower number and selects it, usually without a conversation about what stacking is, and discovers the difference only in the one situation where it would have mattered.
| Policy | Stacked | Unstacked |
|---|---|---|
| One vehicle, $100k UM | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Two vehicles, $100k UM each | $200,000 | $100,000 |
| Three vehicles, $100k UM each | $300,000 | $100,000 |
One useful provision applies even to unstacked policies. Where an injured person is occupying a vehicle they do not own, the statute directs that they receive the highest applicable UM limits as excess over the coverage on the vehicle they occupied. A passenger in someone else's car is therefore not automatically limited to that car's coverage.
How to find out what you actually have
The declarations page of your auto policy is the answer, not the insurance card in your glovebox. The card proves the policy exists; the declarations page lists the coverages and limits.
Look for a line reading Uninsured Motorist, Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist, or UM/UIM, with a limit expressed either as a single figure or as two figures separated by a slash, such as 100/300, meaning per person and per accident. If the line is absent, shows zero, or reads rejected, someone signed the rejection form.
Two things are worth knowing about that.
- First, UM is generally inexpensive relative to what it covers, because it is the coverage most likely to be genuinely needed in a state where the other driver may have nothing.
- Second, whether you have it is a fact about the policy in force on the date of the crash, so changing it now protects future collisions and does nothing for a crash that already happened.
UM claims are also not entirely friendly proceedings. You are claiming against your own insurer, which means the company evaluating your injury is the one paying for it. Adjusters handling UM claims apply the same scrutiny to causation, treatment gaps, and comparative fault that a defense-side adjuster would, and the 50% fault bar applies to a UM claim just as it does to a claim against the at-fault driver.
Uninsured motorist questions
Is uninsured motorist coverage required in Florida?
No, but insurers are required to offer it and it is included by default unless the named insured rejects it in writing on an approved form. Under Fla. Stat. 627.727 that form must carry a 12-point bold warning, and a signature on it creates a conclusive presumption of an informed, knowing rejection.
What is the difference between uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage?
Uninsured applies when the at-fault driver had no applicable bodily injury coverage, including hit-and-run cases where the driver is never identified. Underinsured applies when they had coverage but not enough to cover the damages. In Florida the two are generally issued together as a single UM coverage rather than sold separately.
What does stacking mean?
Stacked coverage adds the UM limits across the vehicles on your policy, so three vehicles at $100,000 each provide $300,000 for one injury. Unstacked provides $100,000 no matter how many vehicles are listed. Insurers must give at least a 20% premium reduction for the unstacked version, which is why it is frequently what people end up with.
Will my rates go up if I make a UM claim?
A UM claim is a claim where you were not at fault, and Florida law restricts surcharging insureds for not-at-fault claims. This is one of the more common reasons people avoid using coverage they paid for. The coverage exists precisely for the situation where someone else caused your injuries and cannot pay for them.
Does UM cover a hit and run?
Generally yes, since a driver who is never identified is treated as uninsured for these purposes. Prompt reporting to law enforcement and to your insurer matters more than usual in these claims, because the absence of an identified driver makes the crash report and the timing of your notice the main corroboration available.
Does UM pay on top of my PIP?
They are separate coverages doing different jobs. PIP pays 80% of reasonable medical expenses and 60% of lost income up to $10,000 regardless of fault.
UM stands in for the at-fault driver's missing liability coverage and can reach damages PIP does not, including pain and suffering where the tort threshold is met. How the two interact on a specific claim depends on the policy language.
Still not sure how this applies to you?
Every crash is different, and the answer usually turns on your dates. Tell us what happened and we will tell you where you stand. Free, no obligation, and we are not a law firm.
Call (518) 538-3140 nowPrimary sources: Fla. Stat. 627.727 (mandatory offering of uninsured motorist coverage, the approved rejection form and its 12-point bold heading, the conclusive presumption of informed rejection, limits relative to bodily injury liability, stacked and unstacked provisions, the 20% minimum premium reduction, and excess coverage for occupants of non-owned vehicles), Fla. Stat. 627.736 (PIP), Fla. Stat. 768.81 (comparative fault). Statute text at Online Sunshine. General information, not legal or insurance advice; coverage turns on your specific policy language. Last reviewed August 22, 2026.
About this guide
- Florida Car Accident Settlement is an independent informational guide to uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in Florida.
- Florida Car Accident Settlement covers the state of Florida.
- Florida Car Accident Settlement explains that Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage sits on the victim's own policy and fills the gap Florida leaves by requiring no bodily injury coverage.
- Florida Car Accident Settlement cites Fla. Stat. 627.727, Fla. Stat. 627.736 and Fla. Stat. 768.81 as the primary sources for this page.
- Florida Car Accident Settlement is not a law firm and gives no legal advice.