Why Your Motorcycle Should Have Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Article Submitted By: Daytona Auto. Accident Attorney Allan Ziffra
Florida Personal Injury Attorneys; Rue & Ziffra, P.A.

Each year, thousands of unfortunate bikers are struck by negligent automobile drivers. Unlike the protection a car can provide its driver during an impact, motorcyclists have little to protect them when involved in a crash. It is no secret, then, that motorcycle accidents typically result in more serious injuries for the biker than auto accidents.

According to the National Safety Council, there is a motorcycle accident in the United States causing serious bodily injury every 14 seconds. In addition the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 2006 4,798 motorcycle riders died in motorcycle crashes while another 87,000 motorcyclists were injured.

The failure of other drivers to detect and recognize the presence of motorcycles is the predominant cause of motorcycle accidents. Unfortunately, the State of Florida does not mandate bodily injury coverage for automobile drivers and therefore more than one-third of all vehicles on Florida’s roads are uninsured for liability coverage. Considering the serious injuries that motorcyclists often sustain in motorcycle accidents, a whopping two-thirds of all vehicles on Florida’s roads and highways are inadequately insured. If you’re struck by an uninsured or underinsured motorist, there is a high probability that there will not be adequate insurance to compensate you for the injuries and damages that you sustain.

That’s why it is important to purchase uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your motorcycle and automobile insurance policies.


Who Causes Motorcycle Accidents?
The Hurt Report is the most comprehensive study of motorcycle accidents and causes in the United States. This report found that the majority of all motorcycle accidents are caused by the negligence of the operator of an automobile. Most motorcycle accidents occur at intersections when the other vehicle turns into the motorcycle’s lane of travel, violating the motorcyclist’s right-of-way. In most of these cases, the other driver simply did not see the approaching motorcycle.

The second most common cause of motorcycle accidents occurs when a motorcycle is slowing and the driver of an automobile does not notice the motorcycle in time to stop their vehicle safely. Instead, the automobile runs into the back of the motorcycle.


Uninsured Drivers Are More Common Than You Might Think
Although Florida requires all registered automobiles to have No-Fault Insurance, the state does not mandate the purchase of liability insurance. In short, bodily injury liability insurance is the coverage that an individual would purchase to protect them in the event that they are negligent and cause injury to another motorist. Various reports indicate that up to 15% of all drivers in the United States do not have any insurance at all and that up to one third of drivers in the State of Florida maintain no liability insurance.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America estimates that unlicensed and uninsured drivers are involved in more than 20% of all fatal accidents in the United States. This means that if you’re operating a motorcycle and you’re struck by another vehicle in the State of Florida, there is a one in three chance that that negligent motorist will have no liability insurance at all and a two in three chance that they will have inadequate liability insurance to compensate you for your injuries and damages.


What Happens if an Uninsured Driver Causes a Motorcycle Accident?
The impact of being involved in a motorcycle accident can be devastating and can permanently change your life. If an accident is caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver, the financial impact of medical bills, lost wages and loss of earning capacity can leave you financially destitute. If the negligent automobile operator who causes you injury does not have liability insurance, one of your strongest options is to hire an attorney, sue them and attempt to collect any judgment from them personally.

Unfortunately, most people purchase automobile insurance in amounts correlating to potential assets that they have. Therefore, in the vast majority of cases, individuals who are uninsured or underinsured are usually uncollectible. In addition, Florida’s homestead laws protect an individual’s home and all their equity from judgments and negligent drivers can avoid most or all of a judgment by filing bankruptcy.


The Importance of Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance is vital if you are going to operate a motorcycle in the State of Florida. By law this coverage must be offered to an individual who purchases liability insurance on a motorcycle, truck, car or other personal land motor vehicle and can only be avoided if the named insured signs a special rejection form that is approved by the Florida Department of Insurance. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage protects you while operating your motorcycle, anyone else operating your motorcycle or any passenger that you may have on your motorcycle if you are involved in an accident with someone who doesn’t have any bodily injury liability, or who has minimal amount of this insurance.
What is Uninsured Motorist Coverage?

What is commonly referred to as uninsured motorist coverage in the State of Florida actually has the legal name of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage or UM/UIM coverage. Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage protects you, anyone operating your motorcycle, or any passenger on your motorcycle in situations that involve an at fault driver who does not have any liability insurance or does not have enough liability insurance to compensate you for your injuries, medical bills, lost wages or loss of earning capacity.

Uninsured motorist coverage applies in situations where the at-fault driver has no liability insurance at all.

Underinsured motorist coverage applies in the event that your injuries or damages exceed the amount of liability coverage that the at-fault party has purchased. In this situation, your underinsured motorist coverage will apply after the bodily injury coverage that the negligent party purchased has been exhausted (used in full). Your UIM coverage will then compensate you for the balance of your injuries and damages up to the policy limits of the amount of UIM coverage you purchased.

Florida is one of the few states in the country that offers stacking uninsured motorist coverage.

• Non-stacking uninsured motorist coverage applies uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on a particular vehicle. That means that you can only access the amount of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage that you purchased on the motorcycle and only if you are operating that motorcycle or some other vehicle that you do not own.

• Stacking uninsured motorist coverage is much broader and allows you to access multiple policy limits from every vehicle that you own that has the stacking form of uninsured motorist coverage. In addition, if you have stacking uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, you can access that insurance if you’re injured in another vehicle that you own, regardless of whether that vehicle is insured for uninsured/underinsured coverage or not.


How Underinsured Motorist Coverage Works
If you are involved in a motorcycle accident and you sustain a fractured femur that requires an open reduction and internal fixation with an intramedullary rod, you may have the following damages:

• Past medical bills of $40,000
• Past lost wages of $20,000
• Future medical bills of $10,000
• Loss of future earning capacity of $50,000
• Past pain and suffering of $50,000
• Future pain and suffering of $50,000,

Total: $220,000

If the at fault party only maintained $100,000 of liability insurance, then your damages would exceed their available coverage by $120,000. If you had a $100,000 underinsured motorist policy, you could collect the $100,000 from the at fault party’s insurance company and then you would be able to collect the balance of your damages, up to your policy limits, in the amount of $100,000 from your underinsured motorist policy.

Stacking Underinsured Motorist Coverage
If we use the same example above and you have stacking underinsured motorist coverage on your motorcycle and two different cars, the net result to you will be much more beneficial.

In the prior example you would have been able to recover $100,000 from the liability insurance and $100,000 from your (non-stacking) underinsured motorist coverage on your motorcycle, for a total of $200,000. You would still have $20,000 of damages that you are unable to recover from any available insurance source. However, if you have the stacking form of underinsured motorist coverage, you would now have $300,000 in uninsured motorist coverage that you could access and therefore you would have a sufficient amount of insurance coverage to cover all of your damages in the amount of $220,000.


Why Should You Purchase Stacking Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage?
There are steps that you can take to help reduce the chances of being involved in a serious motorcycle accident. You can wear protective clothing, eye protection and a motorcycle helmet. You can avoid following too closely to the vehicle in front of you, avoid blind spots on vehicles that you are traveling next to, and obey the posted speed limit. You can avoid going through intersections with yellow lights and give yourself extra distance before pulling out in front of traffic.

However, regardless of how cautiously and defensively you drive your motorcycle, you cannot control the actions of other motorists who are in a hurry, on the phone, not paying attention, or driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The best way to protect yourself, your family, and any passenger on your motorcycle in the case of an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist is to purchase adequate stacking underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage on all of your automobiles and motorcycles.


If you have questions regarding your car or motorcycle insurance coverage, contact your insurance agent today and ask them about uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. If you or a loved one has been involved in a motorcycle accident, you are always welcome to contact a personal injury attorney for legal help. At Rue & Ziffra, P.A., we have 9 attorneys with over 30 years of combined experienced helping individuals receive compensation for motorcycle accidents, car accidents and other types of personal injury claims. To learn more about us, please visit our website.

Rue & Ziffra, P.A., proudly serves areas throughout and around Volusia County and Flagler County, Florida, including, Port Orange, Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Ormond Beach, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, DeLand, Deltona, Bunnell, Orange City, Sanford, Orlando and Leesburg.


The above entry is NOT LEGAL ADVICE and should not be intended or construed as such. It is intended only as general information. No individual reading it should act upon it. Reading this entry does not create any relationship between Rue & Ziffra, P.A. and individuals reading it. If you have questions or concerns, please seek professional legal counsel.

The History of Florida's Uninsured Motorist Law

Florida Accident Attorneys; Rue & Ziffra, P.A.

Florida’s current uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist law has its roots from the Florida Supreme Court decision, Mullis v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 252 So.2d 229. In that decision, involving an automobile accident, the Florida Supreme Court took a very liberal position on the intent of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM) in the State of Florida. It was determined that uninsured motorist coverage was statutorily intended to provide the equivalent of automobile liability coverage to an insured that was injured by a driver who didn’t have any bodily injury insurance coverage at the time of the accident. In other words, UM coverage was established to protect a driver when an uninsured motorist negligently hits them, inflicting bodily injury or death on them, on any of his family relatives resident in the household or on any other lawful occupant of the insured’s automobile covered by the insured’s automobile liability policy.

The court determined that in order to achieve this intent and provide coverage during an automobile accident or motorcycle accident, an insurance company could have no policy exclusions that limited coverage to the insured, any of his family relatives or residents in household or any other lawful occupant of the vehicle. It was also established that uninsured motorist coverage had to be afforded in the same amount as the liability insurance purchased by the insured.

The initial effects of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
This decision had far reaching implications on Florida’s automobile and motorcycle insurance. The effect of the statute allowed one family member of a household to purchase uninsured motorist coverage on one vehicle and have that coverage protect every member of the household and every vehicle in the household whether or not those vehicles had an active uninsured/underinsured motorist policy. In addition, if there were multiple vehicles in the household that had uninsured motorist coverage, a named insured or resident relative could recover or “stack” the uninsured motorist benefits off of each insured vehicle.

The insurance companies’ reaction
Insurance companies were clearly unhappy with the prospect of insuring an unknown number of potential vehicles and an unknown number of potential individuals under an insurance policy providing uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist coverage on one vehicle for one insured. As a result, a new statute, F.S. §627.727 came into existence.

F.S. §627.727(1) states that no motor vehicle liability insurance policy which provides bodily injury liability coverage can be issued in the State of Florida unless uninsured motor vehicle coverage is provided in the same amount as the liability limits. However, this insurance can be waived, a lower limit can be selected or non-stacking uninsured motorist coverage can be selected if a named insured on the policy signs a waiver of uninsured motorist or election of lower limits form approved by the Florida Department of Insurance. However, the statute is clear that if the insurance company cannot provide one of these statutorily approved forms signed by the claimant, UM coverage must be afforded at a limit equal to the bodily injury limits and on a “stacked” basis.

In order to balance the desires of the State of Florida to provide uninsured motorist benefits to protect its citizens from the negligence of uninsured motorists against the insurance company’s desire to receive premiums for the coverage that they provide on the vehicles that they insure, F.S. §627.727(9) was created. F.S. §627.727(9) provides that insurance companies can have certain exclusions to uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage provided that the premium charged for this limited form of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage be 20% cheaper. This provision was the catalyst for the distinction between “stacking” and “non-stacking” uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in Florida.

Stacking vs. non-stacking coverage
Stacking uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is a more expensive insurance coverage that does not have any exclusions or limitations. If an insured person is injured in a car accident by a negligent driver (who is uninsured or underinsured) they can use their UM to receive coverage or “stack” the uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits from every insured vehicle in their household.

Non-stacking uninsured motorist coverage is 20% cheaper; however, it has several exclusions which limit the applicability of that coverage. The two most important exclusions or limitations are: (1) that you can receive the uninsured motorist benefits off the particular insured vehicle that you are operating at the time of the car accident and not from any other insured vehicles insured in your household that have this limited form of um coverage; and (2) no UM coverage provided by the policy will apply to the named insured or resident relatives who are injured while occupying any vehicle owned by such insured or their resident relatives for which uninsured motorist coverage was not purchased.

Motorcycle owners should have stacking uninsured motorist coverage!
Non-stacking uninsured motorist coverage also states that a family cannot insure one motor vehicle for uninsured motorist coverage and have it apply to every vehicle in the household. For many vehicle owners, particularly those who own motorcycles, this may be detrimental if they are involved in a motorcycle crash. Since motorcycle owners in the state of Florida are not required to have mandated coverage like they do for their motor vehicle, they may not be able to receive any help from their insurance company to help pay their medical bills after a crash occurs. If a motorcycle owner has stacking uninsured motorist insurance on their automobile, however, this coverage will apply to them while operating their owned but uninsured motorcycle. However, if the individual has non-stacking insurance on their automobile, then the owned but uninsured exclusion would prohibit that uninsured motorist coverage from being accessed if the individual was injured while operating their non-insured motorcycle.

Get the right coverage for you
The injuries that result from an auto accident or motorcycle accident can create significant financial burdens. Purchasing stacked uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage provides significantly broader and more coverage to protect you or a resident relative if they are injured in a car accident, truck accident or motorcycle accident, regardless if that vehicle is insured or owned by you or someone else. Since Florida is only one of a handful of states that does not mandate automobile liability insurance, never reject or limit uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

This information has been brought to you by the Daytona Beach accident attorneys at Rue & Ziffra, P.A. All of our clients’ claims are handled directly by practiced attorneys who know the particulars of motorcycle accidents and automobile accidents. If you or a loved one have been involved in a crash caused by someone else’s negligence, remember that you can always seek legal help from a personal injury lawyer.

Rue & Ziffra, P.A., proudly serves areas throughout Volusia County and Flagler County, Florida including, Port Orange, Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Ormond Beach, Palm Coast, Flagler, DeLand, Deltona, Bunnell, Orange City, Sanford, Orlando and Leesburg.


The above entry is NOT LEGAL ADVICE and should not be intended or construed as such. It is intended only as general information. No individual reading it should act upon it. Reading this entry does not create any relationship between Rue & Ziffra, P.A. and individuals reading it. If you have questions or concerns, please seek professional legal counsel.

Topic of Interest: Insurance Information

For many people, knowing how their insurance works can be a tricky task, and being involved in an automobile accident can only worsen the confusion. To help gain some insurance clarity before possibly being involved in an accident, here is some information regarding the basic automobile insurance policies and how they work:

Personal Injury Protection
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage is a type of automobile insurance that is required by Florida law for all vehicle owners (at least $10,000 coverage). If an you are involved in an automobile accident, your PIP insurance will cover 80% of your medical bills and 60% of any lost wages you acquire up to the amount stated in your policy limits.

For example, if you purchase a policy with a $10,000.00 limit, 80% of your medical bills will be paid until the bills reach a total of $10,000.00. After your bills exceed $10,000.00, your PIP insurance is said to be exhausted. When this happens, your remaining bills will have to be covered through another source such as your health insurance or through making a claim on the at fault party’s bodily injury coverage or through your own uninsured motorist coverage.

Property Damage Liability
This insurance is also required by Florida law (at least $10,000 coverage) to obtain a tag for a vehicle. It covers any property that was damaged as a result of an automobile accident, such as damage to vehicles, mailboxes and houses.

If you are involved in an accident where someone else hit you (and was at-fault) the amount of benefits you would receive from this coverage depends on how much the at-fault party purchased in their policy.

Bodily Injury Liability
This type of liability insurance is not required by Florida law to obtain a vehicle tag. However, it can be a crucial element in providing extra benefits to the injured party as a result of an automobile accident.

If you are involved in an automobile accident where someone else hit you (and was at-fault) the amount of benefits you would receive from this coverage depends again on how much the at-fault party purchased in their policy.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage
This is a type of insurance coverage that each vehicle owner can purchase separately for their policy. This insurance comes into play if you are involved in an automobile accident where another person hit you and does not have bodily injury liability insurance.

If this is the case, you would first be covered under your PIP insurance, any health insurance you maintain and then your personal Uninsured Motorist coverage will cover any remaining medical costs you may have as a result of the accident.

If the victim of the accident has anyone in their household that is a RESIDENT relative, they may be able to use that resident relative’s UM coverage.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage
This insurance coverage is also a separately purchased policy that comes into play if you are involved in an automobile accident where another person hit you and does not have enough bodily injury liability insurance to cover all of your medical bills.

If this is the case, your personal Underinsured Motorist coverage will help provide you more payment of medical costs if the at-fault party’s liability insurance is not enough to cover them after your PIP has already paid out the full limits you purchased.

If the victim of the accident has anyone in their household that is a RESIDENT relative, they may be able to use that resident relative’s UM coverage.

Stacking Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Some individuals purchase an uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance policy that is “stacking”. This simply means that the coverage they purchase will apply to however many vehicles they include on their policy.

For example, if you purchase $10,000/20,000 UM that is stacking and have 2 cars listed on your policy, you will have $20,000/40,000 in total UM coverage.

The information given above does not reflect professional legal and/or insurance advice. If you have specific questions regarding your insurance policy, please contact your insurance agent.

Source: Lynne Cheek, Case Manager for Rue & Ziffra, P.A.