Florida Uninsured Motorist Coverage: Why a Minimum Policy Has None, and How UM Really Works
About one in five Florida drivers is uninsured. The Insurance Research Council puts the 2023 rate at 20.6%, the 7th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against 15.4% nationally. And here's the part that catches people out: the state doesn't require bodily injury liability coverage for most drivers, and Florida law requires uninsured motorist coverage only on a policy that has it. A policy with just the legal minimums, PIP and property damage liability, normally has no uninsured motorist coverage at all.
So when the other driver has nothing, and your injuries go past what PIP pays, the coverage that would have stepped in may not be on your policy. Whether it is depends on three things: whether you carry bodily injury liability, whether someone in your household signed a rejection form, and which limits you picked.
Below is how Florida's uninsured motorist law, s. 627.727, works in plain terms, what it pays and what it doesn't, stacked versus non-stacked, hit-and-run claims, the deadlines, and what to look for on your declarations page.
Source: Insurance Research Council estimates via Triple-I and the IRC release of Feb. 17, 2025; FLHSMV, Florida Traffic Crash Facts 2024.
One in five, and why the number is shaky in Florida
Source: Insurance Research Council, state table via Triple-I; U.S. figure from the IRC release
Show the numbers
| State | Uninsured |
|---|---|
| Mississippi | 28.2% |
| New Mexico | 24.1% |
| D.C. | 23.1% |
| Michigan | 22.3% |
| Tennessee | 21.3% |
| Missouri | 20.7% |
| Florida | 20.6% |
| California | 20.4% |
| Colorado | 19.7% |
| Washington | 19.1% |
| U.S. overall | 15.4% |
Florida's rate has come down. The same IRC series had it at 26.7% in 2015 and 20.4% in 2019, so 20.6% in 2023 is roughly flat over the last four years. Still well above the national figure.
A caution on the method. IRC estimates uninsured drivers by comparing uninsured motorist claims with bodily injury claims, and Triple-I's table carries a footnote for Florida: its compulsory auto laws apply to PIP and physical damage, not to third-party bodily injury coverage. In a state where BI is optional, "uninsured" in the sense that matters for your injuries is a bigger group than "has no policy at all." A driver can be fully legal in Florida and still carry nothing that pays for the injuries they cause.
Nationally, IRC estimates that 33.4% of drivers were either uninsured or underinsured in 2023, up 10 percentage points since 2017. Underinsured matters as much as uninsured, and Florida's UM law covers both.
No bodily injury coverage, no UM
Florida's minimum policy is $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 of property damage liability (PDL). I covered the full list in Florida car insurance requirements. Bodily injury liability (BI) isn't on it for most drivers; it becomes required only in specific situations under chapter 324, such as after certain crashes or a DUI conviction (s. 324.023 sets 100/300/50 after a DUI).
Now read the first sentence of s. 627.727(1): no motor vehicle liability policy which provides bodily injury liability coverage
may be issued in Florida for a car registered or principally garaged here unless uninsured motor vehicle coverage is provided. The requirement hangs on BI. No BI, no UM requirement, and in practice a PIP/PDL-only policy normally has no UM line.
Here's how the pieces fit on a typical Florida injury claim:
| Coverage | Who it pays | What it pays | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIP | You, household relatives, passengers (with limits) | 80% of medical, 60% of lost income, up to $10,000 (medical capped at $2,500 without an emergency medical condition finding); $5,000 death benefit. Paid regardless of fault | Yes |
| Property damage liability | Other people | Damage you cause to their car or property, $10,000 minimum | Yes |
| Bodily injury liability | Other people | Injuries you cause to others, up to your limits | Not for most drivers |
| Uninsured motorist (UM/UIM) | You and the people your policy covers | Your injury damages that the at-fault driver's BI doesn't cover, up to your UM limit | Comes with BI unless rejected in writing |
| Collision | You | Damage to your own car, whoever caused it, minus your deductible | No |
Source: s. 627.736, s. 324.022 and s. 627.727, Florida Statutes (2026); Florida DFS, Personal Automobile Insurance Overview.
PIP is the first layer, and it's thin. Once it runs out, a seriously hurt driver looks to the other driver's BI. If there isn't any, or there's only $10,000 of it, the next layer is your own UM. If you don't have UM either, what's left is your health insurance and a lawsuit against someone who, by definition, didn't buy coverage. The PIP rules, including the 14-day deadline for initial care, are in the PIP 14-day rule.
What s. 627.727 requires
Florida doesn't force you to buy UM. It forces the insurer to include it with BI and makes you put a refusal in writing. The main rules, from the 2026 statute:
- Included unless rejected. UM must be part of any policy with BI unless a named insured rejects it in writing, on behalf of everyone on the policy.
- On an OIR form. Rejecting UM, or choosing limits lower than your BI, has to be done on a form approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation. The form has to open, in 12-point bold type, with:
You are electing not to purchase certain valuable coverage which protects you and your family or you are purchasing uninsured motorist limits less than your bodily injury liability limits when you sign this form. Please read carefully.
- A signature ends the argument. If a named insured signs that form, the law conclusively presumes an informed, knowing rejection for all insureds. "I didn't read it" won't undo it.
- It carries forward. After a rejection or a lower-limit election, the insurer doesn't have to add UM back on renewals or replacement policies with the same BI limits unless an insured asks in writing.
- Limits match BI by default. UM limits can't be lower than your BI limits unless the named insured selects a lower limit allowed by the insurer's rating plan.
- Annual reminder. The insurer must notify the named insured at least once a year about UM options, with the premium notice, and give a way to request the coverage.
- Leases. For a car leased for a year or longer where the leasing company provides the liability coverage, the lessee alone gets to reject UM or pick lower limits.
The practical upshot: if a rejection form was signed years ago, maybe by a spouse who was the first named insured, it may still be in force today. You won't find out from the declarations page until you look for the UM line and see it missing.
One more layer. If you carry an umbrella or other excess liability policy, the mandatory UM rules don't apply to it, because it doesn't provide primary liability on a specific car. The statute instead says such an insurer must make UM available on written request, with limits up to that policy's BI limits or $1 million, whichever is less. Ask; it isn't automatic.
What UM pays, and what it doesn't
Florida's UM statute is about injuries, not car damage. It covers people legally entitled to recover damages for bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death, caused by an uninsured motor vehicle. There's no property damage piece in s. 627.727. If an uninsured driver wrecks your car, that's a collision claim on your own policy, subject to your deductible; if the car is a write-off, see how Florida total losses work.
"Uninsured" in the statute is broader than the word suggests. Under s. 627.727(3), a car counts as uninsured when its liability insurer:
- can't pay because it's insolvent (if that happens within 4 years after the crash, your UM responds, and claims against the failed insurer go to the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association);
- has BI limits lower than your total damages, which is the underinsured case; or
- excludes liability coverage for a non-family driver who was behind the wheel and injured the named insured or a resident relative.
That's why, in Florida, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is one coverage, not two.
UM also sits on top of everything else. The statute says it's over and above, but doesn't duplicate, workers' comp, PIP, disability benefits, medical payments coverage, liability coverage and anything recovered from the at-fault driver. It pays the gap between those benefits and your damages, up to your UM limit, and it can't be reduced by setoff against other coverage. The Florida Department of Financial Services notes that, unlike PIP, UM is typically paid as a lump sum once treatment is complete.
The limit that surprises people: under s. 627.727(7), UM doesn't pay for pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience unless the injury meets the same threshold as a lawsuit under s. 627.737(2): significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability (other than scarring or disfigurement), significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. Below that line, UM covers economic losses PIP didn't, like the rest of your medical bills and lost income.
| Scenario | Your UM limit | At-fault BI pays | Your UM pays | Left uncovered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At-fault driver has $10,000 BI | None (rejected) | $10,000 | $0 | $40,000 |
| At-fault driver has $10,000 BI | $25,000 | $10,000 | $25,000 | $15,000 |
| At-fault driver has $10,000 BI | $50,000 | $10,000 | $40,000 | $0 |
| At-fault driver has no BI | None (rejected) | $0 | $0 | $50,000 |
| At-fault driver has no BI | $25,000 | $0 | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| At-fault driver has no BI | $50,000 | $0 | $50,000 | $0 |
Source: calculated from s. 627.727(1), (3) and (6)(c), Florida Statutes. Hypothetical figures; real claims involve disputes over the value of damages.
Two things to take from the table. With no UM, the uncovered amount is simply a debt the at-fault driver owes you, and collecting from someone without insurance is often a long road. And the BI minimum some drivers carry, $10,000 per person under Florida's financial responsibility limits (s. 324.021), doesn't go far against a serious injury.
A procedural rule for the underinsured case: before you settle with the at-fault driver's insurer for less than your full damages, you have to send written notice of the proposed settlement to your UM insurer by certified or registered mail. Your insurer then has 30 days to approve the settlement or, to keep its right to go after the at-fault driver, pay you the amount the liability insurer offered. Follow that procedure before you sign any release with the at-fault driver's insurer.
Stacked or non-stacked
If you insure more than one car, there's a second choice on the UM line. Stacked UM adds the limits of each car together. Non-stacked doesn't. The DFS example: three cars, each with UM of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident, stack to $150,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.
Stacked is what you get unless you sign the non-stacking form. Under s. 627.727(8), insurers may offer non-stacked UM with OIR-approved policy language, and the insurer must explain the limits on an OIR-approved form. A signed form is, again, conclusive. It carries to renewals unless the named insured asks to drop it and pays the appropriate premium.
| Stacked (the default) | Non-stacked (only if you sign the form) | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 cars, each 50/100 | $150,000 per person / $300,000 per accident | $50,000 / $100,000 on the car you're in |
| Hurt in one of your own cars | Combined limits of all cars | That car's UM limit |
| Hurt in someone else's car (not a household car) | Combined limits | Highest UM limit on any one vehicle you're insured on, excess over that car's own UM |
| Hurt as a pedestrian or cyclist | Combined limits | You can pick any one car's UM limit |
| UM premium | Base | At least 20% lower than stacked UM premium |
Source: s. 627.727(8)(a)-(e), Florida Statutes (2026); stacking example from Florida DFS.
One more non-stacked rule worth knowing: if you or a household family member is hurt in one of your own cars that you didn't buy UM on, there's no UM for that injury.
The 20% applies to the UM portion of the premium only, not your whole bill, and the statute says the insurer's filing for non-stacked rates can't raise the stacked rate. I can't tell you what that 20% is worth in dollars; it depends on your insurer's rates and your limits. DFS's own advice is the right one: ask for both prices and compare.
My read: non-stacked works for a household with one car, or where everyone's mostly in their own car. Stacking earns its cost when you have several cars and limits on each that wouldn't cover a serious injury alone, or when people in the household walk or bike a lot.
Hit-and-run and phantom drivers
About one in four Florida crashes is a hit-and-run. FLHSMV defines it as a crash where a driver collides with another attended vehicle or a non-motorist, or damages other property, and leaves without stopping to render aid or report the crash.
Source: FLHSMV, Florida Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report 2024 (latest full year published)
Show the numbers
| Hit-and-run crashes | |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 107,844 |
| 2023 | 105,092 |
| 2024 | 97,999 |
The count is falling, down from 107,844 in 2022, but in 2024 hit-and-run crashes still killed 242 people and injured 20,462, 871 of them with incapacitating injuries.
When the driver can't be found, they're uninsured as far as your claim is concerned, and UM is the coverage that pays for your injuries beyond PIP. Florida's statute has no requirement that the other car physically touched yours. A car that runs you off the road on US-1 and keeps going can still be the basis of a claim. Back in 1971 the Florida Supreme Court struck down a policy clause requiring physical contact for UM claims, a decision a 1972 Florida Law Review note described as eliminating that requirement in Florida.
That doesn't make phantom-driver claims easy. You still have to show another driver caused the crash, so build the record: call police and get a crash report, get names and numbers of witnesses, take photos, and notify your insurer as fast as your policy requires. And again, UM is for injuries. Damage to your car in a hit-and-run goes through collision.
Deadlines after a crash
The 2023 tort reform law, HB 837 (ch. 2023-15), cut the time to sue for negligence from four years to two for causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023. It didn't change the five-year limit for actions on a written contract, and Florida courts have treated a UM claim against your own insurer as a contract claim that accrues on the date of the accident. HB 837 also repealed Florida's one-way attorney fee statute (s. 627.428), which had applied to UM lawsuits only when coverage itself was disputed.
| Clock | Time | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Get initial medical care for PIP | 14 days | s. 627.736(1)(a) |
| Notify UM insurer before an underinsured settlement | 30 days for the insurer to respond | s. 627.727(6) |
| Negligence suit against the at-fault driver (crashes after Mar. 24, 2023) | 2 years | s. 95.11(5)(a) |
| Action on a written contract (courts have applied it to UM claims) | 5 years | s. 95.11(2)(b) |
| At-fault driver's insurer goes insolvent and your UM responds | Within 4 years of the crash | s. 627.727(4) |
Source: s. 95.11, s. 627.727 and s. 627.736, Florida Statutes (2026); ch. 2023-15, Laws of Florida.
Don't plan around five years. Your policy has its own prompt-notice and cooperation duties, a claim can depend on the at-fault driver's two-year negligence deadline, and policies written in other states can raise different rules. If you're hurt, talk to a Florida attorney well before either deadline.
Nothing changed in 2026. Section 627.727 hasn't been amended since HB 837. SB 522 (2026), which would have repealed PIP, required 25/50 BI and $10,000 of property damage liability, and amended the UM statute, died in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on March 13, 2026. Its House companion, HB 769, died in subcommittee the same day.
What to check on your declarations page
Pull up your current declarations page. It takes five minutes:
- Is there a bodily injury liability line? If the page shows only PIP and property damage, you have no UM. Florida's UM requirement hangs on BI, so that's where to start.
- Is there a UM line, and does it match your BI? If BI is 100/300 and UM is 10/20, someone elected lower limits. If UM is missing on a policy with BI, ask why; under the statute, that normally means a rejection form was signed.
- Stacked or non-stacked? Look for the words on the UM line or in the coverage description. Non-stacked means a non-stacking form should be on file.
- Ask for the signed form. If you don't remember rejecting UM or picking lower limits, ask your agent or insurer for a copy of the signed selection/rejection form.
- Collision and medical payments. UM doesn't fix your car. Medical payments coverage may help with what PIP leaves unpaid, depending on its wording.
- Umbrella. If you carry one, ask in writing whether UM is available on it.
After a rejection, adding UM back takes a written request, so do it before you need it. For a review of your current Florida auto limits, see our Florida auto insurance page. If an insurer won't give you a straight answer about a claim or your forms, the Florida Department of Financial Services' Division of Consumer Services handles insurance concerns, including claim disputes; it asks you to contact the company first.
FAQ
Is uninsured motorist coverage required in Florida?
No. Florida doesn't require you to buy it, but any policy with bodily injury liability coverage must include it unless a named insured rejects it in writing on a form approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation.
Does Florida uninsured motorist coverage cover underinsured drivers?
Yes. Under s. 627.727(3), a car counts as uninsured when the at-fault driver's bodily injury limits are lower than your damages, so Florida UM works as uninsured and underinsured coverage in one.
Does uninsured motorist coverage pay for my car in Florida?
No. Florida's UM statute covers bodily injury, sickness or death. Damage to your car from an uninsured or hit-and-run driver is a collision claim on your own policy.
What is the difference between stacked and non-stacked UM in Florida?
Stacked UM adds together the UM limits of every car on your policy; non-stacked generally gives you only the limit on the car you're in. Stacked is the default, and non-stacked UM must cost at least 20% less in UM premium.
Does uninsured motorist coverage cover a hit-and-run in Florida?
Generally yes, for injuries. Florida's UM statute has no physical-contact requirement, but you still have to show another driver caused the crash, so get a police report and witness information.
Your own policy wording and Florida law control how any claim is handled. Confirm your situation with a licensed agent, the Florida Department of Financial Services or the Office of Insurance Regulation, and for legal questions such as deadlines, a Florida attorney.
Sources
- Florida Statutes s. 627.727, motor vehicle insurance; uninsured and underinsured vehicle coverage (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.737, tort exemption and permanent-injury threshold (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 627.736, required personal injury protection benefits (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 324.022, property damage liability (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 324.021, financial responsibility limits (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 324.023, liability coverage required after a DUI conviction (2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 95.11, limitations other than for real property (2026)
- Laws of Florida ch. 2023-15 (HB 837, 2023)
- Florida DFS: Personal Automobile Insurance Overview
- Florida DFS Division of Consumer Services: Get Insurance Help
- Triple-I: Facts and statistics, uninsured motorists (IRC data)
- Insurance Research Council: one in three drivers uninsured or underinsured (Feb. 17, 2025)
- FLHSMV: Florida Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report 2024
- Florida Law Review: Elimination of the Physical Contact Requirement from Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida (1972)
- Florida Senate: SB 522 (2026)
- Florida Senate: HB 769 (2026)
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax or insurance advice. Coverage depends on the actual policy, its terms, conditions and exclusions, and state law. Maru Insurance · WA License (WAOIC) #1365574 · FL License #G363233 · NPN 22261820.