I want to understand my automobile insurance policy here in Palm Beach Florida a little better, what comprises my insurance policy?

Janet

Palm Beach, FL

Your regular auto insurance policy is actually a package composed of several different types of insurance coverage and each has a role in protecting your financial well being while driving a vehicle. The basic auto insurance policy will have the following: Bodily Injury Liability coverage, Property Damage Liability, Collision Insurance Coverage, Medical Payments (sometimes known as “MedPay”) or Personal Injury Protection, Comprehensive Insurance coverage and sometimes, Uninsured or underinsured motorists coverage policy. It would also be interesting to note that some of these coverage are optional while others, such as Liability Insurance, are mandated by the financial responsibility laws of Palm Beach, Florida.

Bodily Injury Liability – pays for medical treatment, injuries, income loss and pain and suffering compensation if you injure someone in a car accident. Florida minimum requirements: $10,000 payable to each injured person per accident for a total of $20,000 for all injured individuals per accident.

Property Damage – pays for damages you caused to private or public property in a car accident ($10,000 Florida Minimum)

Collision Insurance – pays for damages and repairs to both parties vehicle in a collision.

Comprehensive – Provides coverage if you lose your car due to non-car accident related circumstances like acts of god, floods, vandalism etc.

Personal Injury Protection – pays for treatment of your injuries in a car accident regardless of who is at fault.

Uninsured/ Underinsured Motorist – pays for the extra amount needed to restore or repair your vehicle if the other party has no or insufficient insurance coverage to do so.

What causes my car insurance rates for my car here in Palm Beach, Florida to change? (And how is it determined in the first place?)

Mack

Palm Beach, FL

Hi Mack! It is a good idea to know what can cause your insurance rates to change as well as the how’s and when’s. An educated consumer is an empowered consumer, and being one is just as important in managing your car insurance costs there in Palm Beach, Florida. Below are some factors that can cause your car insurance rates to change, for the better or for the worse.

You’re Driving History
Your driving record is a significant factor on how car insurance companies evaluate (and re-evaluate) your premiums. Sometimes traffic and moving violations as far back as three to five years ago could still come back and haunt you in the form of inflated insurance rates. It is also important to get a copy of your driving history prior to applying since you don’t want any errors or incorrect records affecting your rate evaluations.

You’re Age and Where You Live
This is somewhat out of your influence to change. Teenage and Senior Citizens are viewed as high risk drivers. Males are more prone to car accidents than females. Rural Dwellers also file fewer claims and get involved in less car accidents than City Folks. Insurance Companies live by these statistics.

You’re Credit History
As with almost everything, excellent credit opens up a lot of doors towards savings and better rates while blemished credit histories only open up doors to tenacious bill collectors and high insurance costs.

I immediately subscribed to auto insurance after I got a car and a driver’s license. But I heard I will be paying more in case I will be involved in a car accident here Florida. What would be the circumstances that will cause me an increase in my insurance rate?

Oscar

Palm Beach, FL

If you are involved in even a single roadway accident, this will consequently make you pay higher insurance rate the time you renew your insurance policy. The increase differs depending on the insurance company’s policy and the legal mandate of Palm Beach , Florida. And usually, the increase depends on the nature and severity of the accident. In some cases, roadway accidents that cause minor damages may not be taken into account under some insurance rating plans. But insured individuals involved in car accidents with severe physical injuries and property damages will pay in future higher insurance rate and may likewise face severe legal consequences.

When they cover more than $750 of the costs of their client involved in a car accident, several US insurance companies automatically increase the medical payments and personal injury protection coverage upon their client renews his/her policy.

But if you are found to be accountable of the car accident, it will be entirely a different story. If this is the case, some insurance companies immediately withdraw their contract with their client. Some even delist these policyholders for future insurance subscription. But there are insurance companies which policies give privileges to clients that have at least five-year subscription to them. Moreover, there are insurers that employ privileges forgiving their client’s first roadway accident.

I just got my driver’s license and I will be getting my own car insurance soon here in Palm Beach, Florida. In case an accident happens, what does the insurance law say that I should have?

Carolina

Palm Beach, FL

Owners and operators of motor vehicles are mandated by the Florida Financial Responsibility Law to be financially responsible for damages and/or injuries they could cause to others when a car accident happens. This law would require you to have liability insurance in Palm Beach, Florida at the time of the following:

-An accident where you’re at fault and injuries have happened
-A suspension because of too many points against your driver’s license
-A revocation because of being a Habitual Traffic Offender
-A revocation for any serious violation where your license is ordered to be revoked

You should have the following minimum insurance coverage:

-$10,000 Bodily Injury Liability (BIL)
-$20,000 Bodily Injury Liability to two or more individuals
-$10,000 Property Damage Liability (PDL), or
-$30,000 Combined single limits

Your driver’s license would be suspended for up to three years if you commit any of the aforementioned offenses and you don’t have insurance to abide with the financial responsibility law.

I didn’t get entitled for a diminished value claim with my own car insurance policy after I was involved and got hit in an accident here in Palm Beach, Florida caused by another person because of drunk driving. Is there any other way I can be entitled to a diminished value claim?

Hayden

Palm Beach, FL

There’s an exclusion for diminished value claim in the state of Florida if you are making a first-party claim. The Insurance Services Office or sot’s exclusion applies to first-party physical-damage claims. But there is still one other way that you could be entitled to a diminished value claim after you got involved in an accident in Palm Beach, Florida caused by another person because of drunk driving. If the other person hit you, you can make a damage claim on that person’s car insurance. That would be a third-party claim and it would be possible to get diminished value damages as a third party because you don’t have a contract with that insurer.

Moreover, in tort claims, the measure of damage is usually calculated as the difference in value before and after the loss, sometimes making diminished value a viable claim. But there would still be a wide variation among state case law in pinpointing when a third-party claimant is entitled to diminished value.