Physical Damage/Property Damage coverage is minimum required auto coverage in Florida.
Even though it is required, the owner of the automobile that hit you may have cancelled his coverage or failed to pay his bill and may be uninsured.
Physical damage coverage for damage caused to the vehicles and property of a third party. Physical damage insurance does not cover your own vehicle.
The insurance coverage that covers damage to your own vehicle is called comprehensive or collision coverage. They aren’t required in Florida.
Property damage insurance has to be offered by the insurer in the amount of at least $10,000 for the damage to the property of others as a result of once accident.
An auto insurer can offer a minimum amount of $30,000 for combined bodily injury liability and property damage arising out of one accident.
Example #1
You are rear ended by another driver and therefore he or she was at fault. Your car has $5,000 in physical damage.
Your laptop is destroyed in the accident. The value of your laptop is $500.
You can make a claim against the property damage/physical damage auto insurance coverage of the other car in the amount of $5,500 because the driver was liable for the accident.
You also have the option of making a claim through your car’s collision coverage if it was purchased.
Example #2
Assume the same facts as Example #1 (above) except that the other car was stopped at a red light and you crashed into that car.
You could not make a claim against the other driver’s – or owners – property damage/physical damage coverage because you were fault. You could make a claim through your car’s collision coverage if it was purchased.
If you were injured, you can make a Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claim.
You can also make a claim against the bodily injury coverage (if it is available) of the driver, the owner, or the employer (of the driver) of the vehicle that hit you.
If there is no bodily injury liability insurance available, you can make a claim against uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, if it exists.
PD Coverage May Pay for Your Rental Car
If a careless driver damages your car, he or she is liable to you for your rental car. The car that he or she was driving is also liable for your rental car.
Generally, the owner’s insurance will pay before the driver’s insurance.
Example #3
You are stopped at a traffic light that is red. You are hit from behind by a car.
The car is at fault for hitting you because you were legally stopped and did nothing wrong.
You bring your car to the body shop and are told that it will take 5 days to fix your car. If the other driver has auto insurance, it will pay for your rental car.
If the other driver doesn’t have auto insurance, you can also make a claim with your car insurer through your rental car coverage.
Sometimes the property damage/physical damage insurer of the at-fault vehicle will only pay you for rental car expenses once it makes a settlement offer if your vehicle is auto loss.
Example #4
You are stopped at a traffic light that is red. You are hit from behind by a car.
The car is at fault for hitting you because you were legally stopped and did nothing wrong. You bring your car to the body shop and are told that your car is a total loss. You make a property damage claim with the insurer for the at-fault vehicle. You rent a rental car for 5 days.
If the other driver’s policy provides rental car reimbursement coverage, it will pay for your rental car. Assume that the insurer agrees that your car is a total loss and offers you a settlement to pay for your car.
Depending on the language of the property damage coverage in the at-fault driver’s auto policy, it is possible that the insurer will only pay you through the date of the settlement offer, even if it takes you several days to buy a new car.
If the other driver’s policy does not provide for rental car reimbursement, you will have to pay for the rental car yourself. You can also make a claim for rental car reimbursement with your own auto insurance company if you purchased this coverage which is optional.
If rental reimbursement coverage was offered in your auto insurance policy, you can make a claim with your insurer. These policies usually limit you to get reimbursed for about 30 days and the most that you can get is around $25 per day.
So don’t expect to rent that BMW and get reimbursed at full value for it.
You can learn more about how to get the insurance company to quickly get you a rental car after an accident.
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