With so many uninsured drivers in Florida, your only source of compensation may be through uninsured motorist (“UM”) insurance.
Many drivers who have auto insurance didn’t purchase UM coverage. If you’re lucky enough to be insured under a policy with UM, the limits often too low to cover your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering.
Your only hope may be that the UM insurer failed to get a UM rejection.
Why is a UM Rejection So Important if You’re Hurt in a Car Crash?
If the insurance company fails to get a written rejection when it was required to, the insured is entitled to uninsured motorist coverage up to the limit of the bodily injury (“BI”) liability coverage provided by the policy. Bell v. Progressive Specialty Ins. Co., 744 So. 2d 1165, 1166 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)
This article focuses on whether a UM rejection is required on a renewed or amended auto insurance policy.
In Florida, uninsured motorist insurance or higher limits doesn’t need to be included in any policy that “renews, extends, changes, supersedes, or replaces an existing policy with the same bodily injury (‘BI’) liability limits.” Florida Statute 627.727(1).
This assumes that the named insured has previously rejected the coverage or selected lower limits.
What is the Biggest Event That Requires a New UM Rejection?
The most common event that requires a new UM rejection is when the BI liability limits are increased.
If You Change an Auto Insurance Policy But Don’t Increase the BI Liability Limits, Do You Need a New UM Rejection?
In most cases, no. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Shaw, 967 So.2d 1011, 1015 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007).
(In this entire article, when I use the word “car”, I am also referring to trucks.)
If You Get Divorced, and the Policy is Renewed in One Spouse’s Name, Is a New Rejection Needed?
No. In Shaw, State Farm sold a car insurance policy to a married couple.
After they divorced, the policy was renewed in the husband’s name only with the same BI liability limits. A new rejection wasn’t required.
If You Add Another Car to A Policy That Already Covers a Car, But The New Car is Added Under a Separate Policy, Is a New Rejection Needed?
No. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Durham, 838 So.2d 1254, 1256 (Fla.App.2003).
If You Replace Your Car With Another Car, But Don’t Increase the BI Limits, Is a New Rejection Required?
No. This is true even if the car insurance company charges a higher premium for the replacement car. Gasch v. Harris, 808 So.2d 1260 (Fla.Ct.App.2002)
Is a New Rejection of UM Required if You Transfer Coverage to a Subsidiary Company?
No. Bell v. Progressive Specialty Ins. Co., 744 So. 2d 1165, 1166 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999).
Is a UM Rejection Required if You Add a New Car to An Existing Policy?
No. Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Stafstrom, 668 So.2d 631, 632 n.1 (Fl. App.1996).
Does Removing a Sole Named Insured from an Auto Insurance Policy, and Listing a Separate Individual as the Named Insured on That Policy for the First Time, Require a UM Rejection?
Yes, because it creates a new policy for purposes of section 627.727, Florida Statutes. Chase v. Horace Mann Insurance Company, 158 So. 3d 514 (Fla. 2015).
Does changing the owner of the policy and billing address from the employer to the injured employee and changing the vehicle covered by the policy, Require a New UM Rejection?
Yes. Creighton v. State Farm, 696 So. 2d 1305 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997).
Does a Lapse In Coverage Due to a Lapse in An Insured’s Policy Require a New Signed UM Rejection Form?
It may. Nat’l Am. Ins. Co. v. Baxley, 578 So. 2d 441, 443 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1991)
Hurt from an Accident in an Auto Accident, or Other Accident, in Florida?
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