Hit by an uninsured driver in Fort Myers: who pays for my injuries?
When the driver who caused your crash has no bodily injury insurance, or not nearly enough, the money for your injuries beyond PIP usually comes from your own auto policy, through its uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, or from a policy held by a relative in your home. Florida lets most drivers skip bodily injury liability coverage, but it makes insurers offer UM and get a signed, written rejection from anyone who turns it down (Fla. Stat. § 627.727), so a lot of Lee County households have UM without realizing it.
Wolfson & Leon has represented injured Floridians since 1963 and handles UM claims from its Fort Myers office for clients across Lee and Collier counties. Talking to the firm costs nothing, in English or Spanish, and the firm is paid only out of a recovery.
How does an uninsured motorist claim work in Florida?
A UM claim is made against your own insurance company, which steps into the place of the driver who hit you. Uninsured motorist coverage applies when that driver carries no bodily injury liability insurance at all; underinsured motorist coverage applies when the driver has some, but less than your losses.
Since your insurer stands in for the at-fault driver, it gets to use that driver's defenses: it can argue you share the blame, or that your injury falls short of Florida's permanent-injury threshold. That makes the claim adversarial even though you are the one paying the premiums. Florida does protect you on one point. If you did not cause the crash, Fla. Stat. § 626.9541(1)(o)3 bars the insurer from canceling, non-renewing or surcharging your policy solely because you made the UM claim.
What does stacked UM coverage mean, and do I have it?
Stacked UM takes the per-person limit and multiplies it by how many vehicles the policy insures, and it generally follows you into any vehicle, while non-stacked coverage pays the limit a single time and carries more exclusions. With $25,000 of stacked UM on a policy that insures three vehicles, up to $75,000 can be available for one crash.
Under Fla. Stat. § 627.727(9), UM is stacked unless you signed a form specifically giving up stacking. Wolfson & Leon asks the insurer for the declarations page and every signed selection or rejection form. Insurers do not always keep that paperwork in order, and when the form is missing or defective, the higher stacked limits can come into play.
Does UM cover a hit-and-run on I-75 or US 41?
Yes. Under Florida law, a driver who flees and is never identified is treated as uninsured, so your UM coverage can respond. Call 911 from the scene if you are able, and make sure whichever agency has the area, the Fort Myers Police Department, the Cape Coral Police Department, the Lee County Sheriff's Office or the Florida Highway Patrol, writes it up; your insurer will want proof that the crash happened the way you describe it.
A partial plate, the color and make of the car, the direction it went, a nearby store camera and the names of anyone who stopped can all help, both to find the driver and to back up the UM claim. UM can also cover you on foot, on a bicycle, or riding in a friend's car, provided that you or a relative living with you carries a policy that includes it.
What if the at-fault driver was a visitor or driving a rental?
Season changes the insurance picture in Lee County. Between January and April many of the cars on I-75, Daniels Parkway and the beach routes belong to winter residents, travelers who landed at Southwest Florida International Airport, or rental fleets, and the coverage behind them varies widely.
Most states outside Florida make drivers carry bodily injury liability insurance, so a driver with out-of-state plates may have a policy to claim against first, with your UIM coverage making up any shortfall. A rental company usually cannot be held liable simply for owning the car under the federal Graves Amendment (49 U.S.C. § 30106), which leaves the renter's own insurance, any coverage bought at the counter, and your UM as the typical sources. If the driver was on the job, for example a roofing, landscaping or debris crew still working on the Hurricane Ian rebuild, the employer's commercial policy may be in play as well.
No UM on my policy and nothing on theirs: is there anywhere else to turn?
Your PIP still pays up to $10,000 toward medical care and lost wages, and health insurance can pick up treatment after that. Beyond those, the question is whether someone other than the driver is legally responsible.
Under Florida's dangerous instrumentality doctrine, a car's owner can answer for the person they let drive it. An employer can be responsible when the driver was working. A bar or restaurant can be liable in narrow situations, such as knowingly pouring drinks for a customer under 21, or for a person it knew had a habitual addiction to alcohol, under Fla. Stat. § 768.125. The firm also checks every policy in your household for UM you may not know about. If there is truly no source of payment, Wolfson & Leon will tell you so plainly.
What does uninsured motorist coverage pay for?
UM coverage pays the categories of loss that bodily injury coverage on the other car would have paid, had it existed: medical expenses beyond PIP, lost income and earning capacity, and pain and suffering when the injury meets the permanency standard of Fla. Stat. § 627.737. The ceiling is your UM limit; with stacked coverage, Fla. Stat. § 627.727(9) multiplies it by the number of insured vehicles. UIM coverage fills the space between the at-fault driver's limits and your damages.
Expect your insurer to contest fault and the permanence of the injury exactly as the other driver's company would. A UM claim needs the same medical proof and investigation as any other injury case; what changes is the name on the other side.
Which mistakes can cost you a UM claim?
- Waiting to report a hit-and-run. Many policies call for prompt notice to police and to the insurer, sometimes within 24 hours.
- Taking the at-fault driver's policy limits before telling your UM carrier. Fla. Stat. § 627.727(6) lays out a procedure, and skipping it can forfeit the UIM claim.
- Giving your own company a recorded statement, or sitting for an examination under oath, without counsel. Once a UM claim is open, your own company is the opposing party.
- Taking "non-stacked" on faith. Ask for the signed rejection of stacking; when it does not exist, the coverage is usually stacked.
- Forgetting about household policies. A parent, adult child or spouse who lives with you may have UM that covers you.
- Assuming a rental car means the rental company pays. It usually does not, and time spent chasing it can delay the claims that will.
Key facts
- Florida insurers have to offer UM coverage, and a policyholder who does not want it must turn it down in writing. Source: Fla. Stat. § 627.727(1)
- Unless the policyholder signs a specific rejection of stacking, UM coverage is stacked. Source: Fla. Stat. § 627.727(9)
- Most private Florida drivers need only PIP plus $10,000 of property damage coverage; bodily injury liability is optional. Source: Fla. Stat. § 324.022, § 627.733
- Filing a UM claim over a crash someone else caused is not, on its own, grounds for the insurer to cancel or non-renew the policy. Source: Fla. Stat. § 626.9541(1)(o)3
- Florida's dangerous instrumentality doctrine can make a vehicle's owner answer for the negligence of the person driving it. Source: Florida case law (owner liability caps: Fla. Stat. § 324.021(9)(b))
- A rental or leasing company is generally not liable for a renter's negligence just because it owns the vehicle. Source: 49 U.S.C. § 30106 (Graves Amendment)
Frequently asked questions
Where do I look to see if I have UM coverage?
Start with the declarations page of your auto policy: look for a line reading "Uninsured Motorist" or "UM/UIM" and note whether it is marked stacked or non-stacked. Next, look at the policies of any relatives who live in your home, since their UM may protect you too. If the paperwork is lost or unclear, Wolfson & Leon can request the full policy and the signed rejection forms from the insurer.
Can my insurer raise my rates because I filed a UM claim?
Not for that reason alone. Under Fla. Stat. § 626.9541(1)(o)3, when you did not cause the crash, your insurer is barred from dropping you, refusing to renew, or adding a surcharge solely because of the UM claim.
The at-fault driver's policy tops out at $10,000, and my medical bills are well past that. What now?
Generally the at-fault driver's insurer pays its $10,000 limit, and you then pursue an underinsured motorist claim under your own policy for what remains. Florida sets out a notice-and-consent procedure for this in Fla. Stat. § 627.727(6), and settling with the driver without following it can put the UIM claim at risk. It is one of the steps where legal help matters most.
Is it worth suing the uninsured driver directly?
Sometimes, but rarely on its own. A judgment against a person who has neither insurance nor assets is usually hard or impossible to collect. Wolfson & Leon concentrates on the sources that can actually pay, such as UM coverage, the vehicle's owner, an employer or another responsible party.
A tourist in a rental car hit me near the airport. Whose insurance pays?
Your own PIP is the first payer for medical care and lost income. After that, the usual sources are the renter's personal auto policy, any liability coverage they bought from the rental company, and your UM coverage if those are missing or too small. The rental company itself is usually not liable just for owning the car (49 U.S.C. § 30106), although it can be if it was negligent in its own right.
What happens when you call
A real person picks up
Call 239-309-1392 at any hour. Someone from the firm answers, in Spanish if you like. Late at night, we take your information and an attorney calls you early the next morning.
About 15 minutes on what happened
We ask when and where it happened, what medical care you have had, whether police wrote a report, and whether an insurer has contacted you. You do not need any documents handy.
An honest answer
If yours is a case we can take, we explain what comes next and what to avoid in the meantime. If it is not, we tell you plainly and point you to who else might help.
Nothing up front if you hire us
We take a percentage of any money recovered, and that is put in writing before you sign. No recovery, no fee. If getting to the office is hard, we will come to where you are, whether that is home or a hospital bed.
