If an uninsured driver hit you in Orlando, your own insurance policy may be your only source of recovery. That claim goes to your insurance company, not the other driver's, and your insurer has a financial incentive to keep the payment low. Florida law also sets strict notice requirements that can quietly end a claim before it is ever evaluated.
An Orlando uninsured driver accident lawyer at Tony Caggiano Personal Injury Lawyer can review your policy, identify every layer of available coverage, and deal with the insurer while you focus on medical treatment. We handle these claims on a contingency fee basis. Call (407) 244-1212 for a free case evaluation.
How Tony Caggiano Personal Injury Lawyer Helps After a Crash With an Uninsured Driver in Orlando
Our firm has represented injured people in Orlando since 1987. Tony Caggiano Personal Injury Lawyer is led by a Board-Certified Civil Trial Lawyer with more than 35 years of experience and licensed in both Florida and Massachusetts. Our office is located at 301 Hillcrest Street in Orlando.
Uninsured driver claims turn on documents most injured people never see: The declarations page, the coverage selection forms, and the correspondence between insurers. Our team requests those records, reads the policy language, and identifies each policy that may apply to your crash.
Because the opposing party here is your own carrier, we take over the phone calls, the recorded statement requests, and the written correspondence. You should not have to argue with your own insurance company while you are still in treatment.
Why So Many Orlando Drivers Cannot Cover Your Injuries
Being hit by a driver with no meaningful insurance is not a rare misfortune in Florida. It is a predictable result of how the state's coverage requirements are written.
Florida does not require bodily injury liability coverage
Florida requires drivers to carry a minimum of $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 in property damage liability, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Bodily injury liability coverage, which is the coverage that pays for injuries a driver causes to someone else, is not required for ordinary drivers.
A driver can be completely legal in Florida and still carry nothing to pay for your surgery, lost income, or long-term care.
When An Insured Driver Still Counts As Uninsured
Under Fla. Stat. § 627.727(3), a vehicle is treated as uninsured in several situations beyond a driver carrying no policy at all:
- The liability insurer is insolvent and cannot pay within its policy limits
- The at-fault driver's bodily injury liability limits are less than your total damages
- The policy excludes liability coverage for a nonfamily member driving the insured vehicle
The second situation is the one we see most often. A driver carrying $10,000 in bodily injury coverage is technically insured but functionally uninsured against a hospital bill many times that amount.
An Uninsured Motorist Claim Is a Claim Against Your Own Insurance Company
Uninsured motorist coverage, commonly written as UM coverage, applies when the at-fault driver has no liability insurance. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage applies when that driver has some coverage, but not enough to cover your losses. Both are optional in Florida.
An insurer cannot issue an auto policy in this state without providing uninsured motorist coverage unless a named insured signs a written rejection, under § 627.727(1). Many Orlando drivers do not remember signing anything of the kind. Our team requests the rejection form and the coverage selection documents, because a missing or defective form can put coverage back in play.
The practical consequence is uncomfortable: The company you have paid premiums to for years becomes the party disputing your treatment, your share of fault, and the value of your injuries.
The 30-Day Notice Rule That Can End an Underinsured Motorist Claim
Settling with the at-fault driver's insurance company is where underinsured motorist claims are most often lost. Florida gives your own insurer a say in that settlement, and skipping the step can end the claim.
Section 627.727(6)(a) sets out the required sequence:
- You receive a settlement offer from the at-fault driver's liability insurer.
- You send written notice of the proposed settlement by certified or registered mail to every underinsured motorist insurer that provides coverage.
- That insurer then has 30 days after receiving the notice to consider authorizing the settlement.
If the insurer refuses to authorize the settlement, subsection (6)(b) requires it to pay you the amount of the written offer within 30 days, which preserves its right to pursue the at-fault driver.
Sign a release before that notice goes out, and you may destroy your insurer's right of subrogation, which gives the insurer grounds to contest your underinsured motorist claim. Our team sends the notice, tracks the 30-day window, and documents the response before anyone signs anything.
Florida Laws That Shape Your Uninsured Driver Accident Claim
Several statutes work together to determine what an uninsured driver claim is worth and how long you have to bring it.
The Deadlines That Apply To Your Claim
Florida sets a two-year statute of limitations for actions founded on negligence under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a), shortened from four years by 2023 legislation. Wrongful death actions are subject to the same 2-year deadline under § 95.11(5)(e).
A claim under your own uninsured motorist coverage arises from your insurance contract, and § 95.11(2)(b) allows 5 years for an action on a contract founded on a written instrument. Do not rely on the longer period. Policy conditions, notice requirements, and the deadline on the underlying negligence claim can all shorten the practical window.
Shared Fault And Florida's Comparative Negligence Rule
Fla. Stat. § 768.81(2) reduces your damages in proportion to your own share of fault. Subsection (6) bars recovery entirely when you are found more than 50% at fault.
Uninsured motorist insurers raise comparative fault frequently, because every percentage point assigned to you reduces what the policy has to pay.
Pain And Suffering And The Injury Threshold
Section 627.727(7) provides that an uninsured motorist insurer's liability does not include damages in tort for pain and suffering unless the injury meets the threshold in Florida's no-fault law. Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2) sets that threshold at significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.
Medical documentation of permanency is therefore central to what an uninsured driver claim is worth.
When Your Own Insurance Company Acts in Bad Faith
Florida gives policyholders a remedy when an insurer handles a claim unfairly. Fla. Stat. § 624.155(1)(b) reaches an insurer that is not attempting in good faith to settle claims when, under all the circumstances, it could and should have done so.
The statute also sets a strict procedure. Subsection (3) makes 60 days' written notice to the department and to the insurer a condition precedent to filing. No action lies if the insurer pays the damages or corrects the violation within that period. Recoverable damages in a successful bad faith action can include amounts in excess of policy limits, interest, and attorney's fees.
What We Do to Document an Orlando Uninsured Driver Accident Claim
Uninsured driver claims are decided on the strength of the file. Our team builds that file from the first phone call:
- Request the complete policy, the declarations page, and any uninsured motorist rejection or coverage selection form
- Identify every policy that may apply, including household policies and coverage available through a resident relative
- Preserve the crash report, scene photographs, and any available video before it is overwritten
- Document medical treatment and permanency findings that bear on the injury threshold
- Handle recorded statement requests and written correspondence with the insurer
- Prepare the required notice before any settlement with the at-fault driver's insurer
Orlando sits in Orange County, and the Ninth Judicial Circuit serves Orange and Osceola counties. Claims that cannot be resolved with the insurer may proceed there.
Frequently Asked Questions About Orlando Uninsured Driver Accident Claims
An uninsured motorist claim is a first-party claim made under coverage you already paid for, and you were not the driver at fault. Rating practices vary by carrier and by policy. Concern about a premium increase should not by itself decide whether you pursue coverage you have been buying for years.
The rejection has to be in writing and signed by a named insured, so our team requests that form. If it is missing, unsigned, or defective, uninsured motorist coverage may still apply to your crash. Other policies in your household may also provide coverage.
Possibly. Under § 627.727(3), a vehicle counts as uninsured when the at-fault driver's bodily injury liability limits are less than your total damages. That is an underinsured motorist claim, and it is subject to the notice requirements described above.
No. An offer is a proposal, not a determination of what your claim is worth. If the insurer's valuation cannot be reconciled with your medical records and documented losses, your policy and Florida law provide procedures for resolving the dispute, including an action against the insurer.
The negligence deadline is 2 years from the date of the crash. Because policy conditions and notice requirements can shorten the time you actually have, treat the 2-year statute of limitations as the outer edge rather than the target.
We handle uninsured-driver accident claims on a contingency-fee basis, and the specific terms are set out in the written agreement we review with you. The case evaluation itself is free, and there is no obligation to hire our firm afterward.
Contact an Orlando Uninsured Driver Accident Lawyer Today
The other driver's lack of insurance does not automatically end your claim. If an uninsured or underinsured driver hit you in Orlando, the notice requirements and deadlines under Florida law are already running.
An Orlando uninsured driver accident lawyer at Tony Caggiano Personal Injury Lawyer can read the policy, identify the coverage available to you, and manage the correspondence with the insurance company while you concentrate on treatment. We handle these claims on a contingency fee basis.
Call (407) 244-1212 or reach us through our contact page to schedule a free case evaluation with our Orlando team.
