Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida: How UM Works, Stacking, and Limits

Florida’s required auto coverage protects other people’s property and pays a share of your own medical bills through PIP. What it doesn’t do is pay for serious injuries someone else causes you, if that driver didn’t buy bodily injury liability. In Florida, many don’t have to.

That’s the gap uninsured motorist coverage fills. Here’s how it works under Florida law, how it ties to your liability limits, and what the stacked versus non-stacked choice on your quote actually means.

What is uninsured motorist coverage in Florida?

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays you and the people on your policy for injuries caused by a driver who is legally at fault but has no bodily injury liability coverage, or too little. In Florida the same coverage also handles underinsured drivers. Under section 627.727(3), Florida Statutes, an “uninsured motor vehicle” includes an insured one when the at-fault driver’s bodily injury limits are less than your total damages, or when that driver’s insurer is insolvent.

UM pays for the kinds of losses you could have claimed from the at-fault driver: medical bills beyond what PIP pays, lost wages beyond PIP’s 60%, and, for injuries serious enough to meet Florida’s threshold, pain and suffering.

It doesn’t pay for damage to your car. Florida’s UM law is about bodily injury, sickness, disease and death. Damage to your vehicle from an uninsured driver usually falls to your collision coverage.

How many Florida drivers are uninsured?

The Insurance Research Council estimated that 20.6% of Florida motorists were uninsured in 2023, roughly one in five, ranking Florida 7th highest in the country. The national estimate for the same year was 15.4%. These figures come from the Insurance Information Institute’s summary of the IRC’s 2025 study.

Two details matter when you read that number:

• The IRC measures it as the ratio of uninsured motorist claims to bodily injury claims, so it’s an estimate, not a head count.
• The IRC notes that Florida’s compulsory law covers PIP and property damage, not bodily injury liability. A driver can be fully legal in Florida and still carry no BI at all, so the practical gap may be wider than “uninsured” suggests.

On a commute through Polk County on I-4 or US-98, you’re sharing the road with a lot of drivers whose policies would pay nothing toward your injuries.

Does Florida require uninsured motorist coverage?

No, but Florida makes it the default. Section 627.727(1) says an insurer may not issue an auto policy that includes bodily injury liability unless UM coverage is included or added to it. The only ways out are for a named insured to:

1. Reject UM in writing, on a form approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation, or
2. Select lower UM limits than the policy’s bodily injury limits, on the same form.

The form’s heading must say, in bold type: “You are electing not to purchase certain valuable coverage which protects you and your family or you are purchasing uninsured motorist limits less than your bodily injury liability limits when you sign this form. Please read carefully.”

A few rules follow from that signature:

• A signed rejection by one named insured counts for everyone on the policy.
• The rejection carries over to renewals and replacement policies with the same bodily injury limits unless you ask for UM in writing.
• Your insurer must notify you at least once a year of your UM options, with your premium notice, and give you a way to request the coverage.

If you signed a rejection years ago to shave the premium, you likely still don’t have UM today. Pull your declarations page and look for the UM line.

How do UM limits relate to your bodily injury limits?

By default, your UM limits equal your bodily injury liability limits. Section 627.727(2) says UM limits must be at least your BI limits unless you choose lower limits under the insurer’s rating plan.

That link has a practical effect. Because UM rides on BI, the BI limits you choose usually set how much UM you can buy. If you carry the bare minimum of liability, your UM is small too.

Your BI liability limits	Default UM limits	What that means
None (PIP and PDL only)	Usually none	No UM to fall back on if an uninsured driver injures you
$10,000 / $20,000	$10,000 / $20,000	A small cushion above PIP
Higher limits	Matching UM limits	More protection for serious injuries
Any BI, UM rejected in writing	None	You chose to go without

Higher limits cost more. The size of the increase varies by carrier, driver and vehicle, and a licensed agent can price a few options side by side so you can see the difference before you decide.

Stacked vs. non-stacked UM: what’s the difference?

Stacked UM lets you add together the UM limits for each vehicle on your policy. Non-stacked UM doesn’t, and costs less. Section 627.727(8) allows insurers to offer the non-stacked version, and requires them to price it at least 20% below the stacked UM premium.

Situation	Stacked UM	Non-stacked UM
Two or more cars on the policy	Limits for each car can be combined	Limits are not added together
Injured in one of your own insured cars	Combined limits may apply	That car’s UM limit applies
Injured in someone else’s car	Your UM can apply	Your highest single UM limit applies, as excess over that car’s UM
Injured in a car you own that has no UM	Depends on the policy	No UM coverage
Hit as a pedestrian or cyclist	Your UM can apply	You choose any one vehicle’s UM limit

Insurers explain the non-stacked limits on a state-approved form. Once a named insured signs it, the choice carries forward to renewals unless you ask to remove the limitations and pay the stacked premium. The choice matters most in households with several cars. With one car there’s nothing to add together, though the other non-stacked limits in the table still apply.

What does UM pay, and what doesn’t it pay?

UM pays the difference between what you can collect from other sources and your actual damages, up to your UM limit. Section 627.727(1) says UM is “over and above, but shall not duplicate” benefits from workers’ compensation, PIP, disability benefits, medical payments coverage and the at-fault driver’s liability insurance. The statute also bars reducing UM through a setoff against other coverage.

A hypothetical example: an at-fault driver with $10,000 of BI liability causes a crash that leaves you with damages well beyond that. Your PIP pays first, the other driver’s BI pays its $10,000, and your underinsured coverage can pay the remaining covered damages up to your UM limit.

Limits on what UM pays:

• Pain and suffering needs a serious injury. Under section 627.727(7), UM pays for pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience only if the injury meets the threshold in section 627.737(2): significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, permanent injury, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.
• It doesn’t pay for vehicle damage. That’s collision coverage.
• Settlement rules apply. If you’re offered a settlement by the at-fault driver’s insurer that wouldn’t fully cover your injuries, section 627.727(6) requires written notice of the proposed settlement to your underinsured motorist insurer by certified or registered mail, and that insurer has 30 days to respond. Talk with your insurer before you sign a release.

If a UM claim stalls, the Florida Department of Financial Services consumer helpline (1-877-693-5236) can help you understand your options.

What to have ready before you request a quote

To price UM properly, an agent needs the same information as any auto quote, plus your current UM choices:

1. Your current declarations page, showing bodily injury limits and the UM line (stacked, non-stacked or rejected).
2. Driver’s license numbers and dates of birth for every household driver.
3. Year, make, model and VIN for every vehicle.
4. Any accidents, tickets or claims in the past five years.
5. Whether you own a home or have other assets you’d want liability coverage, or an umbrella policy, to protect.

For the full picture of what Florida requires on every policy, read our guide to Florida car insurance requirements. When you’re ready, request an auto quote and ask us to show you UM at a few different limits. You can also learn more on our auto insurance page.