Finding out that the other driver may not have insurance can add another layer of uncertainty after a car accident.

If this happens in Florida, do not assume that you have no options. The insurance coverage available to you may depend on your own policy, the other driver’s insurance status, how the accident occurred, your injuries, vehicle damage, and other circumstances.

Your first priorities should still be safety, appropriate medical attention, reporting the accident when required, documenting what happened, and preserving relevant information.

What Should You Do if the Other Driver Says They Have No Insurance?

If another driver tells you that they do not have insurance, remain calm and focus on collecting accurate information.

If it is safe to do so, consider obtaining:

• Driver’s full name
• Contact information
• Driver’s-license information, when available
• Vehicle owner’s name
• Vehicle registration information
• License plate number
• Vehicle make and model
• Photos of the vehicles
• Photos of the accident scene
• Witness contact information

If law enforcement responds, provide accurate information about what occurred.

Do not argue with or confront the other driver about insurance coverage.

Do Not Assume the Driver Is Uninsured at the Scene

A driver may be unable to produce an insurance card immediately for several reasons.

For example, the driver may:

• Have insurance information electronically
• Have difficulty locating the policy information
• Be driving a vehicle owned by someone else
• Be uncertain about the policy
• Provide incomplete information

For that reason, someone being unable to show proof of insurance at the scene does not necessarily establish that no applicable insurance exists.

Document the information available and allow the appropriate insurance and reporting processes to determine coverage.

Should You Call the Police?

Florida law requires certain crashes to be reported to law enforcement, including crashes involving injury or death and crashes meeting the applicable property-damage reporting threshold.

If another driver appears to be uninsured, having accurate law-enforcement documentation may also help preserve information about the vehicles and people involved.

If law enforcement responds, consider recording:

• Responding agency
• Officer’s name
• Badge or identification number, if provided
• Case number
• Crash-report number
• Instructions for obtaining the report

Do not rely solely on a verbal statement from the other driver about whether insurance exists.

What Insurance May Be Relevant After an Uninsured-Driver Accident?

Several types of insurance coverage may become relevant depending on the circumstances and the policies involved.

Possible coverage may include:

• Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
• Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage
• Collision coverage
• Other applicable automobile insurance

The existence and amount of coverage depend on the actual insurance policy and the circumstances of the accident.

Do not assume that every type of coverage applies to every accident.

What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage?

Uninsured Motorist coverage, commonly called UM coverage, is automobile insurance designed to provide protection in qualifying circumstances when an insured person is legally entitled to recover damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured vehicle because of bodily injury.

Whether UM coverage is available in a particular accident depends on the insurance policy and applicable law.

In Florida, uninsured motorist coverage may be rejected in writing by the named insured, and lower UM limits may also be selected in certain circumstances.

That means you should not assume that your policy includes UM coverage simply because you have automobile insurance.

Check your policy declarations and speak with your insurer if you are unsure what coverage you purchased.

What About an Underinsured Driver?

An uninsured driver and an underinsured driver are not necessarily the same thing.

An uninsured driver generally lacks applicable liability insurance for the loss.

An underinsured driver may have applicable liability coverage, but the available coverage may not be sufficient to address the damages involved.

Florida’s uninsured motorist statute addresses both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

The way coverage applies can depend on the policies, available limits, injuries, and circumstances of the accident.

Does Florida Require Every Driver to Carry Uninsured Motorist Coverage?

Do not assume that every Florida automobile policy ultimately contains UM coverage.

Florida law addresses the offering of uninsured motorist coverage in connection with motor-vehicle liability policies that provide bodily-injury liability coverage, but the named insured may reject UM coverage in writing or select lower limits under applicable circumstances.

Review your own policy documents to determine whether you have UM coverage and what limits or restrictions apply.

What Is Personal Injury Protection?

Florida’s current motor-vehicle insurance system includes Personal Injury Protection, commonly known as PIP.

Depending on the circumstances and applicable requirements, PIP may provide certain benefits for qualifying accident-related medical expenses and other covered losses regardless of who caused the crash.

PIP and uninsured motorist coverage are different types of insurance.

Having PIP does not necessarily mean that you have UM coverage, and having UM coverage does not eliminate the need to understand other applicable portions of your policy.

What About Damage to Your Vehicle?

Uninsured motorist bodily-injury coverage should not automatically be treated as coverage for repairing your vehicle.

Vehicle-damage issues may involve other insurance coverage, such as collision coverage, depending on the policy and circumstances.

If your vehicle was damaged, preserve:

• Photos taken before repairs
• Repair estimates
• Final repair invoices
• Towing receipts
• Storage charges
• Rental-vehicle records
• Communications with your insurer
• Other relevant vehicle documentation

Ask your insurer what coverage may apply rather than assuming a particular policy provision covers the damage.

What Should You Tell Your Insurance Company?

Depending on your policy and the circumstances, you may need to notify your insurer about the accident.

When communicating with an insurer, provide accurate factual information.

Consider maintaining a record containing:

• Claim number
• Adjuster’s name
• Telephone number
• Email address
• Date and time of communications
• Documents requested
• Documents submitted
• Written correspondence received

If you do not understand a coverage decision, recorded-statement request, authorization, settlement proposal, or release, consider obtaining appropriate guidance before making a decision.

What if You Were Injured?

If you were injured or develop symptoms after the accident, your health should be addressed separately from the insurance question.

Seek appropriate medical attention based on your symptoms and medical needs.

Keep relevant information such as:

• Healthcare-provider names
• Treatment dates
• Medical bills
• Prescriptions
• Discharge instructions
• Referral information
• Other accident-related treatment records

Do not delay medically appropriate care simply because you do not know whether the other driver has insurance.

Likewise, medical treatment decisions should be based on your health needs and appropriate professional guidance rather than solely on whether you may have an insurance claim.

What if You Have Not Received Medical Treatment Yet?

You can still preserve accident information and determine what insurance coverage may exist.

If you want to request an initial InjuryCaseDirect case review, you can accurately indicate that you have not received medical treatment.

For additional information, see Can I Request a Case Review if I Have Not Received Treatment?

What if the Other Driver Leaves the Scene?

If another driver leaves before exchanging information, do not put yourself or others in danger by attempting to chase or confront the driver.

Instead, record as much information as you safely can.

Useful information may include:

• License plate number
• Vehicle make and model
• Vehicle color
• Direction of travel
• Driver description
• Visible vehicle damage

Contact law enforcement and provide the information available.

Witnesses, photographs, nearby cameras, and other records may also become relevant.

Insurance issues involving a hit-and-run accident can differ from those involving an identified uninsured driver, so review the circumstances and applicable policy carefully.

What if You Were a Passenger?

Passengers can also be affected when an uninsured driver causes an accident.

If you were a passenger, preserve information about:

• The vehicle you occupied
• Its driver and owner
• Other vehicles involved
• Available insurance information
• Witnesses
• Crash-report information
• Medical treatment
• Accident-related communications

The insurance coverage potentially available to a passenger may depend on several policies and circumstances.

Do not assume that the driver’s insurance situation automatically determines whether any coverage is available to you.

What Records Should You Keep?

An uninsured-driver accident may involve questions involving multiple sources of information.

Consider keeping:

• Crash report
• Photos and videos
• Driver information
• Vehicle information
• Witness information
• Insurance correspondence
• Your insurance-policy documents
• Policy declarations
• Medical records and bills
• Repair estimates and invoices
• Towing and storage records
• Rental-car records
• Work-related records
• Notes about accident-related communications

For a broader documentation checklist, see What Information Should I Collect After an Accident?

Should You Review Your Insurance Policy?

Yes.

If the other driver appears to be uninsured, review your own automobile-insurance documents.

In particular, consider checking your policy declarations for:

• Uninsured Motorist coverage
• UM coverage limits
• Personal Injury Protection
• Collision coverage
• Applicable deductibles
• Other listed automobile coverage

Insurance policies contain terms, conditions, exclusions, limits, and other provisions that can affect coverage.

If you do not understand your policy, ask your insurer for clarification or obtain appropriate professional guidance.

Can You Request a Case Review if the Other Driver Is Uninsured?

Yes.

If you were injured in an accident involving a driver who appears to be uninsured, you can request an initial case review through InjuryCaseDirect.

The evaluation may ask for information such as:

• Accident type
• Accident date
• Accident location
• Injury information
• Medical treatment
• Insurance information
• Police-report information
• A brief description of what happened
• Your contact information

Provide accurate information based on what you currently know.

If you are uncertain whether the other driver actually had insurance, say that rather than assuming the driver was uninsured.

What Happens During the Case Review?

The InjuryCaseDirect process generally involves four steps.

1. Tell Us What Happened

Complete a short online case evaluation with basic information about the accident.

2. Verify Your Information

An intake representative may contact you to confirm information from your submission and your request to be contacted.

3. Connect With a Participating Law Firm

With your consent, your information may be provided to a participating personal injury law firm.

4. The Law Firm Reviews Your Matter

The participating law firm independently determines whether it can assist.

Submitting an evaluation does not mean that InjuryCaseDirect or a participating law firm has accepted your matter.

For more information, see What Happens During a Personal Injury Case Review?

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if the other driver says they do not have insurance?

Prioritize safety and collect available driver, vehicle, witness, and accident information. Report the crash when required and accurately notify your insurer as appropriate. Do not rely solely on the other driver’s statement when determining whether insurance exists.

Does having car insurance mean I automatically have uninsured motorist coverage?

Not necessarily. In Florida, UM coverage may be rejected in writing by the named insured or lower limits may be selected under applicable circumstances. Review your policy documents to determine what coverage you have.

Is uninsured motorist coverage the same as PIP?

No. They are different types of automobile insurance coverage and operate under different requirements.

Does UM coverage pay for my vehicle repairs?

Do not assume that bodily-injury UM coverage pays for vehicle repairs. Property damage may involve other portions of an automobile policy, such as collision coverage, depending on the policy.

What if I do not know whether the other driver was insured?

Provide the information you have and avoid guessing. Insurance status may be clarified through insurance companies, law-enforcement documentation, or other appropriate processes.

Can I request a case review if the other driver was uninsured?

Yes. You can request an initial InjuryCaseDirect case review and provide the information you currently know about the accident and insurance situation.

Does requesting a review mean a law firm will take my case?

No. Participating law firms independently decide whether they can assist. Submission does not guarantee contact, representation, compensation, or any particular outcome.

Request a Free Case Review

If you were injured in an accident involving a driver who may have been uninsured, you can submit information through InjuryCaseDirect for an initial review.

Start Your Free Case Review

It is free to submit, and there is no obligation to hire a participating law firm.

Submitting an evaluation does not guarantee that a participating law firm will accept your matter or that compensation will be recovered.

Important Disclosure

InjuryCaseDirect is a legal marketing service and is not a law firm. InjuryCaseDirect does not provide legal advice, insurance advice, or legal representation.

Information submitted through this website may be shared, with appropriate consent, with participating attorneys or law firms for the purpose of responding to your request.

Participating law firms independently determine whether they can assist.

Submitting information does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not guarantee attorney representation, case acceptance, compensation, or any particular outcome.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and is not individualized legal or insurance advice. Insurance coverage depends on policy terms and individual circumstances. Laws, insurance requirements, and procedures may change. Legal content should be reviewed by qualified Florida counsel before publication.