Today’s automobile insurance policies and requirements can be confusing. Do you know what Florida’s no-fault laws require or what exactly uninsured motorist coverage actually covers? These are questions that are better answered sooner than later.

Auto Club South Insurance Company, a division of AAA Auto Club South, answers some of the questions surrounding automobile insurance.

Florida is a no-fault state. This means that regardless of who is at fault in an accident, your lost wages and medical expenses will be paid by your own policy. However, damages for claims of pain and suffering, etc., will be paid under the other party’s coverage.

In Florida, in order to make such a claim for pain and suffering, your injury must meet certain criteria called “thresholds.” These thresholds are: permanent disability, loss of bodily function, permanent scarring or death.

If another party is at fault but is not insured, you should be covered if you’ve purchased Uninsured Motorist protection. Here is how this coverage works.

If the other driver involved in the accident is at fault and has no insurance, your own insurance steps in and covers his or her liability damages to you. Additionally, if the other driver has bodily injury insurance but with low liability limits, your own Uninsured Motorist insurance will cover any excess damages over and above the other driver’s coverage.

Estimates vary but approximately four out of ten drivers on our roads have no bodily injury liability coverage to provide for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering brought about from an accident that is clearly the other driver’s fault. In these cases, Uninsured Motorist insurance is vital for your protection.

Another important component of your automobile insurance coverage is Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Under Florida’s no-fault law, your insurance company must pay for 80 percent of your medical bills and 60 percent of lost wages up to a total of $10,000. If you have purchased Medical Payments Coverage, it will pay the remaining 20 percent of medical expenses that PIP does not pay — up to the limit of your coverage.

It is important to check your insurance policy to verify that you have the necessary coverage to protect yourself in case of an accident, no matter whose fault it is. A AAA Insurance Counselor can perform a no obligation review of your current auto policy, regardless of who writes the coverage, to explain the coverage you have and make recommendations on ways to protect yourself and your hard-earned assets.