If you are looking for Tampa car insurance, before calling your local agents or getting a quote online, it can be helpful to know what your minimum car insurance requirements are so that you can try to stay as close to the minimum as possible. After all, the higher your risk, the lower your premium. The key, however, is to make sure that you have just the right amount of coverage with risk you can afford to have.

The only type of car insurance that is required by Florida law is liability insurance in the form of 10/20/10 (you’ll often see this type of coverage in A/B/C form). Liability insurance does not cover you, but those around you by paying for bodily injury expenses and/or property damage for which you are liable. Bodily injury liability pays for medical expenses, wage loss, and/or pain and suffering. Property damage liability pays for damage done to other people’s cars as well as stationary property such as buildings or bus shelters. How much of bodily injury and how much of property damage liability are you supposed to have? That’s what the three aforementioned numbers (10/20/10) stand for. You must have $10,000 in bodily injury liability for one person, $20,000 in bodily injury liability, and $10,000 in property damage liability for all people in a single accident. When shopping for car insurance in Tampa FL, is it okay to only have 10/20/10 worth of liability coverage? If you have enough out of pocket income or assets to pay for bodily injury and/or property damage expenses, then yes, it is okay. However, bodily injury and property damage expenses can add up really quick. As such, if you don’t think that you have enough money to pay for future damages, it is recommended by insure.com that you have around 100/300/50 in liability coverage.

Aside from the required liability coverage, there are other types in insurance to consider…

Collision insurance: Pays for damage to your car, even if you are found to be at-fault in an accident. It is usually required if you finance or lease your car.

Comprehensive insurance: Like collision insurance, it is usually required if you finance or lease your car. If you buy collision and comprehensive insurance together you have “full coverage”.

Uninsured/underinsured coverage: Over 20% of Floridians drive around without liability insurance. If you happen to get into an accident with either an uninsured or underinsured (their liability insurance does not fully cover your expenses) driver, who is found at-fault in an accident, unless you have this type of coverage, you’d have to sue them to pay for your bodily injury and/or your property damage expenses. However, if you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, you don’t have to go through the courts to pay for your expenses.

GAP (Guaranteed Auto Protection) Insurance: I explain this coverage in depth in Bakersfield Car Insurance: Some Tips. If your car is stolen or damaged beyond repair, your car insurance company will only pay the market value of your vehicle. However, you, if you are financing your car, you are making payments to the financing company for the brand new value of your car. GAP covers that difference.

When shopping for car insurance in Tampa Florida, the key is to shop around because Tampa car insurance quotes from different insurers can vary by hundreds of dollars.

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