Will Florida PIP Cover Me if I am Traveling out of Florida?
In your own car: YES.
In a car that is not yours, including a rental: NO
In Mexico: NO
In Canada: YES
Here is a scenario: You are a Florida resident and have a Florida registered and insured car and travel north to go skiing in the Smoky Mountains. You decide to pile your family into the family SUV, and make a trip. You manage to get through Florida and Georgia safely, but when you get into Tennessee, someone runs a red light and smashes into your car causing injuries. In this scenario, you were in your own car, so there IS coverage for you and your family.
Let's say you find that there is no snow in North Carolina and decide to travel into Canada? Yes, there is PIP coverage for injuries to you and your family if you have an accident in Canada.
HOWEVER, lets say you decide to FLY to North Carolina, and rent a car. You have an accident in North Carolina while occupying a rental car. NO, there is no coverage under your Florida PIP policy. Same is true if you are in a friend's car in NC, It's not your car, so no PIP.
Let's say you are in your relative's car in NC, providing that the relative is a NC resident, No Florida PIP here either. How about if you are in a relative's car in NC and the relative is a Florida resident with car insurance coming from Florida? No coverage here either unless you and the relative LIVE together.
In Mexico in your own car and there is NO coverage.
In regard to resident relatives: There are some companies that will deny a claim if they determine that the policyholder did not disclose all people in the household when the policy was purchased. They will deny the claim based on "material misrepresentation." So, always let the company know all people living in the house, no matter if the addition of these extra people in the house will increase the cost of the policy. If you hide this information from them, they will find out and may deny your claim.
I'm not a lawyer. I am a chiropractor with 26 years experience treating auto accident patients, and I have been exposed to many different coverage scenarios. Get all legal opinions from a licensed attorney.
