On the Property & Casualty exam, the personal automobile policy is tested through the lens of how a state regulates auto insurance—and Florida regulates it unlike almost anywhere else. Florida is a No-Fault state built around Personal Injury Protection (PIP), with a distinctive rule that bodily injury liability is not required just to register a car. This standalone guide gives you the national policy framework, then makes Florida law the centerpiece.

The standard policy framework

The personal automobile policy is divided into lettered parts so each protection is clearly labeled:

• Part A — Liability (bodily injury and property damage, plus duty to defend).
• Part B — Medical Payments.
• Part C — Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists.
• Part D — Coverage for Damage to Your Auto (Collision; Other Than Collision).
• Part E — Duties After an Accident or Loss.
• Part F — General Provisions.

An insured includes the named insured, resident spouse, resident relatives, and permitted users of your covered auto. Liability limits are written as split limits (e.g., 100/300/50) or a Combined Single Limit (CSL). Physical damage pays Actual Cash Value (ACV). Florida layers its no-fault and financial-responsibility rules over this structure rather than discarding it.

Florida's No-Fault PIP system

Florida operates under the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law (§§ 627.730–627.7405 range). After most crashes, an insured's own policy pays first regardless of fault, and the right to sue for minor injuries is limited unless an injury crosses a statutory serious-injury threshold (permanent injury, significant scarring, or death).

The required coverage is Personal Injury Protection (PIP), with a limit of $10,000:

• Pays roughly 80% of reasonable medical expenses and 60% of lost wages/disability, up to the cap.
• Includes a death benefit commonly stated as $5,000.
• Covers the named insured, resident relatives, certain passengers, and pedestrians struck by the insured vehicle.

Two Florida-specific limits are favorite exam items:

• 14-day rule — initial treatment must generally begin within 14 days of the accident, or PIP medical benefits can be denied.
• Emergency medical condition (EMC) — the full $10,000 in medical benefits generally requires a qualified provider to certify an EMC; without it, the medical benefit is capped at a much lower amount (commonly cited as $2,500).

What Florida mandates

The marquee Florida fact for the P&C exam: to register a vehicle, an owner must carry PIP $10,000 + Property Damage Liability (PDL) $10,000. Bodily Injury (BI) liability is not part of the registration requirement.

BI liability becomes mandatory later under the Financial Responsibility Law (Chapter 324)—after an at-fault crash or certain serious violations—at limits typically stated as 10/20/10 ($10,000 per person / $20,000 per accident BI / $10,000 PD). A DUI conviction triggers substantially higher required limits and an SR-22-type filing.

The memory hook is identical to the personal-lines framing: PIP $10k + PDL $10k to register; 10/20/10 BI triggered after an at-fault loss.

UM/UIM and physical damage

• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists (UM/UIM) must be offered equal to the BI limits purchased. To take less UM than BI or to reject it, the insured must sign the written statutory election; absent that, UM can attach at the BI limit.
• Florida permits stacked UM (combine limits across vehicles) or non-stacked UM, a documented choice.
• Collision covers impact/overturn regardless of fault; Other Than Collision (Comprehensive) covers fire, theft, vandalism, flood, hail, falling objects, and animal strikes. In hurricane country, comprehensive is the coverage that responds to storm and flood damage to the vehicle.

Remember: animal strikes are Other Than Collision, and vehicle flood loss is comprehensive, not collision.

Regulation, residual market, and termination

Florida's auto market sits inside its unusual three-agency regulatory structure:

• Department of Financial Services (DFS), led by the elected Chief Financial Officer (CFO) — agent licensing, consumer assistance, and fraud.
• Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), led by the Insurance Commissioner — company rates, forms, and solvency.
• Both report to the Financial Services Commission (Governor and Cabinet).

When the standard market won't write a driver, the residual market is the Florida Automobile Joint Underwriting Association (FAJUA) under § 627.351(1)—the auto insurer of last resort. (Do not confuse it with Citizens, which is the residual property insurer.)

Cancellation/nonrenewal timing follows the common Florida pattern:

• Broad ability to cancel during the first 60 days of a new policy.
• After that, mid-term cancellation only for specified reasons.
• Nonpayment cancellation: about 10 days' notice.
• Nonrenewal and most other cancellations: about 45 days' notice.

Key Florida numbers to memorize

Common exam traps

• Requiring BI liability to register. Florida requires only PIP $10k + PDL $10k to register.
• Forgetting the 14-day treatment rule and the EMC cap on PIP medical benefits.
• Saying PIP pays 100%. It pays 80% medical / 60% wages within the cap.
• Assuming UM is automatic. It must be offered and reduced/rejected in writing.
• Confusing FAJUA and Citizens. FAJUA = auto residual; Citizens = property residual.
• Mixing up DFS and OIR. DFS/CFO handle agents and fraud; OIR/Commissioner handle companies and rates.
• Classifying vehicle flood loss as collision. It is Other Than Collision.

Quick recap

For the P&C exam, the Florida automobile policy is the standard lettered-part policy wrapped in Florida's No-Fault PIP law. To register, an owner needs PIP $10,000 + Property Damage Liability $10,000, and bodily injury liability is not required to register—it becomes mandatory at 10/20/10 under the Financial Responsibility Law after an at-fault crash or serious violation. PIP pays 80% medical / 60% wages up to $10,000 (plus a $5,000 death benefit), conditioned on the 14-day treatment rule and an EMC determination for the full amount. UM/UIM must be offered equal to BI limits and reduced or rejected only in writing, with optional stacking. The residual auto market is FAJUA (not Citizens), regulation splits between DFS/CFO and OIR/Commissioner, and termination notice runs roughly 10 days for nonpayment and 45 days for nonrenewal. Anchor on "PIP $10k + PDL $10k to register, 10/20/10 later" and the rest falls into place.