Can I stack coverage for liability insurance when I have been involved in a car accident?

You will normally only be faced with this problem if you have at least two vehicles that are insured. Stacking of liability coverage is no longer permitted in Florida with the enactment of F.S. 627.4132. The policy holder is limited to the amount of liability coverage available on either of the vehicles. The language of F.S. 627.4132 has expressly made it clear that the coverage on any other vehicle shall not be added or stacked upon the first policy. The only time stacking is permitted is if the policies are written to different named insureds. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Huntington National Bank, 609 So.2d 1315 (Fla. 1992). However, you should not confuse this with an instance if, for example, one policy is written with a wife as the named insured and the second policy is written with both the wife and husband as the named insured. Florida courts have decided this situation does not satisfy the different named insureds criteria under F.S. 627.4132.

This rule is different, and should be distinguished, from stacking that involves uninsured motorist coverage. In a watershed case of Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Co. v. Hurtado, 587 So.2d 1314 (Fla. 1991) that dealt with stacking of UM coverage, the Supreme Court of Florida decided that uninsured Class I insureds may stack UM coverage, but Class II insureds may not. Class I insureds are classified as the named insured, named insured’s spouse, and resident relatives. Class II insureds are permitted users and occupants of an insured vehicle.