According to section 320.27(3) of the Florida Statutes, “all applicants must submit verifiable proof that dealers must be insured under a garage liability insurance policy or a general liability insurance policy. The document must show the purchase of single-limit liability coverage at a minimum cost of $25,000, and a personal injury protection at a minimum cost of $10,000. The policy shall be for the license period, and proof of the continued policy shall be delivered to the department at the beginning of each license period.”

Independent dealers (VI), Auction dealers (VA), and Wholesale dealers (VW) have the option to submit:

A garage liability insurance certificate which shall include, at a minimum, $25,000 combined single-limit liability coverage including bodily injury and property damage protection and $10,000 personal injury protection; OR A general liability insurance policy coupled with a business automobile policy, which shall include, at a minimum, $25,000 combined single-limit liability coverage including bodily injury and property damage protection and $10,000 personal injury.

Salvage Dealers (SD) are exempted from submitting any evidence of garage liability insurance coverage, at any point in time.

** Effective 7/1/2020 **: Mobile Home Dealers (DH) which sell park trailers are exempt from submitting garage liability insurance coverage.

Franchise dealers (VF), Recreational dealers (RV & RU), and Mobile Home dealers/brokers (DH/BH) selling recreational vehicles must submit a garage liability insurance certificate which shall include, at a minimum, $25,000 combined single-limit liability coverage including bodily injury and property damage protection and $10,000 personal injury protection.

It’s very important to maintain garage liability insurance coverage as long as the license remains valid. The applicants must submit evidence of liability insurance with the initial license application and with their renewal application.

If a dealer was to terminate the garage liability policy before its expiration the dealer must obtain a replacement policy from another insurer. The Division of Motorist Services Office should also be notified of such changes immediately. This is very necessary as dealerships are required by the law to continuously maintain the coverage. Failure to do so will result in an administrative action being filed against the dealership which could result in a fine, or suspension or revocation of the license.

A dealer that has more than one license is covered under the same garage liability insurance policy, even when he is operating at the same or different locations. For instance, a dealer that has two licenses at the same  location must have a garage liability insurance coverage that consists of a combined single-limit liability coverage of not less than $25,000 per business and a personal injury protection valued at $10,000 personal injury protection (PIP). The fact that two licenses are involved in this case means that, the total combined single-limit liability coverage should not be less than $50,000. However, the personal injury protection must still be valued at $10,000, since a personal injury protection of that magnitude is sufficient. The Garage Liability Insurance Certificate must list the names of the dealerships owned by the person that are covered in the policy.

Any dealer that owns and operates more than one dealership, which are located at different locations can have one garage liability insurance policy, that consists of combined single-limit liability coverage of not less than $25,000 per business and a personal injury protection valued at $10,000 personal injury protection. The Garage Liability Insurance Certificate must list the names of the dealerships owned by the person that are covered in the policy.