Car insurance in Palm Beach County, reviewed from Florida City.

A long county, and a long drive from our office

Palm Beach County had about 1.53 million residents in the 2020–2024 Census estimates, and about one in four is 65 or older. About 28% were born outside the United States. Census table C16001 counts Russian, Polish and other Slavic languages as one line: about 14,800 residents age 5 and older, roughly 1% of that age group. The line is not a count of Russian alone. The largest city we have a page for, so far, is Boca Raton. Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth Beach, West Palm Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter are on the same roads, and Belle Glade is a different drive, west of the urban coast.

I-95 is the coastal freeway, from Boca Raton through West Palm Beach toward Jupiter. Florida’s Turnpike is the inland north–south route, the one that continues south into Broward and Miami-Dade and, eventually, to Florida City. US-1 carries the older coastal traffic through the downtowns. The average one-way commute in the county is about 27 minutes, and about 7% of workers who leave home for work travel 60 minutes or more. Those averages mix a short trip inside Boca Raton with a drive from Wellington to the coast and with seasonal cars that barely move.

We do not have an office in Palm Beach County. Boca Raton is about 80 miles from our Florida City office. In light traffic that drive is roughly an hour and 40 minutes, and closer to two hours when I-95 is slow. Towns farther north are a longer trip. The practical way to work with us is phone, WhatsApp, text and email. A visit to Florida City is by appointment, not a weekly errand.

The Florida minimum does not change at the county line

Every registered car needs $10,000 of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $10,000 of Property Damage Liability (PDL), kept in force with no lapse. PIP is no-fault coverage for your own injuries: 80% of reasonable medical bills and 60% of lost income. It generally also covers you and relatives who live with you if a car hits you while you are walking or cycling. Initial treatment has to start within 14 days, and benefits above $2,500 generally require a physician to find an emergency medical condition. Bills to repeal PIP died in committee in March 2026, so the system is unchanged for now.

What the law does not require of most drivers is bodily injury liability. The Insurance Research Council estimated that about 20.6% of Florida drivers were uninsured in 2023, about one in five. When that driver hurts you, uninsured motorist coverage (UM) is what responds above PIP. Insurers must offer UM at your BI limits. You can lower it or reject it only in writing. Without BI you generally cannot buy UM. If the household has two or more cars, ask whether UM is stacked. Since March 24, 2023, Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule has barred recovery from the other driver when you are found more than 50% at fault for your own injuries, and most negligence lawsuits now have a two-year deadline instead of four.

Not the high-velocity zone, and still a coast

Palm Beach County is not in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone. Florida Building Code section 1620 limits that zone to Miami-Dade and Broward. The building rule does not change an auto policy. The storms still do. Hurricane Wilma, in October 2005, put hurricane-force wind on this coast. The National Hurricane Center found stronger wind on upper floors than at the standard 10-meter measurement. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, the National Weather Service reported sustained winds of about 55 to 65 mph over southern coastal Palm Beach County and Category 1 gusts, about 80 to 90 mph, countywide. A station in Boca Raton measured a sustained wind of 51 mph and a gust of 79 mph. Debris, a flooded parking lot and a car under a tree are comprehensive claims, and only if that coverage was on the policy before the storm was already threatening. Insurers can stop accepting changes at that point.

After a crash with injuries, a death, or apparent damage of at least $2,000, Florida requires a report to the police, the sheriff or the Florida Highway Patrol. On I-95 and the Turnpike that is usually the Highway Patrol. Photograph the cars and the other driver’s documents, and get medical care inside 14 days so PIP is not lost. Then call us with the claim number.

A foreign license, handled without a local office

Visitors may drive with a valid license from the country where they live. Florida’s driver handbook describes the non-resident exception as an International Driving Permit carried with that license. The permit is a translation, not a license by itself. You are treated as a Florida resident, and you then have 30 days to get a Florida license, if you take a job here, put a child in public school, register to vote, file for a homestead exemption, or live here more than six months in a row. To title and register a car you also need a policy from an agent licensed in Florida, generally within 10 days of becoming a resident. Whether a company will accept a foreign license is an underwriting question. Send the license and the declarations page. We will tell you what we can place. We do not promise a policy. M&K Agency is a family-owned agency with a team of 12 and more than 5,000 clients across Florida. Send us your policy and we’ll check your coverage.

More for this area

• Home and condo insurance in Palm Beach County
• Guide: hit by a driver with no insurance? (uninsured motorist coverage)

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