When you buy car insurance, there are several different parts of it, each with it’s own significance. Every state, or country, has different regulations on what needs to be covered, what’s optional, and what the names of the coverages are. Let’s divide up a standard policy and make a general summary of the different parts now.
Liability Is Usually Required For All Drivers
This section of your insurance covers your bodily injuries if you have an accident that is your fault, and also the medical expenses of those riding in your car as well. It will also cover the bodily injuries and medical bills of the people in another car that you hit, if the accident is determined to be your fault. The liability property damage will cover the other persons car, if it’s your fault, and any other property that you damage. None of your liability will cover the cost of repairing your car.
There is also usually another coverage that fills in the gap, if another car hits you, and they either don’t have liability insurance, or the amount they have isn’t sufficient to cover your medical bills, this is usually called uninsured motorist, or underinsured motorist insurance.
Comprehensive Coverage Is Your Fire, Theft, Vandalism, And Storm Damage
For the most part, any damage to your car that isn’t the result of an accident will fall under this category. It will cover hail damage, flood damage, vandalism, theft, broken windshields, fire, and almost everything, but not collision damage, or anything that even looks like collision damage.
Collision coverage usually comes with a deductible, the more you pay on the deductible, the lower your rates. Also, anything you can do to lessen your risk can help lower the premium. This would include putting your car in a garage when not in use, not living in a high theft area, a hail storm zone, or owning an expensive stereo.
Collision Coverage Can Be The Most Expensive
Due to the high cost of auto body repair and parts, fixing cars involved in accidents has become an expensive proposition. Modern cars are high technology on wheels, and the people that repair them are now college educated technicians that earn a good living, for a reason. To keep your rates on collision car insurance lower, you’ll want to keep your driving record clean, no tickets, no accidents, drive defensively, don’t smoke, plus keep a high deductible as well.
Keeping your collision car insurance rate to an affordable level is important if you want to drive a nice car without going broke. By making it a goal to never have an accident, stay within the speed limit and always drive defensively, you can go a long ways towards never having a claim.
