Table of Contents
What is comprehensive coverage?
Comprehensive coverage can help pay for damage to your vehicle that has been damaged in an accident that is not a collision. Comprehensive coverage is sometimes referred to as “other than collision”. This is also half of the equation to what people often refer to as “full coverage”.
What does comprehensive coverage cover?
Comprehensive coverage can help pay for damage to your vehicle that is caused by things such as vandalism, theft, fire and even damage caused by animals. What does comprehensive coverage not cover? Comprehensive coverage does not cover damage caused by actual collisions and it does not cover other people’s vehicles.
This is just for your vehicle, it does not cover the personal property inside of your vehicle and it does not cover medical injuries for you or anyone else inside of your vehicle.
Do you need comprehensive coverage on your auto insurance policy?
This depends entirely on the vehicle you own and your financial situation.
If you have a loan on your vehicle, you need comprehensive coverage. If you have a newer and expensive vehicle, you need comprehensive coverage. If you don’t have the financial means to repair or replace your vehicle, should it be damaged, you need comprehensive coverage.
How much comprehensive coverage do you need?
There are no limits or coverage amounts for comprehensive coverage, you either have it or you don’t have it. The amount paid out. Should you need to use your comprehensive coverage depends on the value of your vehicle. If it’s a total loss or the damage, the amount of damage caused to your vehicle, should it be in an accident, the one coverage option you do select when it comes to comprehensive coverage is your deductible.
The deductible limits usually come in increments of $250, $500 dollars, $1000 and sometimes up to $1500 and $2000. What this means is if your vehicle is in an accident and there’s $10,000 worth of damage and let’s say you have a $1,000 deductible. The insurance company will pay for the $10,000 worth of damage minus your $1,000
Deductible. So the insurance company would help pay for $9,000 of the damage to your vehicle. You would be responsible to pay out of pocket for your deductible amount which would be $1,000. So of course the higher your deductible, the lower the premium is going to be. The lower your deductible, the higher the premium is going to be because that means, should you need to use the coverage, it’s going to be less money out of your pocket.
How much does comprehensive coverage cost?
Like all things with insurance, that depends on a number of different factors. It depends on the vehicle you own, how old it is, how expensive it is. That depends on your driving record, that depends on the age of the drivers listed on your insurance policy.
The best advice I can give you is to talk with an independent insurance broker. They can take your unique perspective and situation in mind, and they can craft the best coverage with the best price for your specific situation.