No car accident is a good accident
Even the smallest fender bender costs you time, convenience, and improbably expensive repairs. Serious accidents can total your car, injure you or a passenger, and even result in fatalities. While nothing can undo an accident, the right insurance policy can help relieve at least the financial burdens associated with one.
What does Car Insurance cover?
Like most insurance policies, an auto insurance policy provides a combination of coverages that reimburse you for different costs. Most states requires liability coverage at the minimum to drive or register a vehicle. The most common offered coverages are below.
- Liability Coverage is required by law in nearly all states. If you cause an accident, your insurer will pay for your legal responsibility to anyone who was injured (Bodily Injury Liability) or whose property was damaged (Property damage liability) up to the limit specified in your policy.
- Collision Coverage pays for damage done to your car when you’re at fault in a collision with another vehicle, an object, or you rolled your vehicle. It will cover damages based on market value of your vehicle.
- Comprehensive Coverage reimburses you for damage caused to your vehicle by theft, vandalism, fire, flood, hail, rain, and other specified non-collision incidents.
- Medical Payments Coverage will cover you or your passengers’ immediate medical bills due to an accident, regardless of who is at fault. Liability coverage only covers damages done to others, and your personal health insurance may have a high deductible, leaving you to pay for an ambulance or X-Rays out of pocket. Medical Payments Coverage can bridge that gap. Similar to Personal Injury Protection (PIP) in no-fault states.
- Uninsured Motorist Coverage even if you aren’t found at fault in a collision, the other party might be unable to pay all of your injuries. If you are the victim of a hit-and-run or the at-fault party has no insurance, this coverage will reimburse you for medical expenses. It is often combined with Underinsured Motorist Coverage, which will reimburse you for medical expenses beyond the other party’s insurance limits in cases of serious injury.
Some insurers offer add-on coverages, such as no-deductible Glass Coverage for damage to windows and mirrors, or Gap Coverage to make sure you aren’t stuck paying off a loan way beyond your vehicle’s value if it gets totaled. The sheer number of options available to car insurance customers can be overwhelming, and premiums can be drastically different depending on your age, vehicle type, and driving history. Our Price comparison tool takes some of the guesswork out, or you can talk to an agent today!