What Makes Auto Insurance Full Coverage?
Anyone who owns a car has likely had someone tell them that they need to carry full coverage auto insurance. Coverage comes in many types, though. What even counts as full coverage car insurance? These five elements should appear in a full policy.
Liability
Liability coverage is the absolute baseline. If you don't have liability, then you're not meaningfully insured. Liability covers your potential responsibility for economic and medical damages involving third parties. If you have an at-fault accident with another car, your liability policy addresses any victims' medical expenses, lost wages, and property losses. The same would apply if your vehicle damages real estate, such as hitting a house.
In many states, the law requires drivers to have a minimum amount of third-party liability coverage. Even if your state doesn't require it, liability coverage is a good idea because accidents do happen. You don't want to be on the hook if someone suffers injuries when you might be at fault for the accident.
Collision
This covers the replacement of your vehicle. It applies regardless of who might be at fault for the accident. If you can't afford to replace your vehicle cash or don't want the hassle, collision is essential to a full coverage auto insurance policy.
Comprehensive
Collisions with other vehicles aren't everything that can happen to a car. A comprehensive policy covers damage from extreme weather, fires, animal incidents, theft, and vandalism. If you live in a high-crime area, you want a comprehensive policy. The same applies if you drive somewhere that has lots of deer. That goes double if you drive a lot at night.
A comprehensive policy rounds out your coverage. If you're worried about the thousands of unpredictable things that could happen, comp protects you when one of those events hits.
Uninsured Motorist
Insurance is great, but you don't want to bet that the other driver has insurance if they're at fault. Ideally, they do. However, uninsured motorist coverage ensures that the money will be there even if the other driver isn't covered.
Medical and PIP
Medical payments coverage takes care of you and any passengers in your vehicle. This is another policy that applies regardless of who might have been at fault. You don't want to risk suffering severe injuries in an accident, learn that you were at fault, and then have to figure out how to cover medical expenses.
Personal injury protection extends this concept to lost wages and other economic losses regardless of fault. Many no-fault states require PIP coverage.
For more information on full coverage car insurance, contact an insurance provider today.