Usually, comprehensive coverage covers all the damage to your car other than collision. It pays for the damage to your vehicle in an accident such as theft. It covers the damage from hail, fire, theft, or falling objects (such as a tree), damage caused by factors other than collision. Like collision coverage, comprehensive coverage is obligatory on both leasing and vehicles on instalments. Other than this, fully owned cars or cars whose instalments have paid don’t need comprehensive coverage; it’s an optional coverage to your insurance policy. It will be a smart choice if you bundle comprehensive coverage with collision and liability coverage to have maximum protection. You can choose classic car insurance specially designed for classic cars, which gives flexible usage and customized content.
Why Do You Need Comprehensive Coverage?
If you think about why you need comprehensive insurance, consider a situation where you’re late for work and dash out of your house for work, but as you open the driver’s side door of the car, you see that your windshield gets destroyed because of a ball-sized chunk of hail. You contemplate to yourself whether all windshield damages are equal under the minimum insurance policy of your state or not.
You require comprehensive insurance for such situations to avoid paying out of your pocket for the damages. Comprehensive coverage would pay for the shattered windshield if the hail caused it. But if your windshield gets damaged in a car accident, it would be covered in the collision insurance or liability coverage of the drivers who caused the accident.
What Does Comprehensive Insurance Cover?
Whether comprehensive insurance covers your damage in an accident depends on the type of accident and its circumstances. Every accident is different; however, generally, the following are a few common types of damage that comprehensive insurance covers:
- Windstorms
- Stealing
- Fire
- Vandalism
- Falling objects
- Hail
- Windshield damage
- Earthquakes
- A car slammed by animals
Does Comprehensive Coverage Mean Full Coverage?
Comprehensive coverage is not full coverage. There is a difference in both types of coverage. Usually, people mistake both coverages and interchangeably use these terms. The difference in both coverages is that no insurance company offers full coverage rather than simple words. The term full coverage means coverage that covers everything, where no insurance policy covers everything.
As mentioned before, comprehensive insurance is optional; insurers offer the liability insurance required by your state law. It provides additional protection to your vehicle from the accident other than a vehicular collision. It is smart to have a pair of different insurance coverage rather than having a single super policy.
Deductibles in Comprehensive Coverage
A deductible is an amount you pay for the covered claim. When you buy comprehensive coverage, you have to choose the amount of deductible. For instance, you choose $500 for the deductibles. If your car gets damaged in a car accident and the total repairing cost is $1500, you will pay $500 for the damage, and your insurance company will cover the rest of the repairing cost.
The Limit of Comprehensive Coverage
The limit in comprehensive coverage is the maximum amount your insurance company will pay for your car’s damage. Usually, the limit of comprehensive coverage is the total value of your vehicle.
How to Choose the Deductibles for Comprehensive Coverage
Your insurance company will ask you to choose from the set of given deductible amounts. If you choose a higher deductible, the amount of premium is less, which means you can save the upfront money, but you have to pay more for the covered claim. Similarly, if you choose the lesser deductible amount, you will pay more for the coverage. It is better to discuss it with your insurance agent, who might help you determine the right deductible amount according to your needs.
