Do You Know What Your Auto Insurance Really Covers?
All too often, individuals find themselves in shock when they find out that the damage done to their vehicle is not covered under their auto insurance policy. This typically happens because individuals are not really aware of what protection each type of coverage offers. Consequently, they simply choose the policy with the lowest monthly premiums and assume that it will fully protect them. Thankfully, you can avoid finding yourself in this same position by taking just a moment to learn more about each type of auto insurance coverage so that you can make sure you are choosing a policy that really offers the level of protection you need.
Liability Coverage
If you have simply been choosing the auto insurance policy with the lowest premiums, chances are you have a policy which offers only liability coverage. All auto insurance policies include this type of coverage since it is required by law for all drivers to carry liability coverage. Liability coverage does not protect your vehicle. Instead, this coverage protects you against being held personally liable for repairing another driver's vehicle or paying their medical bills if you should ever cause an accident. If your policy only includes liability coverage, any damage to your own vehicle will need to be paid out of your own pocket.
Collision & Comprehensive Coverage
Most major insurance carriers bundle these two types of coverage together since the majority of lenders will require both collision and comprehensive coverage if your vehicle is being leased or financed. The coverage offered by collision auto insurance is really quite simple. This type of coverage helps to pay for damage to your own vehicle if you cause an accident. It is important to note that you will need to pay a deductible before this coverage kicks in. Consequently, you may still need to handle minor repairs on your own.
Comprehensive coverage is unlike liability and collision coverage because this coverage does not protect you in an accident. Instead, this coverage protects you if your vehicle is damaged in other ways. For example, if your vehicle is damaged by hail or other extreme weather conditions, comprehensive insurance will cover the damage.
Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage
While every driver on the road should have at least liability insurance, there are still people driving around without any auto insurance at all. If one of these uninsured drivers hits your vehicle, you will need to have uninsured motorist coverage in order to get the cost of the repairs covered. Underinsured motorist coverage works in a similar way. The primary difference is while uninsured motorist coverage offers protection if the other driver has no insurance, underinsured motorist coverage offers protection if they do not have enough insurance coverage to cover all of the accident related expenses in full.
Check out the site of local companies to learn more about auto insurance.
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