How to Know If You Need Comprehensive Car Insurance

As any driver knows, there are many different types of auto insurance for different forms of coverage. Depending upon your insurance company, there could even be additional policies to complement your mandatory liability insurance coverage. While this presents more options, it could also confuse drivers regarding which insurance policies are the most important, and which are worth the investment. However, both collision coverage and comprehensive car insurance have major benefits to consider. Here, we will look at how you can learn if you need comprehensive car insurance, as well as the most important benefits that such a policy will provide.

How Comprehensive Coverage Works

Before you shop insurance providers and type of policies, it’s a good idea to know how those different insurance policies work. All drivers are required to have liability insurance, but two other forms of insurance policies have major benefits: collision coverage and comprehensive coverage. With collision insurance, the name is relatively self-explanatory, covering a driver’s financial interests in the unfortunate event of a traffic collision with another vehicle. However, a comprehensive insurance plan can actually be the ultimate secondary policy to consider, as its benefits are even more wide-reaching.

No matter your age, the age of your vehicle, or the U.S. state in which you live, comprehensive auto insurance covers some of the most common scenarios that can befall a driver. Simply put, a comprehensive car insurance plan helps pay for the repairs that are not due to an auto traffic collision. When you consider the many variables that this entails, it’s easy to understand why a comprehensive insurance policy is one of the most popular secondary policies most drivers tend to purchase. Theft, vandalism, fires and floods, natural disasters, hurricanes, and even lightning damage are variables that could require repair costs. If any of those occur, a comprehensive plan has you covered.

What Comprehensive Insurance Covers

For those drivers considering comprehensive car insurance coverage, running down a few common scenarios is one of the best ways to determine if such a policy is the right fit. Other types of coverage are recommended for concerns regarding medical expenses (or obtaining the actual cash value of your car due to a collision). However, thinking in terms of “property damage” can explain a comprehensive plan’s true value.

Imagine you’re on a public road and a truck in front of you accidentally shoots a rock backwards into your windshield, or items from the truck fall onto your hood. The physical damage your vehicle has accrued would be covered by a comprehensive plan, giving you the needed emergency fund for a new windshield. Likewise, if you accidently hit a deer at night, or if a house fire spreads to the garage or driveway and burns your car’s exterior, your insurance policy would cover the repairs. The unfortunate reality is that vehicles are also common targets for both theft and vandalism. If someone steals your car, or even unsuccessfully attempts to steal your car, the insurance policy will assist you. Your car’s repairs and (depending upon the amount of coverage) paying for a temporary rental car are both among the major benefits you have as a comprehensive policy-holder.

Keep in mind that there are a few important scenarios that a comprehensive plan doesn’t cover. For example, potholes or any damages done by a third party tow-truck company would require other types of policies. However, if those potential situations concern you, it always helps to speak with your car insurance company about their coverage limits and available add-ons. In general, however, coupling a comprehensive policy plan to your primary liability insurance is a smart way to cover most of your bases while out on the road.

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