So you want or need full coverage. Here’s what you need to know, and a few tips to save money. Full coverage is a term people use to describe the two coverages that protect your car from damages. These are Comprehensive and Collision, and even though people talk about full coverage like its a singular thing they are two separate individual coverages. Each one can have its own different deductible and covers different things. Lets look at what they are first and then we can look at some good strategies to save you money. If you’re really comfortable with your insurance knowledge, you can skip down to the section where we get to the savings strategies.
Comprehensive coverage is what covers your car if no one is driving it or if it’s not moving. This would include if a tree falls on it, it floods, or any act of nature. A notable except to the driving rule is if you hit an animal in the road (or it hits you). This is covered under comprehensive. A notable exception that’s not covered is if your car is hit in a parking lot and you’re not around. This either goes under collision damage, or if the at fault party comes forward, their insurance should pay for it.
Collision covers your car if its involved in an at-fault accident. Keep in mind if there are other cars involved, they are covered under your liability. The collision coverage is just for your car. Both comprehensive and collision have a deductible. This is the part of the damages you are responsible for. So if you have a $500 deductible and $4500 in damage to your auto, the insurance will pay for $4000 of it and you are responsible for the other $500. As your deductible gets lower, the cost of the coverage goes up. If you get a higher deductible it likewise goes down in price. The standard deductible is $500 and lenders will almost always take up to $1000 deductible.
