Auto insurance policies (all of them, no matter what company you are with) include several different “buckets of money” -or coverages – inside of them.
There are THREE types of coverages on your auto insurance contract.
There is no right or wrong answer… however, it is up to you to decide how much (or how little) money the insurance company will pay out for you if there is a claim. You decide if you want them to be able to open their wallets a little… or alot.
Coverages that protect the person that you hit!
Bodily Injury Liability
Will help pay for medical costs, funeral costs, lost income, pain and suffering for those you injure. It will also pay for your defense if you are sued after an auto accident. This is the coverage that you will be relying on if you get sued from wrongful death if you are liable for an accident where someone is killed.
Property Damage Liability
Will help pay for damages to someone else’s property that you damage- such as a fence, a vehicle (or multiple vehicles!), a stop light, or a building. It will also pay for your defense if you are sued after an auto accident.
Coverages that protect you and your passengers (physically).
Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury
Helps cover you and the people in your car for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering if the person that hit you does not have ANY insurance.
Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury
Helps cover you and the people in your car for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering if the person that hit you does not have ENOUGH insurance.
Medical Payments
Helps cover you and the people in Helps pay your or your passengers medical expenses if you are injured in a car accident- REGARDLESS of who is at fault.
Coverages that protect your vehicle.
Collision
After you pay the deductible that you set, the insurance will cover fixing/replacing your vehicle if you COLLIDE with something (or overturn the car).
This includes if you hit a snowbank, a tree, or another car!
Comprehensive
After you pay the deductible that you set, the insurance will cover fixing/replacing your vehicle if anything happens to your car that is NOT a collision. This includes things like:
- hitting an animal (aka: deer)
- vehicle being stolen
- parts (aka: catalytic converter) being stolen off car
- tree limbs falling on vehicle
- windshield coverage
- something flying off another car and hitting you
- hail damage
- anything that is not you hitting something else
Transportation / Rental Reimbursement
If your vehicle is in the body shop because you have a claim- you will be given a rental car (or reimbursed for Uber’s, bus fare, taxi, etc) for up to a certain length of time without having to pay for it out of your own pocket. You select the “level” of rental car (ie- size / daily rate) you want when you purchase your policy.