Automobile insurance coverages:
Coverage that helps protect your vehicle.
Collision
Collision coverage provides for reimbursement of loss to a covered vehicle due to collision with another object or vehicle. It also covers damage caused by potholes. If you have a newer car, consider GAP coverage (see FAQ’s).
Comprehensive
Comprehensive coverage provides reimbursement for damage to your car that isn’t related to an auto accident.
Examples: theft, damage by animals, hitting a deer, fire or falling objects or Godzilla crushes your car. As the name implies, this coverage is very comprehensive.
Coverage that pays for damages you cause.
Bodily injury liability
This coverage pays damages to people injured in an accident cause by you, an insured household member, or someone you have given consent to use your car. This coverage also pays for legal fees, medical bills, and lost wages if someone is injured as a result of an auto accident you caused. An Umbrella policy provides additional liability coverage.
Property damage liability
This coverage pays for the damage or destruction of other people’s property caused by you while operating a covered auto. Other people’s property includes a car, fence, garage door; essentially any tangible property that you hit with your car.
Coverage that protects you.
Uninsured Motorist
Provides coverage for bodily injury incurred by an insured when an accident is caused by a motorist who is not insured or cannot be identified (hit-and-run). This coverage allows an insured to collect from his or her insurer instead of the negligent party.
Underinsured Motorist
This is similar to uninsured coverage except that this section provides coverage for bodily injury incurred by an insured when an accident is caused by a motorist who is not sufficiently insured. This coverage also allows an insured to collect from his or her insurer instead of the negligent party.
Coverage that helps protect you if you’re hurt
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and/or medical payments for injuries and lost wages
If you’re injured in a car accident or hit by a car as a pedestrian, this coverage can help pay your health insurance deductible (if you have one) as well as medical costs that exceed your health insurance limits.