How Does Comprehensive Auto Insurance Work?

Sherri Ramos

Having auto insurance is a necessity if you own or drive a car and if you want protection, but the type of coverage you choose is up to you. One of the options available is called comprehensive coverage. Here are a few things you should understand about the way this type of coverage works. Learning these things can help you determine if you should add this coverage to your policy or not.

The basic principle of comprehensive coverage

Comprehensive auto insurance coverage is a unique type of coverage designed for incidents that are primarily non-collision types of accidents. In other words, this coverage protects you from incidents that can cause damage to your car that do not involve a collision with your car. Through this coverage, you have extra coverage for incidents that might not be covered with your collision auto insurance.

The types of incidents included

There are many things that can cause damage to your car that do not involve a collision of any kind. For example, if someone decides to break a window of your car to get inside to steal or damage things inside your vehicle, this would be something that you could use your comprehensive insurance for. Vandalism is not something that collision coverage protects you from in most cases. A second example of damage covered by comprehensive insurance is storm damage. If a storm caused large pieces of hail to dent your car or caused a tree branch to fall and land on your car, your car might have severe damage. In these situations, you can use your comprehensive coverage for compensation to cover the damages.  

How it works with a claim

If you experience a type of damage covered by comprehensive insurance, and if you have this type of coverage, you could file a claim to receive compensation. Your insurance company will not pay for the entire bill, though, but they will cover everything besides the amount of your deductible. Because of this, you should make sure you compare the damage total to your deductible to make sure it is worthwhile for you to file a claim for the damage you experienced from the event.

You have the ability to choose this coverage or not and you also have the option of choosing the deductible for the policy. If you would like to find out more information about it, talk to an insurance agent today.


Share