When you buy a new car you never expect to suffer an accident, you may even think everyone is following the driving rules, and nobody will touch your car. But the sad truth is accidents happens, so you need to add Collision Coverage and/or Comprehensive coverage in your policy.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) informed the amount of fatalities in the road increased by 0,2% in 2022, and everything points the amount of casualties will increase even more in 2023. Then, have this question: what exactly do Comprehensive and Collision Insurance cover, and how do they differ? And does comprehensive insurance cover collision damage? In this article, we'll answer these questions and help you make an informed decision about your auto insurance options.
What is Collision Insurance?
Collision insurance covers your car when you suffer an accident, and it pays for repairs or replacement bills, minus deductibles, regardless of who is at fault. Collision insurance as its name indicates, covers collisions with other vehicles, objects like a fence or a guardrail, or when other vehicle hits your car and then hit-and-run, such as trees, guardrails, or when your car rolls over. However, collision insurance doesn't cover some collisions like damages to another person’s car, it won’t cover the injures you suffer in the accident, and even less would cover the repair bills of the object you destroyed with your car. Collision Insurance won’t cover theft, vandalism, or any sort of damage caused by the weather such as hurricane, flood, fires or hail among others.
How does Collision’s Insurance deductible work?
When you add Collision Insurance to your policy you have to set the amount of deductibles you’re going to pay when you file a claim. That amount is going to be deducted from the total amount of money you’re going to receive from part of your car insurer settlement. For example, you suffer and accident and your repairing bills costs $1,500 and you set $500 in deductibles. Once you file the claim and you receive your car insurer’s check you will see that amount of money deduced in your check, and yoiu will receive $1,000 ($1,500 - $500 = $1,000).
What is Comprehensive Insurance?
Comprehensive insurance, also known as "other than collision" insurance, protects your car against non-collision damages like hurricanes, hails, flood, fires, theft, or vandalism among others. It’s importat to know that Comprehensive Insurance will also cover damages from animals. For example, if you hit a deer, or if mices bite your vehicle’s electrical wires, that will be also covered.
Remember, Comprehensive Insurance will never cover any damage taken by other vehicle, it won’t cover your vehicle damage expenses if you DUI (it will only cover damages you do to other properties or people up to the limit of your liability coverage), arson your vehicle to create a fake claim to your insurance, or just planning an accident with your vehicle. That sort of scenarios will never work, your car insurer’s adjuster will find out, and you will be a criminal act at very least.
How much does Comprehesnive car insurance cost?
There are many factors what would affect on your premiums like your car specs (make and model, age of the vehicle, etc), your zip code, your age, gender, marital status, credit score, driving records or claim history among others. I posted several comprehensive coverage costs from many car insurers from the US. You can check them all here.
How does Comprehensive’s Insurance deductible work?
It works simillar as the Collision Insurance, you have ot set the amount of deductibles that amount of money will be deduced from your car insurer’s check. For example. when your car suffers damage from a flood, your car’s engine it’s literally submerged in the water, and the engine repair costs is worth $5,000 and the amount of deductibles you set was $500, your car insurer will give you $4,500 because they already deduced the amount of money you set as deductibles ($5,000 for the engine repair bills - $500 for your deductibles = $4,500).
Collision vs. Comprehensive Insurance
Each coverage option have their pros and cons, Collision Insurance will protect your car against accidents with collision regardless who is at fault, including hit-and-run or when your car rolls over. It also covers the damages your vechile receives when impacting against an object like a fence or a pole. However Collision Insurance will not cover the repairing costs of the fence you destroy, theft or vandalism, you will have to add Comprehensive Insurance to protect your car gainst theft or vandalism. Beware, of Collison’s Insurance costs tend to be more expensive than Comprehensive one.
Comprehensive Insurance is the extra coverage you need for everything but collison damage, this coverage option is a must when living in California, Florida or Michigan due the amount of natural disasters happening in those states. It’s one of the best coverage you can choose when living in Pennsylvania due the large amount of deers in the middle of the road during fall. As said above, it covers acts of vandalism of theft, let’s say you live in Albuquerque, as you know, Albuquerque has the highest car theft rates in the country, that’s why you should consider add comprehensive Insurance to your policy. Remember, Comprehensive Insurance won’t cover arson, or any damage your car receives when you’re DUI. Said so, let’s see when would you choose Collision or Comprehensive Insurance:
When to Choose Collision Insurance?
Many factors would make Collision Insurance as your best option to add in your policy. Let’s say you want to buy a new car, and you have to ask a loan, in that case, in most states lenders will request you to add Collision Insurance in your policy. When you add Collision Insurance in your new car policy, you’re keeping the actual value of that car up for longer time.
Another good example to know when you must to add Collision Insurance in your policy is when you’re going to insure a classic car. As you know, the original replacement parts of a classic or antique car are quite hard to find, their often to cost a huge amount of money to buy them. In that case, you must add Collision coverage in your policy.
Another scenario where you’d not need to add Collision Insurance is when you have an old car and you can’t affort to buy a new one, in that case, you’d better don’t add collision coverage to your policy, because if the repair or replacement costs of the car are higher than the actual value of the car would be a really waste of money. For example: your car is worth $3,000 and your repair bills costs $5,000, in that case you shouldn’t add Collision Insurance.
When to Choose Comprehensive Insurance?
As I explained above, Comprehensive Insurnace is just a must when you live in a state prone to natural disasters such as California (earthquakes, fires), Florida (hurricanes) or Michigan (floods), it’s also a good choice when you live in a state with a lot of deers running in the woods.
Most lenders will require you to add Comprehensive and Collision Insurance when requesting a loan to buy a car. However, as you buy a new car you should add Collision and Comprehensive Insurance, there is also the other scenario. It’s not a good idea to add Comprehensive when you drive an old cheap car that is not worth $3,000 and you’re going to change your car soon, then you shouldn’t buy Comprehensive Insurance.
Does Comprehensive Insurance Cover Collision?
Now that we've covered the basics of collision and comprehensive insurance, you may wonder if comprehensive insurance covers collision damage. The short answer is no, comprehensive insurance doesn't cover damages caused by a collision with another vehicle or object. However, there are some situations where comprehensive insurance may apply to collision damage.
For example, if you hit a deer while driving, or a falling tree impact in your car, that sort sort of damages will be covered by your comprehensive coverage, it will happen the same if your car is vandalized or stolen. However, you must read the declaration page of your policy because there are several senteces of your policy that may be interpretated differently than what you expect, it may say your Comprehensive Insurance will cover water damage from natural disasters but it may not cover water damages from borken water pipes.
FAQs
Q: What is the difference between collision and comprehensive insurance?
A: Collision insurance covers damages to your vehicle caused by a collision with another vehicle or object, while comprehensive insurance covers damages caused by non-collision events, such as natural disasters, theft, vandalism, and animal collisions.
Q: Do I need both collision and comprehensive insurance?
A: No, collision and comprehensive insurance are optional coverages that you can add to your auto insurance policy. Whether you need one or both depends on your individual circumstances, such as the age and value of your vehicle, your driving habits, and your risk tolerance.
Q: Does comprehensive insurance cover collision damage?
A: No, comprehensive insurance doesn't cover damages caused by a collision with another vehicle or object. However, some non-collision events that are covered by comprehensive insurance may also cause collision damage, such as falling objects or animal collisions.
Q: Is collision insurance more expensive than comprehensive insurance?
A: Based on the National Association of Insurance Commissiones website, on average, Collision Insurance costs $380 per year, and Comprehensive Insurance costs $180 per year.
Q: What is the deductible for collision and comprehensive insurance?
A: When you buy Collision and Comprheensive Insurance for your car, you have ot set the amount of deductibles. That amount of money will be deduced from your car insurer’s check.
Q: Should I file a claim for minor damages?
A: My personal experience about minor damages is this: is better do not file a claim for minor damages becuase
1st. Your premiums will increase,
2nd. Your only have to pay a couple of hundreds to fix it, and it won’t even surpass your deductibles.
Conclusion:
When you’ve to choose between Collision or Comprehensive Insurance, you must know what are the diffeence between both of them. Collision, as its name indicates, it will pay your car repair and replacement bills when suffering an accident, minus deductibles, regardless who is at fault. In the other hand, Comprehensive Insurance will protect your car against other sort of non-collision accidents like acts of God like fire, floods, earthquakes or hurricanes. At the same time, it will cover your car agaisnt theft and vandalism. We can’t decide for you which is the best coverage option for you, in fact both are great for your car, however, Comprehensive and Collision won’t cover everything, Comprehensive Insurance won’t cover damages from a direct collision accident, you’d need Collision Insurance for that, but Collision won’t cover theft or vandalism, you must add Comprehensive Insurance for that. Remember landers will request you to add both of them when taking a loan to buy a new car. If you still have any doubts about what is the right coverage for you, I strongly recommend you to talk with a car insurance agent to answer any of your questions.
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