If my car breaks down, will car insurance cover the cost? When first buying car insurance, what it covers is a common question. This post answers the question of “What does car insurance cover?” We also show you how to find the best car insurance.
Is your main interest in car insurance price? If so, click the button below to find a fair price where you live.
What Car Insurance Does Not Cover
Items not covered include maintenance, operating costs and warranty work. Examples of this include: tune-ups, cleaning, fuel, new tires or upgrades such as window tinting.
What does car insurance cover?
There are three main types of car insurance. To understand what car insurance does cover, understanding the three main types of insurance is important. The main types of car insurance include liability, collision and comprehensive insurance.
- Liability insurance – this is required by law in most states. Liability insurance pays the expenses of the person or property you damage when you have an accident and you are at fault.
- Collision insurance – this type of insurance is not required by law. However, if you have a loan on the vehicle, the lender may require you to have collision insurance. Collision insurance covers the damage to your car when involved in an accident. Only buy collision insurance if the cost of the insurance is low relative to the value of the car.
- Comprehensive insurance – this type of insurance is not required by law. Comprehensive insurance covers the cost of fixing your car when there is damage not related to an accident. For example, if your car is broken into, or a tree falls on the car, comprehensive insurance applies.
Optional Coverage
Optional coverage includes items such as broken glass and roadside assistance. As the name implies, optional coverage is not required. You can add optional coverage at any time. Not surprisingly, optional coverage will increase the price.
Finding The Best Insurance
Not all insurance is the same. Here is a fictitious, but possible, example. Two drivers have the same coverage, similar accidents, but a totally different experience. Each driver has $100,000 of liability and collision coverage. Both drivers hit someone else, injuring themselves and passengers in the other car. Both cars are badly damaged.
After the accident, one insurance company readily pays the bills. As a reputable company, they pay promptly. However, the other company takes a different approach. The second insurance company has investigators (called claims adjusters) call the home and work of the injured people. Under the guise of caring about the injured person, the investigators talk to family members and colleagues, asking leading questions. The leading questions are crafted with an intent to get the family member or colleague to say the person wasn’t injured badly or that they’re doing fine. This gives the less scrupulous insurer a reason to delay or deny payment.
Don’t Get Stuck With Bad Insurance
Finally, people can know which companies are supportive of policyholders and which are not. If you haven’t had insurance before, or want better insurance, click the link below. We show the best car insurance companies in every state.
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