Coverage Guide

When a crash is your fault, liability coverage pays for the other side of the accident. It handles their vehicle repairs and their injury costs so the bill does not land on your savings or your paycheck.

State minimums exist, but I find them far below what a serious accident actually costs. Raising your limits usually costs less than you expect, and it closes the gap that worries me most on any policy.

• Worth reviewing if you own a home or hold savings worth protecting
• The first number I check on any existing policy

Collision pays to repair your own vehicle after you hit another car, a guardrail, a pole or anything else on the road. You choose a deductible, pay that share yourself, and the policy handles the rest of the repair.

The newer or more valuable the car, the more strongly I recommend this one. For an older vehicle worth less than its repair bills, I sometimes suggest trimming it.

• A strong fit for financed, leased or recently bought vehicles
• Deductible choice moves the monthly price up or down

Hail dents, a fallen branch, a cracked windshield, flood water or a stolen car. Comprehensive protection looks after damage that has nothing to do with a collision, which in my experience is the damage nobody sees coming.

It pairs naturally with collision cover, and lenders usually ask for both while a car loan is still open.

• Valuable for cars parked outdoors or in storm prone areas
• Covers theft and vandalism along with weather damage

Some drivers carry no insurance at all, and others carry far too little. If one of them hits you, this coverage steps in for your repairs and medical costs when theirs cannot.

I consider it one of the cheaper lines on a policy and one of the most relieving to have when it matters.

• Protects you and your passengers, not the other driver
• Worth carrying wherever uninsured driving is common