When you have full coverage auto insurance your car is covered in the event of an accident to pay for repairs to your car. In reality ‘full coverage’ is a misleading term as all insurance policies have their own limitations. Different auto insurance policies exclude different coverage such as fault of the insured driver, wear and tear and more. It is necessary to understand what the term ‘full coverage’ actually covers to avoid shocking expenses. Consumers are made to believe that they are fully covered even though there are risks left uncovered that are not disclosed. You should also be aware that you cannot expect auto insurance to pay for all repairs such as when you have to replace your tire due to running on a nail. In this case you have to pay for it out of your pocket. The point to be noted here is that auto insurance does not pay for every repair of your car. You car repairs of covered only in the case of accident or vandalism. So when you purchase your auto insurance make sure to talk to your agent or insurance company or better still read the details carefully to know about the exact coverage offered.
The full coverage auto insurance usually covers the following in the event of an accident:
- Liability Coverage: Liability coverage pays for claims made by others against you for damages to others caused you which include bodily injury as well as property damage. Think about it, can you pay if someone won a lawsuit for $600,000 against you? Most of us cannot.
- Comprehensive and Collision coverage: Comprehensive coverage gives protection against damages to the insured driver’s vehicle caused by happenings other than collision. They include fire, theft vandalism and the like. Collision coverage covers damages caused to the insured driver’s vehicle due to a collision.
- Personal Injury Protection coverage: In short PIP, personal injury protection coverage will pay for medical expenses of you and your family.
You are fully protected only when you buy full coverage auto insurance that will pay for repair costs, medical expenses and the expenses connected with liability law suits when you meet with an accident. Full coverage auto insurance will pay for damages if the accident involves an uninsured or underinsured driver.
If you have loans on your vehicle, you should have extra coverage that will take care of paying off your vehicle loan in the even of damage to your vehicle cause by an accident. Automobile loans make it mandatory to have full coverage auto insurance for your vehicle. Not having a full coverage means that in the event of an accident you are involved in an accident you will end up being without a vehicle and also pay off your automobile loan in full.
Having full coverage auto insurance is the real protection you have against major financial loss and you should make sure that you get the above mentioned coverage when you choose your auto insurance policy.