Car insurance helps pay for another person’s property damage and injuries if you are found at fault in an accident. It also covers you and your passengers’ medical expenses, as well as lost wages.
Your vehicle’s age and value, and your driving record influence your premium rates. Your deductible and coverage options also affect your rates.
Comprehensi서울운전연수 ve Coverage
Comprehensive coverage pays to fix your car if it gets damaged in a non-collision accident, like a fire or an act of vandalism. It’s often paired with collision insurance as part of a full coverage car insurance policy and is required by lenders for drivers who lease or finance vehicles. Comprehensive is worth it if you have a newer vehicle that would be expensive to repair or replace, especially in an area prone to natural disasters, break-ins and theft.
It may not make sense to get comprehensive if your vehicle is old and depreciated, in which case the cost of the premiums and deductible could exceed the actual cash value (ACV) of the vehicle. In that case, you might want to consider dropping comprehensive and saving the extra money in your budget.
You can lower your comprehensive insurance rates by increasing the deductible, which is the amount you pay out of pocket before the insurer starts to cover repairs. However, be sure you choose a deductible you can afford to pay in the event of an accident. You can also reduce your rates by maintaining a clean driving record, choosing a higher coverage limit and removing unneeded coverage from your policy. Checking with several companies can help you find the best comprehensive car insurance rate. If you have a newer or less expensive vehicle, it may not be necessary to carry comprehensive, but you should regularly evaluate your coverage needs and your car’s value in order to keep costs low.
Collision Coverage
It’s not hard to get into a car accident—from those minor fender benders in grocery store parking lots to rear-ending the vehicle ahead of you on the highway. But even if you’re not at fault, collision coverage helps pay to repair or replace your vehicle. This is an optional coverage, but most lenders require it if you’re leasing or financing a car.
Collision insurance also pays for damage from “other” sources, like when your car hits a tree or pole while parked on the street, or is damaged by weather (like hail and wind) or other hazards while driving, such as rocks or potholes. It’s typically limited to the actual cash value of your car, minus your collision deductible.
You can choose the amount of your collision deductible, which is the amount you have to pay before the insurer starts paying on a covered claim. Generally, the higher the deductible you choose, the lower your premium will be.
Some people remove collision coverage once their vehicle reaches about the age of 10, when it’s likely to be worth less than they would have to spend to repair or replace it. However, it’s a good idea to talk to a Travelers agent to determine your specific car’s value and the cost of a replacement, so you can make an informed decision about whether or not to keep collision coverage.서울운전연수
Medical Payments
Medical payments (often shortened to MedPay) is an optional coverage that pays for your injuries after a car accident. It doesn’t matter who caused the crash, and it typically covers you and your passengers. The amount of coverage you choose determines your premium.
While this type of car insurance isn’t required in most states, it’s a smart investment. It can help pay for things like ambulance rides and specific diagnostics, treatment options, and prosthetic devices after a car accident. It can also help cover your health insurance deductible or copays, and it may even reimburse you for some lost wages if an injury makes it difficult to work.
The benefit of this coverage is that it moves with you, so if you’re hit while walking, riding your bike, or even when you’re a passenger in someone else’s vehicle, you’ll still be covered. It’s similar to personal injury protection, or PIP, another type of car insurance that’s mandatory in some states and provides more extensive benefits such as wage reimbursement.
It’s important to carefully weigh the cost of adding medical payments to your policy against the potential costs of being injured in a car accident. If you have a good health insurance plan with high coverage limits, MedPay might not be necessary. However, if you’re financially strained by a high health insurance deductible or copays or you don’t have any health insurance at all, it could be worth the extra expense.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage
In addition to liability coverage, many people purchase comprehensive and collision insurance as well to protect themselves in the event that they are involved in an accident with an uninsured or under-insured driver. Depending on state law, you may be able to stack these two types of coverage together as a part of a full-coverage policy. There are different types of uninsured motorist coverage, but both usually consist of uninsured motorist bodily injury and uninsured motorist property damage.
Uninsured motorist bodily injury, or UMBI, covers medical expenses and other losses that you, members of your family in your household, or passengers suffer after an accident with an at-fault driver who has no car insurance. This type of coverage usually has limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. It also covers those losses even if the at-fault driver is unidentified.
Underinsured motorist property damage, or UMPD, pays for your car repairs after an accident with an at-fault person who has liability coverage, but not enough to cover all your damages. In some states, UMPD also includes property damage that you or members of your family sustain while on foot or riding a bicycle. UMPD has limits of up to $10,000 per accident. It may require you to pay a $500 policy deductible before your insurer pays for repairs.