Insurance

What Is Full Coverage Car Insurance All About?

Nobody enjoys having to pay for auto insurance. Why bother if you’ve been driving for years and never required it? When it comes to auto insurance, like many other things in life, it’s preferable to have it when you don’t need it than to not have it when you need it. This is a fact that is well-known regarding auto insurance. Over the years, different insurance schemes have been made for cars and a highly recommended one is “full coverage insurance”. Let’s dive into it!

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What is full coverage car insurance?

Full coverage car insurance is a term used by brokers, lenders, and car dealers to describe a policy that includes many coverages. Instead of referring to a particular type of coverage, it describes a collection of coverage that protect policyholders from a range of events. It covers all the major aspects of auto insurance, including uninsured motorists, collision and comprehensive, bodily injury, and property damage. About half of this coverage are normally mandated by law for you to carry. In this post, we will go into great detail on what full coverage entails and why you should think about having it.

Parts of full coverage car insurance

When people ask “what is full coverage car insurance?” It is believed that it is an insurance policy that covers everything that has to do with automobiles. However, there are two major parts of full coverage insurance: liability insurance and first-party benefits.

1.   Liability insurance

Liability insurance pays for the harm you inflict on another driver’s vehicle or passengers when you are at fault. Bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD) liability insurance are the two basic categories of insurance that fall under liability.  You are only required by law to carry just one of the two auto insurance. While property damage refers to any harm you make on a building or another vehicle, bodily injury concerns injuries you inflict on the drivers themselves. These two do not protect you or your car, they are for other drivers to file a claim against your insurer. For instance, you would have to claim with the other driver’s BI insurance rather than your BI coverage if you were hurt in an accident and needed surgery.

The basic kind of auto insurance you may carry are these two coverage. Every state establishes a minimum, which is expressed as a three-number combination, for example, 25/50/25. The first and second figures are your BI coverage limits; the first represents your insurance coverage for one accident-related person, and the second represents your coverage for the entire accident. The third figure is the cap on your liability insurance for property damage.

2.   First party benefits

Several insurance schemes fall under the category of first-party benefits and make up the second element of “full coverage”. Although it is often more expensive, its major benefit is that you can utilize it much more quickly for personal injuries and medical costs. There are two sides to this insurance policy;

  • Personal injury protection

Personal injury protection insurance might be compared to BI for your injuries. If you were hurt in a car accident, you can file a claim through your PIP to cover your medical costs rather than having to go through the other driver’s BI insurance. The fundamental advantage of PIP is that it provides benefits regardless of fault. PIP frequently overlaps with your health insurance and typically serves as a valuable addition and extra layer of security.

  • Collision and comprehensive insurance

Collision coverage is similar to PIP for automobiles. Regardless of who caused the accident, you can file a claim with your collision insurance to have any damage to your automobile fixed. Your car can be repaired fast because you do not have to wait for the insurance company of the other motorist to make a payment. The disadvantage of collision insurance is that it frequently represents more than half of the cost of auto insurance, making it the most expensive component. The cost will be significantly higher for expensive autos. Fortunately, choosing a large deductible can allow you to keep your collision insurance rate under control.

Why should you get full coverage car insurance?

If there is an accident, choosing only liability insurance and skipping the “first-party” coverage results in a long and uncertain claims process where you deal with another insurer rather than your own. If you submit a claim through someone else’s insurance company, there is a greater possibility that it won’t be approved or that you’ll have to settle for less money than you had hoped.

Filing via a different insurer also necessitates proving the identity of the “at-fault” motorist, which is frequently challenging and occasionally state-dependent. Why go through unnecessary stress when you get all in a full package?

How to make full coverage car insurance affordable

Although full coverage car insurance is pricey, there are several ways to reduce your costs. The first is to increase your collision and comprehensive coverage deductibles, which can result in significant cost savings. The next step is to apply for any discounts you may be eligible for. For things like being a cautious driver, a good student, or finishing a driver’s education course, insurance companies give discounts. By utilizing these, you can reduce your annual coverage insurance bill by 20%. Shopping around is the last, and possibly greatest, piece of advice for lowering the cost of full coverage. You can save a lot of money on your auto insurance by comparing quotes. You just need to be diligent enough to look for them, since we have always located a business in each given area giving a price that is significantly lower than its rivals.

Conclusion

By now you don’t have to ask anyone the question “what is Full coverage car insurance? Full coverage provides additional coverage for damage made to your car, along with all the state-mandated coverage types. Although it is possible to have full coverage insurance with low liability limits, many full coverage policies have higher liability coverage limits. This provides you and your family with more comprehensive coverage and increased financial security.

 

About the author

Zainab Olatunji

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