Liability, Collision and Comprehensive: Coverage Types Explained

Key takeaways

• Liability pays for injuries and damage you cause to others. It does not repair your own car.
• Collision pays to repair your car after a crash with a vehicle or object, regardless of fault, minus your deductible.
• Comprehensive covers non-crash events such as theft, fire, hail, flooding, vandalism and animal strikes.
• Almost every state requires liability coverage; lenders and leasing companies usually require collision and comprehensive too.

Liability: the damage you cause to others

Liability coverage pays for injuries and property damage you cause to other people while driving. It does not repair your own car or pay for your own injuries. It is the foundation of an auto policy and the coverage states most often require. Almost every state requires drivers to carry it; New Hampshire is the best-known exception, although drivers there can still be held financially responsible for damage they cause.

Bodily injury liability

Pays for other people's injuries when you are at fault, including medical bills, lost income and, depending on the state, pain and suffering. It also typically pays for your legal defense if you are sued over a covered accident.

Property damage liability

Pays to repair or replace property you damage. That is usually another person's car, but it can also be a fence, a building, a utility pole or a road sign.

Reading the three numbers

Liability limits are usually written as three numbers separated by slashes. A policy listed as 50/100/50 would pay up to:

• $50,000 for bodily injury to any one person,
• $100,000 in total for bodily injury in a single accident, and
• $50,000 for property damage in a single accident.

Each state sets its own minimum limits. Costs above your limits can become your personal responsibility, which is why many drivers choose limits well above the minimum.

Collision: repairs to your car after a crash

Collision coverage pays to repair your own vehicle after it hits another vehicle or an object, like a guardrail, a pole or a tree, or if it rolls over. It applies regardless of who was at fault. You pay your deductible first, and the insurer pays the rest of the covered repair cost, up to the car's value.

If another driver caused the crash, you can usually file a claim with their liability insurer instead. You can also use your own collision coverage, which is sometimes faster when fault is disputed. Your insurer may then seek repayment from the at-fault driver's insurer, a process called subrogation, and if it succeeds you may get some or all of your deductible back.

Comprehensive: damage that isn't a collision

Comprehensive coverage, sometimes labeled "other than collision," pays for damage to your car from events other than a crash, such as:

• Theft of the car, or damage from an attempted theft
• Vandalism
• Fire
• Hail, windstorms, flooding and falling trees or objects
• Hitting an animal, such as a deer
• Broken glass, including windshields

Comprehensive carries its own deductible, which can differ from your collision deductible. Some policies, and some states, handle windshield repair or replacement differently, occasionally with a reduced or waived deductible for glass.

Actual cash value and total losses

Both collision and comprehensive generally pay up to the car's actual cash value: what it was worth just before the loss, allowing for age, mileage and condition, not what you originally paid. If repairs would cost more than a certain share of that value, the insurer may declare the car a total loss and pay its value minus your deductible instead. If you owe more on a loan or lease than the car is worth, gap coverage is designed to cover that difference.

Other coverages you will see on a quote

• Uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM). Protects you when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little. Our UM/UIM guide covers it in detail.
• Personal injury protection (PIP). Pays medical expenses and some other costs, such as lost wages, for you and your passengers regardless of fault. It is required in no-fault states and optional or unavailable in many others.
• Medical payments (MedPay). Pays medical expenses for you and your passengers after a crash regardless of fault, usually with lower limits and a narrower scope than PIP.
• Rental reimbursement. Helps pay for a rental car while yours is repaired after a covered claim, usually with daily and total caps.
• Roadside assistance. Covers services such as towing, jump-starts and lockouts, subject to the policy's terms.

What people mean by "full coverage"

"Full coverage" is a common phrase, but it is not a formal insurance term, and no policy covers everything. It usually describes a policy that combines liability, collision and comprehensive. If a lender or leasing company requires "full coverage," ask exactly which coverages and maximum deductibles it needs, then check your declarations page to confirm what you actually have.

How to think about what you need

1. Start with the law. Find your state's required coverages and minimum limits through your state insurance department.
2. Check any loan or lease terms. Financed and leased cars almost always require collision and comprehensive.
3. Weigh what you could lose. Higher liability limits protect savings and other assets if you cause a serious crash.
4. Consider the car's value. On an older car worth little, the yearly cost of collision and comprehensive can approach what the coverage could ever pay. On a newer car, dropping them means paying for any damage yourself.
5. Be honest about your cushion. Choose deductibles you could pay from savings without hardship.

Helpful official resources

Independent public resources for going further. AutoQB is not affiliated with any of these organizations.

• National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)The organization of the chief insurance regulators of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.
• USA.govThe official web portal of the U.S. government.
• Federal Trade Commission: Consumer AdviceConsumer education from the FTC, the nation's consumer protection agency.

This guide is general educational information about how car insurance commonly works in the United States. Coverage terms, rules and requirements vary by state and by insurer, so your policy documents, your insurer or agent, and your state insurance department are the authorities for your situation.