When attempting to make an auto insurance comparison not having sufficient knowledge of the industry can make it difficult. Auto insurance is broken into many parts and having a good general understanding of each of its elements is important to compare it accurately.
Let's take a look at liability insurance
Liability insurance is required by most state's laws, although the minimum amount of coverage required varies from state to state. Understanding those limits and what this coverage entails is very necessary in making an auto insurance comparison.
The most common way to represent these limits is in the following way: $30,000/$55,000/$30,000. The first number you see is the maximum that will be paid out for body injuries for each individual in an accident. The second refers to the absolute maximum that will be paid out for all body injuries in an accident. And the third refers to the max payout on property damage for an accident.
What this means is that should you find yourself in an accident that is your fault your insurance firm will only be willing to pay you up to the limits stated.
So if that person is found at fault and the necessary amounts exceed his or her coverage limits, they will likely be held responsible to pay the additional amount out of pocket.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
There is a type of insurance available to help protect motorists from uninsured or underinsured drivers. This type of coverage varies depending on the state but can offer additional protection to the insured, generally for a nominal fee.
Collegian and comprehensive coverage
This auto insurance type can also often be heard being called full coverage. This kind of insurance will ensure that you are covered even when the accident is indeed your fault while at the same time usually covering you for some vehicle damaged that did not take place in a motor accident.
As one would expect this kind of insurance is normally notably more expensive so when comparing one should look at this very closely.
$450/$450; this is what you need to look at for this kind of insurance. You see what this means is that the auto insurance company in question will insist that for any claim you must pay out the first $450 of the repair. Naturally they will then pay the rest until their maximum limits stated.
Optional towing coverage and rental reimbursement
Understanding optional coverage such as rental reimbursement and roadside assistance (or towing coverage) can make a large difference when making an auto insurance comparison.
Rental car reimbursement will cover a certain amount (depending on the coverage selected) per day of rental car charges should your vehicle become unavailable for a certain period of time due to an accident.
Roadside assistance coverage allows the insured to receive a variety of emergency services (depending on the plan) for free or a reduced charge. A person having his or her car towed is one example of this type of coverage.
A look at medical coverage
Each and every state across America varies on this. In a number of states you must have no fault medical coverage (covers you even in accidents that are your fault) but many others do not require this.
When in states in America where you are not required to have a no-fault medical coverage you will normally find that the state has at least set some minimum medical coverage amounts that you must have.
At the end of the day when you compare different auto insurance quotes remember that the best deal isn't always the cheapest deal. Look at all the details very closely before you choose your insurer.
