Best Types of Auto Insurance to Have to Protect Your Investment

No matter where you live, if you want to get a driver’s license, you are required to carry auto insurance or to have show proof that you have the financial means to pay for damages in an accident. Different states have different rules about what kind of insurance you have to have, but most require basic liability, which pays for the medical care of the driver or passengers you hit, as well as damage to their vehicle.

While you can certainly get away with buying only the minimum auto insurance coverage, you should consider getting more. The minimum liability coverage may only provide $10,000 to $15,000 for injuries, but if the accident is serious enough, medical bills for the other driver could easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars. And that’s saying nothing about your own medical bills, which are not covered by the required liability insurance at all.

The cost of vehicle damage can also quickly rise. If you hit an old beater, you might be just fine, but what’s going to happen if you hit a custom Maserati? You could pay the cost of a mortgage — not just a mortgage payment, but the whole mortgage — for auto repair. Cincinnati may have great collision centers with affordably priced services, but you can’t bargain your way down from that.

Again, that basic liability insurance will not cover anything for your vehicle.

You need to think beyond those basic requirements if you want to protect yourself and your car in the event of an accident. Here are a few of the best types of auto insurance to have to protect your investment:

Collision Coverage

When your actions are the cause of an accident, your liability insurance will cover a certain amount of the repair bill for the other driver’s vehicle. However, it will not cover any of the damages to your car. If you want to restore your car to its former glory, you will have to invest in collision coverage.

Collision coverage pays for damages to your vehicle alone. The policy will pay out when you are at fault in the accident, as well as when you were not at fault but the other driver’s insurance company is failing to settle the claim. Collision coverage does not pay for damages caused by falling trees, fire, hail, vandalism, theft or natural disasters.

Collision coverage is especially important when you have a newer or more expensive vehicle. You may be able to skip collision coverage if you drive a beater that is likely to be considered totaled even in a minor fender bender.

Comprehensive Coverage

Say your car does get swept away in a flash flood — how will you pay for it? If you have comprehensive auto insurance coverage, you won’t have to worry about it. Comprehensive coverage will pay for repairs to your vehicle if it is damaged in a natural disaster, a fire, or other freak accident, like hitting a deer. This coverage will also pay for your car if it is vandalized or stolen.

If you are still financing your vehicle, comprehensive insurance may be required by your lien holder. However, even if you own your vehicle outright, you should consider this important insurance coverage to protect your investment. If you have a luxury vehicle or other car with a higher value, getting this coverage should be a no brainer.

Medical Payments Coverage and Personal Injury Protection

Personal Injury Protection, or PIP as it is more commonly known, pays for medical expenses for you and passengers in your vehicle up to your coverage limits. Most PIP plans cover up to 80 percent of medical costs, leaving you with the responsibility for the other 20 percent. This may seem like plenty of coverage, but just imagine what your costs would be if your medical bills go into six figures — which could easily happen with just one surgery.

Do you have $20,000 available to pay those medical bills?

Medical payments coverage picks up what PIP does not cover. Where available, you should consider getting both types of coverage to ensure that you are fully protected in case of a serious accident.

Uninsured Motorist Protection

Say you do get blindsided by a driver running through a red light who T-bones your car and totals it. You expect that the other driver’s insurance will pay for damage to your car, right? Now say the other driver doesn’t have insurance and is driving illegally. How will you repair your car? Say the other driver is only carrying the required minimum liability insurance and the damages to your car exceed those amounts. Again, how will you repair your car?

Uninsured and underinsured motorist protection coverage will pay those costs. Either the policy will pay the full cost of the repairs if the other driver has no insurance, or it will pay for the difference in the cost of the repairs and what the other driver’s policy pays.

Of course, this policy only covers damages to your vehicle in accidents that are the fault of another driver. For accidents in which you are at fault, you will need collision coverage to pay for those repairs.

Gap Coverage

Few of us have the funds to plunk down a pile of cash to pay for a new car, so many people are driving cars that they are still financing. Unfortunately, when you buy a new vehicle, its value starts to go down immediately. Just driving off the lot can take a few thousand off what you could expect to get if you turned right around and sold the car. That means that if you are financing your vehicle, it is probably worth a lot less at this very moment than what you owe on it.

If you get into an accident and your car is totaled, the insurance company will only pay out the estimated value of the car. It won’t matter if you actually owe more than that amount on your loan. You’ll end up continuing to make payments on a car that you no longer drive.

You may not think it likely that your car will be totaled, but it is more likely than you might think. To say a car is “totaled” simply means that the value of the repairs is higher than the value of the car. The cost of a couple of major repairs can quickly reach thousands of dollars, so with the rate of depreciation on most cars, it’s easy for cars to be totaled. You may still be able to drive the car, but it could still be considered totaled.

Getting the right insurance is just the first step to protecting your vehicle. For the best auto repair Cincinnati has to offer, come to McCluskey Chevrolet for quality workmanship and superior results. Our highly trained auto body experts can restore your vehicle to showroom quality. You will be stunned at the transformation and won’t be able to identify where your car was damaged.

In addition to restoring the beauty of your vehicle, we ensure that it is safe to drive. Accidents can compromise your vehicle in ways you can’t see, and our auto body repair specialists will ensure that all damages are completely repaired for your safety.

We also work with multiple insurance companies to provide estimates and process claims. Contact us after your accident to get your vehicle back in top shape.