Automobile Insurance

There are a number of different parts to any auto insurance policy. Some cover bodily injury, others cover property damage. A good auto insurance policy covers both other drivers and yourself.

Medical Payments coverage

Medical payments coverage can help cover accident-related medical expenses (including funeral expenses) for you, other drivers on your policy, and passengers. Its can also offer coverage if you’re struck by a car as a pedestrian or cyclist.

Personal Injury Protection coverage (PIP)

Personal Injury Protection can assist in covering medical expenses for you and your passengers after an accident, regardless of fault. PIP is a complex coverage that varies significantly from state-to-state. It’s recommended in some states, and required in others. In general, it covers hospitalization, rehabilitation, other medical expenses, and sometimes even lost wages, up the limits you select when choosing your policy.

Other-Than-Collision coverage

This covers the unpredictable elements that occur when driving on the road, off the road, or even in your own driveway. This coverage can help pay for repair or replacement in the event of a natural disaster, vandalism, theft, fire, or a falling tree. This incidental protection, along with the self-explanatory Collision coverage, make up the elements often referred to as “full coverage”. 

Roadside Assistance coverage

In this day and age, roads are good and cars are reliable, but a breakdown on the site of the road is not an uncommon occurrence. Getting a stalled vehicle to the shop can be slow, complicated, and expensive, on top of the fact that you didn’t make it where you were going. Roadside Assistance is a common rider on auto policies, that covers the cost of towing, gas fill-ups, battery jumps, and even retrieving keys locked in the vehicle.

Rental Car coverage

Auto accidents often leave drivers without a vehicle, due to repairs, temporary impounding, or even total loss. Rental car coverage will reimburse you for the cost of a rental vehicle in the event your car is unavailable or not drivable due to a covered loss. Comprehensive and collision policies are generally prerequisites for rental car coverage.

Loan/Lease Gap coverage

If you wreck a financed or leased car and are found at fault, you could wind up owing more than the value of the vehicle. In this case, your coverage could be insufficient to pay off your loan or lease contract. Gap insurance makes up the difference, so you don’t need to come out of pocket on top of the losses you’ve already sustained.