Help when and where you need it
Auto insurance can help get you back on the road if your car is damaged or destroyed by an accident, fire, theft, or other event covered by your insurance policy. Your policy may also provide protection against medical and legal expenses resulting from injury, loss of life, or property damage caused by an accident involving your vehicle.
Auto insurance requirements vary by state. In some states, to drive you must carry:
- Liability insurance to cover losses you cause others
- No-fault coverage that applies if you and/or your passengers incur medical or other injury-related expenses due to a car accident, regardless of who is at fault
- Both liability and no-fault coverage.
Even in states where coverage isn’t required, by law drivers must be able to pay for losses they cause. In addition, to finance a car, it is usually necessary to have insurance that covers damage to the vehicle. This includes:
- Collision Insurance which pays for damage caused to your vehicle in an accident. Standard collision will pay for any repairs up to the fair market value of your car. Collision coverage usually has a deductible, meaning that you pay a certain amount toward repairs before the collision insurance kicks in.
- Comprehensive Insurance covers damage done to your car in some way other than a collision, such as if it is stolen or vandalized. Flood, hurricane, theft, windshield damage and fire are events typically covered by comprehensive auto insurance. Like collision, comprehensive will pay up to the fair market value of your car (minus your deductible.) Although it’s not legally required by any state, you will probably need it if your car is financed.
