By Mira Van
Standard car insurance is required in most parts of the United States. However, that’s really only the start of what one should consider when looking at insurance. One should carefully consider every type of insurance out there. And it’s important to give special consideration to the most useful types, such as collision and comprehensive insurance.
Of course it’s one thing to simply state how important this type of insurance can be to the average person. But it’s better to go into more detail to properly examine the most important aspects of both comprehensive and collision insurance. One should begin by examining the name. Collision and comprehensive insurance are quite similar to each other. Likewise, they’re often sold in package deals. This has led to them usually being referred to as a single item. And there are solid similarities between the two. For example, both types of insurance will pay for damages to a car. However, neither of them will cover injuries or damage to another person’s vehicle.
It’s also important to remember that insurance tends to change on a region to region basis. For example, Dallas insurance companies will operate in conjunction with the legal and social elements within Dallas. This means that someone familiar with, say, Michigan based insurance might need to brush up on Dallas insurance companies before making any decisions. And the same goes for people from any given region looking at policies elsewhere.
Next, one should consider some of the concrete points which differ between collision and comprehensive insurance. Collision, as the name suggests, covers damage if the holder is hit by another car. It also covers damage to the holder’s own car if he or she is at fault. Meanwhile comprehensive insurance is, as the name implies, more comprehensive in scope. It covers such diverse areas as weather, fire, explosions, issues involving animals or even civil disturbances.
One can see from this that there’s similar, but still distinct, areas of coverage between the two types of insurance. And it’s difficult to really place either above the other in terms of importance. Different areas in the country carry different risk factors. For example, someone in an area with frequent tornadoes would have a greater chance of using comprehensive insurance. However, in general it’s up to chance whether any given individual will end up using one or the other.
So how does this information impact a consumer? In general the answer is that most people will be better off buying both types of insurance. At the same time though, it’s important that people understand why they’re so often bundled together. In combination collision and comprehensive coverage will cover the majority of possible incidents one might encounter.
There are exceptions though. In particular it’s sometimes not worth going with collision and comprehensive coverage if one’s vehicle isn’t worth much money. Basically, one might lose out if the premiums paid on a car are higher than the value of said car. That said, it’s fairly rare for people to find themselves in this situation.
As it stands, most people do go with one or both types of insurance. And there are even situations where one doesn’t have a choice. For example lenders will usually require both if one has taken out a car loan. This usually occurs when people lease a car as well. The reason comes down to the fact that these agencies recognize it as an important investment in the long term health of a vehicle. This also suggests why it’s important for people to choose to uses this insurance even in cases where it’s not mandated.
