What Is Comprehensive Insurance?
Comprehensive insurance is a type of automobile insurance that covers damage to your car from causes other than a collision. Comprehensive insurance will cover your vehicle if destroyed by a tornado, dented by a run-in with a deer, spray-painted by a vandal, damaged by a break-in, crushed by a collapsing garage, or many other causes.
Understanding Comprehensive Insurance
Comprehensive insurance, collision insurance, and liability insurance are the three components of an automobile insurance policy. In most states, the law requires drivers to carry a stated amount of liability insurance, but collision and comprehensive insurance are optional if someone owns a vehicle outright.1 If a person has financed the vehicle, the auto loan company might require comprehensive insurance, plus perhaps uninsured motorist or gap insurance.2
What Comprehensive Insurance Covers
In terms of what comprehensive insurance covers, the list includes damages related to:3
- Contact with animals, such as hitting a deer
- Natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes
- Fire
- Riots and vandalism
- Vehicle theft, or theft of certain parts of the vehicle
- Broken windshields
- Fallen objects, including branches, rocks, or hail
