Understanding Collision Insurance: Is Your Car Covered?

Collision insurance covers damages to your car when you've been in an accident. This coverage applies whether the driver is found at fault or not. Contrary to the collision title, a driver doesn't have to collide with something else for this coverage to apply. Collision insurance also covers one car accidents, such as rolling your vehicle.

Collision insurance will not cover the vehicle when hitting an animal. If a driver swerves to avoid the animal and hits a tree, collision coverage would apply. This type of accident would be considered at fault. For insurance purposes, you should hit the animal, however for safety reasons it might be better to miss it.

Most collision auto policies have a deductible. This deductible amount applies before any payments are made for repairs. For example, with a $500 deductible an accident that costs $1,500 in repairs will only be paid for $1,000. The vehicle owner would have to pay the extra $500 out of pocket. Deductibles make the car owner take some financial responsibility for auto accidents in exchange for lowering policy rates.

Did you know if you hit your own vehicle you have to pay two deductibles? Each car would be repaired from their own policies. Most people think liability coverage would pay to repair the struck car, but they are wrong. A person can't be liable to themselves. More common misconceptions about car coverages are explained in this article.

Collision insurance should be removed from your auto insurance policy when the costs outweigh the value of the car. Consider the deductible amount and the monthly insurance payment for collision insurance, if the value of the car is within $500 you should drop the coverage. Put the money you would have spent for the collision insurance coverage into a savings account to be used for repairs instead. Keeping collision insurance on a car that isn't worth it is a waste of money better spent elsewhere. To get more answers about common car insurance questions read this article.