Driver Vs. Vehicle Insurance
Each state in America requires those who operate a motor vehicle to have some form of liability insurance. This protects you from having to cover another person's medical bills, lost wages and replacement or repair of property in the event of an accident. If you drive regularly, you probably have this coverage and additional collision or comprehensive coverage in a vehicle insurance policy. If you don't own a car but occasionally drive, driver's insurance may be sufficient instead.
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Regular Vehicle Insurance
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A typical auto insurance policy includes liability coverage. It also may include collision insurance, which covers any damages sustained during a driving accident. Some policies include comprehensive insurance, which covers damages or losses not caused by you and not covered elsewhere in the policy, such as theft, a tree falling on the vehicle or hail damage.
Driver's Insurance
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Driver's insurance, also known as non-owner car insurance, usually covers only liability, which is required by law. It also includes medical payments and non-insured/underinsured motorist coverage. Liability covers only damages or medical expenses for someone else. The medical payments option handles your own medical bills if you get hurt while driving. The non-insured/underinsured motorist coverage takes care of medical expenses if you sustain injuries from being hit by someone without proper insurance coverage.
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Priority
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Driver's insurance is secondary to vehicle insurance, meaning that if anyone in your accident already has vehicle insurance, that policy will pay out first. Your driver's insurance covers costs above and beyond the limits of the vehicle insurance policy.
Vehicles
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When you buy a vehicle insurance policy, you name specific vehicles on the policy that you own. Coverage extends only to the vehicles listed on the policy. With driver's insurance, it doesn't matter which vehicle you drive --- you are covered for any vehicle. This accommodates the fact that if you don't own a vehicle, you may have to rent different vehicles or borrow other vehicles from different friends.
Cost
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In general, driver's insurance tends to be much more affordable than regular auto insurance. For example, the national average for regular insurance per car is $1,800 per year (as of October 2010), according to the Financial Web website, while driver's insurance ranges between only $300 and $500 (as of October 2010). This is because regular car insurance includes additional coverages not found in driver's insurance policies.
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References
- Photo Credit car crash image by dawn from Fotolia.com
