How to Find Out What Your Car Insurance Consists Of
Your car insurance is one of the most important policies you have. Many drivers don't think about the limits of their auto insurance coverage until after an accident. That's why it's important to examine your policy carefully to determine whether you have at least the minimum coverage required by law.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Request your most recent policy from your insurance company. You may also be able to find it on your insurance provider's website.
-
2
Review the policy definitions page. This document lists the most commonly used terms and tells you what they mean.
-
-
3
Review the policy declarations, detailed on the declaration (or "dec") page. Your policy declarations summarize what your car insurance consists of, starting with basic information like your policy number, effective and expiration dates, and which cars are insured. The dec page will also briefly outline the types of coverage you have, the limits for each type and what your financial contribution (called your deductible) for each type of claim will be.
-
4
Review your coverage section. Common types of coverage include comprehensive (colloquially known as "full coverage"), collision (accidents), personal injury protection (if you are injured in an accident), bodily injury (if anyone other than the driver is injured), theft/vandalism and accidents caused by uninsured or underinsured drivers. Your coverage section will detail what the coverage is for and what is explicitly covered.
-
5
Determine your policy limits. While your limits for each type of coverage are briefly summarized on the dec page, you should review each limit further under each coverage section. Limits are depicted in a number/number/number format, and in thousands of dollars. For example, a limit depicted as 25/50/50 would mean your bodily injury limit for one accident is $25,000 per person, the total amount of bodily injury coverage per accident is $50,000, and the total amount of property damage for one accident is $50,000. Any amount of damages that exceed your policy limits would be your responsibility, and your passengers or other drivers can sue you to recover money for any damages they sustained over your policy limits.
-
6
Read your policy's exclusions. These are specific events that your car insurance policy will not cover. Many policies, for example, exclude "natural acts" or "acts of God," which are accidents or damage caused by nature, such as a flood or a tree falling on your car. Because "acts of God" are listed as a policy exclusion, you would have to pay all damage and repair costs yourself.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If you have questions about your policy, call the insurance company directly and speak to an agent. The agent can explain what your car insurance consists of, help you determine whether you are overinsured or underinsured and adjust your policy to meet your state's minimum requirements.
