Comprehensive Coverage
By Jackie Smith

The law in all 50 states requires any automobiles driven must carry liability coverage in the event you cause an accident. What happens if vandals deface your car or a tornado smashes your new Ford into a tree? Unfortunately you will be stuck footing the bill if your policy doesn't have comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage is designed to protect your automobile against "acts of God" or a third party that may damage your car. You need to read your policy very carefully to make sure you understand what is covered and what is not.

Even though the state you live in doesn't require comprehensive coverage, chances are if you lease or finance your automobile, it may not be possible to waive. The lender or dealership will probably require you to carry comprehensive insurance on your policy. The reason being the lender wants to make sure they will get their money back incase the car is damaged.

This goes for dealers leasing vehicles, too. If you are leasing you may even be required to purchase gap insurance, which is not a bad idea for new cars either. Everyone knows the moment you drive off the lot your automobile will decrease in value about 20%. If a fire ruins your new vehicle, comprehensive coverage will cover your car at fair market value. That may not cover your entire loan; therefore you will be paying on a vehicle that is not drivable. Who wants to spend their hard earned money paying for something that has been totaled? Gap insurance will literally close the "gap" between fair market value and your outstanding loan.

Comprehensive coverage is very simple. You choose a set dollar amount known as a deductible. You can pick one of the following deductibles that you are most comfortable with. They range from $0, $100, $200, $250, $500 or $1000.

What this means is that you will have to fork over that deductible amount before you insurance even kicks in. How do you know how high or low to set yours? Of course the lower you set it, the more your premium will go up, but not by much. So set your deductibles as low as you can financial afford. When setting you deductible, take into consideration you car's value and how much you can afford out of pocket at any give time.

On the other hand, setting your comprehensive deductible higher like $1000 could free up some money so you could purchase more liability coverage. Which would you rather have; a $1000 repair bill for your car, or being sued for $100,000 in an accident that you caused?

Adding comprehensive coverage to you auto policy is very important and inexpensive. You need to decide if your car was totaled in a flood, could you really afford replacing it or fixing it on your own dime?

Jackie Smith, Executive Writer http://www.quotella.com

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