FAQ: What Is Comprehensive Auto Insurance?
Comprehensive auto insurance can be a safeguard for your vehicle against a range of mishaps, including vandals, natural disaster, and spring and summer storms. And during the summer, when Texas weather becomes particularly temperamental and crime rates tend to rise, it may be time to add this coverage to your auto policy.
Misty Cozart, a Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Agent in Brownwood, explains what this kind of policy covers and how to determine if it’s right for you.
What Will Comprehensive Auto Insurance Cover?
Don’t be fooled by the name: Comprehensive auto insurance doesn’t cover everything. Also referred to as “other-than-collision” coverage, it can help protect your vehicle against non-collision accidents and other “acts of God,” Cozart says. Comprehensive auto coverage can cover the following:
- Theft and vandalism. This can include parts taken off the vehicle too.
- Falling objects. Trees, branches, or ice could be fair game.
- Hitting an animal. From deer to feral hogs, Texas is full of wildlife. Between 2010 and 2016, there were more than 51,000 animal-related crashes reported to authorities in Texas, according to a 2019 report from the Center for Transportation Research at The University of Texas at Austin.
- Weather-related damage. Texas is notorious for its erratic weather patterns. Protect your vehicle against hail, floods, lightning, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
What Comprehensive Auto Insurance Does Not Cover
Comprehensive auto insurance will not provide coverage if you hit another vehicle or an object. That’s a job for state-mandated liability coverage or, if you have it, collision insurance. Because they each provide different, valuable coverage, Cozart says that collision and comprehensive auto coverage are often purchased together — especially if the vehicle is newer or isn’t paid off.
Do I Need Comprehensive Auto Insurance?
This depends on your needs and the value of your vehicle. You might be required to have both collision and comprehensive auto insurance if you’re still paying off your auto loan. And, while comprehensive auto insurance is optional coverage outside of a lien, Cozart advises members to have it if their vehicle still carries a high value.
“You have to take into consideration the value and the worth of your vehicle […] and decide if you need comprehensive and collision coverage,” Cozart says. For example, your old yet reliable 1995 Toyota Corolla may not qualify for comprehensive coverage — and you may not want to part with that money even if it did.
“There’s going to be a point where your car is paid off, and it’s going to cost more to have comprehensive and collision coverage on it than probably your car is worth,” Cozart says.
But, on the inverse, if you have a vehicle like a Ford F-150 King Ranch truck that holds its value over time, you’ll want to ensure that your investment is protected.
Before your next road trip, make sure you have enough coverage on your family’s vehicle. Call your Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Agent to go over your auto coverage today.
Coverage and discounts are subject to qualifications and policy terms and may vary by situation. © 2021 Texas Farm Bureau Insurance
