I’m guessing that, chance are you’ve heard about full coverage car insurance, but you might not be fully aware of what it actually covers or where you can find it. Here’s what you should know before deciding whether it’s right for you.
What is full coverage insurance?
Full coverage car insurance sounds great, but the term is a bit misleading. “Full coverage” generally refers to policies that include collision and comprehensive insurance which actually cover very specific risks in addition to liability insurance.
What does full coverage car insurance really cover?
Many states mandate that drivers buy only a small amount of auto liability insurance. If you cause a crash, this coverage helps pay for the treatment of other people’s injuries and repairs to their property. But liability insurance won’t pay to repair your vehicle or cover incidents that don’t involve crashing into other vehicles or pedestrians. Collision and comprehensive insurance fill these gaps:
• Collision coverage pays for repairs to your car if you cause a crash with another vehicle or run into an object, such as a tree or a telephone pole.
• Comprehensive coverage pays to repair or replace your car if it’s stolen or damaged by a covered cause, such as an animal collision, weather, a falling object, fire or vandalism.
How much is full coverage car insurance?
Comprehensive and collision coverage give you much better insurance protection, but they also mean higher rates.
To get an idea of how much higher, we have sampled rates for liability-only policies and full coverage auto policies in three different states: California, New Jersey and Ohio.
Here’s what we found:
State
Monthly premium (liability insurance only)
Monthly premium (full coverage)
Monthly cost to add full coverage
California
$42
$90
$48
New Jersey
$105
$156
$51
Ohio
$30
$60
$30
COMPARISONS: CAR INSURANCE QUOTES.
The price of full coverage car insurance isn’t chump change. putting it together, raises Ohio car insurance rates by a whooping $362 per year — and that was the most affordable state we tested.
It raises that of New Jersey car insurance rates by $606.
But just one comprehensive or collision claim can make the cost worth it. Replacing a stolen car or repairing your vehicle after a crash could mean paying thousands of dollars out of your own pocket if you don’t have the right insurance.
States ranked for car insurance rates. We looked at rates across the country for drivers carrying full coverage plus uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance.
National ranking (least to most expensive)
State
Average annual rate
1. Ohio
$684
2. North Carolina
$701
3. Maine
$702
4. Indiana
$734
5.Iowa
$749
6. Idaho
$773
7. Vermont
$777
8. Wisconsin
$816
9. North Dakota
$833
10. Minnesota
$835
11. Washington
$856
12. Utah
$864
13. Pennsylvania
$866
14. South Dakota
$891
15. Virginia
$895
16. Montana
$909
17. Nebraska
$914
18. New Hampshire
$919
19. Kansas
$935
20. Tennessee
$970
21. West Virginia
$972
22. Illinois
$991
23. Georgia
$1,010
24. Massachusetts
$1,013
25. Oregon
$1,018
26. Arkansas
$1,025
27. Maryland
$1,030
28. Wyoming
$1,032
29. Missouri
$1,066
30. Hawaii
$1,092
31. Arizona
$1,128
32. New Mexico
$1,154
33. South Carolina
$1,155
34. Alabama
$1,200
35. Colorado
$1,206
36. Texas
$1,207
37. Nevada
$1,233
38. Alaska
$1,245
39. New York
$1,268
40. California
$1,300
41. Connecticut
$1,323
42. Mississippi
$1,345
43. Rhode Island
$1,386
44. Kentucky
$1,434
45. District of Columbia
$1,438
46. Oklahoma
$1,462
47. New Jersey
$1,517
48. Delaware
$1,591
49. Florida
$2,207
50. Michigan
$2,375
51. Louisiana
$2,409
Where to buy full coverage car insurance
Full coverage is commonly available from any auto insurance company. We looked at average prices from the four largest car insurers for a policy that includes liability, collision, comprehensive, uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage and other state required coverages where needed.
Source- Nerdwallet