Most vehicle owners celebrate the day when they get their auto loan paid off. It is a relief to have a paid off car. Hopefully, when you are free from making monthly car payments, you will be able to start saving for a down payment for your next car. To save even more money, many people wonder if they should keep full coverage, or if they should just reduce their policy to covering legally required liability insurance. When you had a loan balance, your lender probably required full coverage. Now that you are free of that loan, you probably only have to keep liability coverage because it is required by your state law.
This question is not as simple as it seems. If you get some quick insurance quotes, you will be able to see how much different types of coverage actually cost you. You have to weigh the extra cost of collision and comprehensive coverage against the risk of paying for some damages out of your own pocket. Many consumers do not really understand the difference between these different types of car insurance.
What sort of things do liability, collision, and comprehensive insurance cover?
First, understand what liability insurance covers. Liability insurance, in general, covers damage to the other guy. If you damage another vehicle, or other people’s property, your liability coverage should help pay for damages. State laws, that require liability insurance, are there to protect us against other people driving without being financially responsible for causing damage with their cars.
Collision and comprehensive cover damage to your own vehicle if there is no “other guy” to pay the damages.
To understand the differences, consider an example. If your car slides on a slick road, and you hit a mail box, the mail box is not liable for your damages. If you do not have full coverage, you will have to pay for these repairs yourself. Your liability insurance may help to repair the mail box though!