Roberts-McClure Insurance - Automobile Insurance

Coverage For Car Damage A Worthwhile Option

I am about to buy my first car, but I’m not sure what kind of insurance is available to pay for any damage that could happen to it. Will my insurance pay if I run into another car? What if my car is stolen?

Here’s a “crash course” in car insurance!

Just as you need coverage in case you are injured while driving your car (that’s what the accident benefits in your policy provide), or if you should injure someone else (that’s where liability insurance comes in), your car may also need protection against loss or damage.

But unlike accident benefits and liability insurance, coverage for damage to your car is optional (unless you lease your car or have taken out a bank loan to buy it – it’s a condition of your contract). There are several types of coverages and combinations to protect against most causes of loss, or “perils,” in insurance lingo.

“Collision/upset” insurance pays for any damage caused by collision with another object – whether it be someone else’s car or a telephone pole – or by upset, usually rolling over.
“Comprehensive”* insurance covers loss or damage from any peril OTHER THAN that covered by collision insurance. If your car is stolen, your comprehensive coverage also kicks in. But it doesn’t cover everything. Be sure to check the exclusions – what is NOT covered – in your policy.
“All perils” provides both collision and comprehensive coverage, in one neat package. It covers all types of losses, except those that are excluded in your policy. This is the broadest type of insurance available for your car.
“Specified perils” protects only against those perils that are listed – or specified – in your policy. These usually include: lightning, fire, theft, windstorm, earthquake, hail, explosion, riot or civil commotion, falling or forced landing of aircraft or falling aircraft parts, rising water, among others. It DOESN’T, however, cover rock-chip damage to windshields – or collision/upset.

If you have an older car, you may decide you don’t need collision coverage at all. But if you don’t carry this insurance and your car is damaged by a hit-and-run driver who cannot be identified, you will have to pay for the damage yourself – even if wasn’t your fault.

So think twice before you turn down insurance for car damage. It just might save you from taking a hit in the wallet!

Note to Saskatchewan drivers: In Saskatchewan, the “comprehensive” insurance offered by the government is basically the same as “all perils” elsewhere. It includes collision and upset, comprehensive, and specified perils – the works!

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Coverage For Car Damage A Worthwhile Option