Understand what your auto insurance covers, what it doesn’t, and how to choose protection that fits your needs.
What Does Liability Insurance Cover?
Liability insurance helps pay for injuries or property damage you cause to others in an accident, up to your policy limits.
Bodily injury liability helps pay for other people’s injuries. Property damage liability helps pay for damage to someone else’s vehicle or property.
Liability coverage does not pay to repair your own car.
What Do Coverage Limits Like 30/60/15 Mean?
California’s minimum liability limits for a standard auto insurance policy are commonly written as 30/60/15:
- $30,000 for bodily injury or death to one person.
- $60,000 total for bodily injury or death to multiple people in one accident.
- $15,000 for damage to other people’s property in one accident.
These are minimum limits, not a guarantee that an accident will be fully covered. You may be personally responsible for damages above your limits.
What Is Collision Coverage?
Collision coverage helps pay to repair or replace your vehicle after a covered collision with another vehicle or an object, subject to your deductible and policy terms.
Example: You accidentally hit a guardrail and damage your car. Collision coverage may help pay for the repairs.
What Is Comprehensive Coverage?
Comprehensive coverage helps protect your vehicle against covered events such as theft, vandalism, fire, falling objects, certain weather damage, and hitting an animal.
A deductible generally applies. Mechanical breakdown and normal wear and tear are generally not covered.
What Does “Full Coverage” Actually Mean?
“Full coverage” is an informal phrase—not a promise that everything is covered. People commonly use it to mean a policy with liability, comprehensive, and collision coverage.
Rental reimbursement, roadside assistance, uninsured motorist coverage, and other options are not automatically included just because someone calls a policy “full coverage.” Review the actual coverages listed on your policy.
How Do Deductibles Work?
A deductible is your share of a covered loss when a deductible applies. Comprehensive and collision can have different deductibles.
Example: If covered collision repairs cost $3,000 and your deductible is $500, the insurer would generally pay $2,500, subject to policy terms.
A higher deductible may lower your premium, but it means a larger out-of-pocket expense after a claim.
What If the Other Driver Has No Insurance?
Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage can help with covered injuries when an uninsured driver is at fault. Underinsured motorist coverage may help when the at-fault driver’s liability limits are insufficient, subject to your limits and policy conditions.
These injury coverages do not automatically repair your car. Uninsured motorist property damage and a collision deductible waiver are separate protections with specific requirements. Ask which options your policy includes.
What Other Coverages Can You Add?
- Medical payments: Helps with covered accident-related medical expenses for you and your passengers, regardless of fault, up to the selected limit.
- Rental reimbursement: Helps pay for a rental vehicle after a qualifying covered loss, subject to daily and total limits. It generally does not cover rentals for routine maintenance.
- Roadside assistance: May help with services such as towing, jump-starts, and lockouts, depending on the option purchased.
Does a Financed Car Need More Coverage?
Lenders and leasing companies generally require comprehensive and collision coverage, often with deductible restrictions. Check your financing agreement before changing or removing coverage.
Paying off your car does not eliminate the risk of theft or damage. Consider its value and what you could afford to pay yourself before removing protection.
Before You Choose a Policy
- Compare coverage limits and deductibles—not just the monthly payment.
- Provide accurate information about drivers, vehicles, mileage, and vehicle use.
- Tell your agent about delivery work, rideshare driving, or other business use.
- Review your declarations page to confirm the coverages you purchased.
Get Help Comparing Your Options
Simple Way Insurance can help explain your options and compare coverage for your situation.
Have questions? Call 619-457-4999.
This guide provides general information. Coverage is subject to the policy’s terms, exclusions, limits, deductibles, and eligibility requirements.