Understanding What Auto Insurance Actually Covers
You have an auto insurance policy to cover all your vehicles and your agent told you it was “full coverage.” That means that, in the event of an accident, everything will be covered, right? If you’ve actually been in an accident, you probably discovered fairly quickly that that’s not quite the case. So what are the different types of insurance coverage and what can you expect to be handled after an accident? Let’s take a look.
The Different Types of Coverage for Injuries to Others
With any motor vehicle insurance policy, there are a number of different components, offering coverage for different contingencies:
- Liability coverage—This provision helps defray the costs when you are the at-fault driver in a motor vehicle accident. Payments under a liability policy will go to the victims of the crash, but won’t pay for injuries suffered by anyone in your car.
- Bodily Injury Liability, or BIL—This type of policy pays only medical expenses for anyone who has been hurt in an accident caused by your carelessness or negligence. The BIL will come with limits—your insurer will pay a maximum to any one claimant and a maximum to all claimants. For example, a 30/100 policy will cover up to $30,000 in losses per person, with a maximum payout of $100,000.
- Property damage provisions-This clause in an insurance contract provides for payment to cover any property loss by another party in an accident that’s your fault.
The Different Types of Auto Insurance Policies to Cover Your Losses
You can purchase insurance to cover the possibility of incurring physical injury or property damage in a motor vehicle accident:
- A Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, policy will compensate you and any passengers in your vehicle for medical expenses and lost wages after a car crash
- A collision policy covers the costs of any repairs to your vehicle that need to be made because of an accident
- An uninsured/underinsured motorists provision provides you with some monetary benefits if the at-fault driver (of another vehicle) is without insurance or has inadequate policy limits
- A comprehensive policy addresses the contingency that your vehicle is damaged or stolen other than in a motor vehicle accident
Contact Us
At the law office of Bailey & Galyen, we offer a free initial consultation to every client. For an appointment with an experienced Texas personal injury attorney, contact us by e-mail or call our offices at one of the convenient locations listed below. We will take your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
