The only type of car insurance you are required to carry in Indiana is liability coverage. Our Indianapolis car accident lawyer explains that this is insurance that pays damages to others when an accident is your fault. Having liability insurance, however, will not help you with the cost of repairing your own car after an accident or damage caused by some other force. For that kind of coverage, you will need to purchase collision and comprehensive insurance.
Collision and Comprehensive Policies Cover Different Kinds of Damage
Collision coverage applies when your car has been damaged in an accident or was damaged in some way without the involvement of another vehicle. For instance, if you back into a pole or hit a tree, your collision coverage would pay for the damage to your vehicle. It does not matter who was at fault in the accident—if you have collision coverage, your insurance company will pay for damages. These policies usually come with a deductible before the coverage pays for such damage. If your car is older or not worth much money, it is usually not worth paying the premiums to carry collision insurance. However, if your car is valuable, collision coverage can be well worth it in the case of an auto accident.
Comprehensive coverage applies to flood damage, vandalism, or theft of your vehicle by another person. Again, it does not involve an accident with another vehicle unless it occurs during the theft of your car. It also usually comes with a deductible. However, it does not cover any of the contents which may be stolen from your car. As with collision insurance, the value of your car will determine whether a comprehensive policy is worth the money.
It is important to know that if you have borrowed money to buy your car, you will likely be required by the lender to carry both collision and comprehensive insurance on the car until it is paid off. This is so that you will have the money needed to pay off the loan if you total your car.
