Before you start
Guide contents
The words first
Six words worth knowing first
Every car insurance policy is described with these. They come up on every page from here on, so two minutes now saves you guessing later.
The six words
Read them once. You do not have to memorize anything.
- PremiumWhat you pay the insurer to have the policy, usually every six or twelve months.
- DeductibleWhat you pay yourself on a claim for your own car, before the insurer pays the rest. A higher one lowers the premium.
- LiabilityPays for the people you injure and the property you damage. It does not pay for your own car. Required in most states.
- CollisionYour own car, when you hit something or it rolls over.
- ComprehensiveYour own car, for everything that is not a crash: theft, hail, flood, fire, a deer.
- Uninsured and underinsured motoristYou and your passengers, when the driver who hit you has no insurance or too little.
Now the guide.
Six short steps, in the order the questions actually come up.