What Is Collision Car Insurance?

Collision insurance helps handle the cost of repairing or replacing your car if it gets damaged while colliding with another vehicle or object. Collision also covers the cost of accidents when your vehicle is damaged because it rolls over or falls, only “colliding” with the ground.

What Does It Cover?

Collision insurance covers collision with another driver or object while you’re operating the vehicle. This means that you’re covered for fender-benders and more major accidents, as well as accidents where no one else is involved, such as going off the road, rolling the vehicle, or losing control while driving.

Collision does not cover medical bills, damage to another person’s vehicle, or damage that has nothing to do with driving. For example, if there’s a storm and a tree branch falls on your vehicle, collision would not help pay for the damage. On the other hand, if you hit a tree while driving, collision insurance will cover the expenses. Collision also doesn’t cover damage that occurs during a theft or vandalism.

What Are the Benefits of Collision Insurance Coverage?

When you have collision insurance, you can drive with more peace of mind. Colliding with other vehicles or objects is often hard to prevent. With collision insurance, even though these kinds of accidents may impact your vehicle, they will have less of an impact on your wallet.

Even when driving conditions are ideal, it’s often easy to lose control—even when no other vehicles are around. With collision insurance, an unexpected slip has minimal financial impact. Also, if you have collision insurance and you swerve to avoid an animal, you’re covered if you hit anything.

What Is the Difference between Comprehensive and Collision Car Insurance?

Comprehensive insurance is separate coverage, and it helps pay for much of what collision doesn’t cover, such as theft or when your vehicle is struck with a falling object. For example, if you only have collision insurance, and you get stuck in a hail storm, you’d have to come out of pocket to pay for all of the resulting damage. But if you have comprehensive insurance, you’re covered. If you have comprehensive insurance but don’t have collision, you’d still be covered if someone broke a window while trying to steal your vehicle, but if you scraped a guard rail while driving, you’d have to pay for those expenses yourself. Comprehensive insurance also covers damage from vandalism, but a collision insurance policy wouldn’t.

Do You Need Comprehensive and Collision Insurance?

If you have an outstanding auto loan or if you’re leasing the vehicle, you need both collision and comprehensive insurance. If you own your car outright, getting collision or comprehensive insurance is up to you. The reason collision and comprehensive are required if you don’t own the vehicle outright is because coverage helps protect the investment of the bank or lease-holder.

Given the benefits of collision and comprehensive insurance, many vehicle-owners choose to maintain coverage. But if you have the cash to replace or repair your vehicle in the event of an accident, it may make more sense to go without coverage. It also may be a better choice to go without collision or comprehensive insurance if your vehicle’s value is lower than your deductible. For example, if your deductible is $1,000 and your vehicle is worth less than that, a collision or comprehensive insurance policy wouldn’t provide any benefit. If you had coverage, you’d have to come out of pocket for the first $1,000 anyway, and that could be invested in either making repairs or getting another vehicle.

Who Should Choose This Policy?

Collision insurance is often not an option, particularly if you are leasing or owe money on your vehicle. If that’s the case, you should ask your insurance agent about what kind of coverage is required and what your options are if you’d like to get a little more.

If you own your vehicle outright, collision insurance may still be a wise choice. In areas where fender benders and other accidents are likely, having collision insurance can help put your mind at ease. If you commute on a regular basis to run errands or to work, the chances of getting into a collision may be higher than it is for people who only drive from time-to-time.

Affordable, Quality Car Insurance with the Get a Quote Button

Most insurance companies only give you a collision policy quote after digging into your credit score. At Glacier, you can use the Get a Quote button and get an accurate quote for your collision policy without having your credit score used against you. While you’re with Glacier, there’s also no charge for accidents that aren’t your fault. The quoting process is easy and straightforward.