Types of Car Insurance Coverage

A U.S. personal auto policy is not one product. It is a bundle of between 4 and 20 distinct coverage lines, each paying for a specific thing. Three of those lines are mandatory in most states (liability bodily injury, liability property damage, and typically uninsured motorist). Two are mandatory only if you finance or lease (collision and comprehensive). The remaining 15 are optional endorsements most drivers never think about until they need one. This page is the one-screen reference to all of them. For how to pick limits across the mandatory lines, see how to choose coverage limits. For how the pieces fit together procedurally, see how car insurance works.

The mandatory liability lines

Required by state financial-responsibility law in 48 of 50 states (New Hampshire excepted). Pay for harm you cause to other people, never to yourself or your own car.

• Bodily injury liability (BI): pays medical bills, lost wages, and pain-and-suffering awards for people you injure in an at-fault crash, up to the per-person and per-accident limits on your policy.
• Property damage liability (PD): pays to repair or replace vehicles, buildings, fences, and other property you damage in an at-fault crash, up to the per-accident limit.
• Uninsured motorist (UM): pays your injuries when an at-fault driver has no liability coverage. Required or must-be-offered in most states.
• Underinsured motorist (UIM): pays your injuries when an at-fault driver has coverage but not enough to pay for the damage they caused. Typically bundled with UM.

Physical-damage lines (optional unless financed or leased)

• Collision: pays to repair or replace your vehicle after a crash with another vehicle or object, regardless of fault. Deductible applies.
• Comprehensive: pays for your vehicle after a non-crash loss: theft, fire, flood, hail, falling objects, vandalism, animal strikes, broken glass. Deductible applies (lower than collision at most carriers).

Carrying both is called full coverage. Lenders and lessors require it until the loan is paid off or the lease matures. If you own the vehicle outright, see when to drop collision and comprehensive.

First-party medical lines

• Personal Injury Protection (PIP): no-fault first-party coverage for your medical bills and (in some states) lost wages. Required in no-fault states (FL, NY, NJ, MI, etc.); optional or not-offered elsewhere.
• Medical Payments (MedPay): smaller, simpler first-party medical coverage. Available in tort states. Typically $1,000 to $25,000 limit.

Common optional endorsements

• GAP (loan/lease payoff): pays the difference between what you owe and the vehicle's actual cash value if it is totaled while financed or leased.
• New car replacement: pays to replace a totaled new vehicle with a current-year model, bypassing depreciation. Vehicle-age cap applies.
• Rental reimbursement: pays for a rental car while yours is being repaired after a covered loss.
• Roadside assistance: towing, jump-starts, lockout service.
• Accident forgiveness: prevents a surcharge after your first at-fault accident.
• Vanishing deductible: shrinks your deductible each claim-free year.
• Glass and windshield: waives the deductible on glass claims (standard in FL/KY/SC; optional endorsement elsewhere).
• OEM parts: requires repairs to use Original Equipment Manufacturer parts.
• Custom equipment: raises the sub-limit on aftermarket parts and electronics.
• Mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI): pays for mechanical failure from normal wear; not available at every carrier.
• SR-22: a state filing (not a coverage), required after certain violations to prove you carry at least the minimum limits.
• FR-44: same idea as SR-22 but at higher required limits; FL and VA only.
• Non-owner liability: liability that follows the driver instead of a vehicle; for people who do not own but occasionally drive.
• Named driver exclusion: a formal endorsement that removes one driver from coverage.
• Umbrella: additional liability above your auto and home limits ($1M to $5M typical).

Common things people call "a coverage" that are actually not

• An extended warranty. Not insurance; it is a service contract regulated separately from auto insurance. See MBI for the insurance equivalent.
• Tire-and-wheel protection. Typically a separate product sold at tire shops, not an auto-insurance line.
• Pet injury coverage. At carriers that include it, pet injury is a small sub-limit automatically bundled with collision (Progressive bundles up to $1,000). It is not a separately-sold line.
• Trip-interruption coverage. Usually part of roadside assistance or a credit-card perk, not a separate auto line.