By: Stuart Simpson
I wanted to break down the main parts of car insurance for you to understand what each are and why you have to pay so much for each part. The three main parts are liability, collision, and comprehension. This article is about comprehension car insurance.
This portion of your insurance covers damages caused by break-ins, theft, hail storms, tree limbs, vandalism and fire. One hail storm could total out your car due to the cost of popping out all the dents. Not sure if you’ve been through that before, but I have, and it was very expensive. Also, a friend of mine, just this week, got their back window shot out of their van. Doesn’t sound so bad, but it was vandalism with a pellet gun. The glass replacement was $700 and they had a deductible of $500. You do the math. Ouch.
Sometimes it doesn’t pay to have comprehension insurance. If you have an older car that isn’t worth much, then you’d be better off to save the money towards a new car or just save it to pay for any damages that may occur. You have to look at the cost of comprehension insurance and the value of the vehicle. I know some people want it no matter how old or junky their car is. But why pay for hail damage and radio theft if your old car doesn’t have a radio. Besides, if you have an old car, the radio is probably old, too.
But when you go and buy a new or newer car, having full coverage makes sense. Finding old junkyard parts on a new car is quite difficult and if you find the part, they are rare – hence – expensive. Now, most people have comprehension insurance because the bank or finance company requires this coverage. If you finance a car, then they make you pay for full coverage insurance. Not fair? But think about Mr. Banker for a moment. You have to carry insurance and keep the car in good shape so it can be sold in case you don’t pay for it. So if you don’t have insurance on your new Dodge Ram, and a hail storm comes and instantly depreciates out your truck by $6,000 – ouch.
In summary, comprehension insurance is required if you finance the vehicle. You can raise the deductible to keep your payment low. You also might want to consider dropping this insurance if you car isn’t worth $3000 or if its 10 years old or older.
