The contents of your Standard Personal Car Insurance Policy

An Auto Insurance - Car Insurance policy is a binding legal contract.

Your personal auto policy will have five distinct parts:

• declarations • insuring agreement • definitions • conditions • exclusions

In most personal automobile insurance policy documents, some of these parts will be combined. But they'll all be there. Here's what each section means to you, the insured/s: Standard Auto Policy and your Credit

Declarations; This section will most likely be the first thing in your auto insurance policy, and it's almost always its own section, it will have been prepared especially for you and all that are insured on the policy.

The declarations lists all relevant information about your personal automobile policy. This includes:

• the year, make, and model of your automobile/s
• its VIN (vehicle identification number)
• the name of the insured (you an all others as named insured's)
• the dates the policy is effective
• the policy's coverage types and limits
• the policy's cost (your premium)

Sometimes other information is included (like whether you use the vehicle for business or for pleasure). And if your car is financed, the lender who holds the lien on the vehicle will be listed here as the "loss payee". (If the car is "totaled", they'll need to be reimbursed.)

Insuring Agreement: This section is the legal piece of the personal auto insurance policy. It outlines exactly what the insurance company will pay in return for the payment of your premium.; The type and extent of each coverage you've purchased will be described in detail here. This section will also outline exactly who is covered under each provision. It's a long and complicated section, but it's probably the most important part of your auto insurance policy.

Definitions

Want to guess what this section's all about? . All insurance lingo will be clarified here.

Sometimes this section is simply written into the insuring agreement. But in either case, you can be sure that every relevant term will be narrowly defined, so as to cut down on the possibility of a misunderstanding between the you, other insured's and the insurance company.

Exclusions

This is an important section, because it lets you know what, when and who will not be covered by your policy. The insurance policy exclusions section is really just a list of all possible circumstances that would free the insurer from the responsibility of paying a claim.

An example: most car insurance policies contain an exclusion that exempts the insurer from paying in the case of intentionally caused damage or injury. (Possible Insurance Fraud investigation may follow) Take time to read the exclusions, because you don't want to be caught relying on some kind of coverage that you don't actually have.

Conditions

This will become a very important section should you ever be involved in an accident. It lists your duties and responsibilities as the insured in the event of a claim situation.

This part of an auto insurance policy usually includes guidelines for contacting the insurance company, obtaining a police report, and filing a claim. Information on auto insurance policy cancellation will be outlined here, too.

Collision Insurance

Collision insurance coverage pays for damage caused to your vehicle in an automobile accident, when you are "at fault". A standard collision car insurance policy will pay for any repairs up to the fair market value of your car.

It is important to remember that this value can be significantly lower than the cost of replacing your vehicle (or your loan balance.) If your car is financed or leased, you will need coverage's to cover what you owe and what the car is worth.

Collision coverage usually also comes with an insurance deductible. It's the amount of out of pocket money you pay toward repairs before your collision insurance pays. The higher the deductible you're willing to pay, the less the collision policy will cost.

Collision insurance coverage is not required by law in any state. However, if you're driving a car purchased from a dealership or financed through a lender, you may be required by the dealership or lender to carry collision insurance.

Comprehensive Automobile Insurance

Comprehensive is very similar to collision insurance, the main difference being that comprehensive covers damage caused to your vehicle caused by any unknown party or "act of God".

Vandalism, flood, hurricane, theft, and fire are all events usually covered by comprehensive car insurance. (But make sure to read your comprehensive insurance policy for exact coverage details.)

Like collision car insurance, comprehensive coverage will pay up to the fair market value of your car (less your insurance deductible.) And although it's not legally required by any state law, you will probably need it if your car is financed or leased.

Automobile Insurance Endorsements

Automobile insurance endorsement is just a fancy term for any of those policy extras like towing insurance, auto glass insurance, daily rental insurance, and emergency roadside insurance.

These policies are never required by any state law, but many drivers value the security and convenience they provide.

Here's what you get to chose from the endorsement menu:

• auto towing insurance pays for towing your car anytime you need it

• auto glass insurance gives you a lower deductible (or no deductible) when it comes to repairing any broken window on your car.

• daily rental insurance covers the cost of a rental car while your car is being repaired because of a covered event. (So you'll usually need both comprehensive and collision insurance to qualify.)

• emergency roadside assistance covers repairs done on the spot. Changing a flat roadside may be covered, but you'll have to pay for any repairs at the garage. This policy is often combined with auto towing coverage, and called roadside emergency towing insurance.

In some states, medical payments coverage and uninsured/ underinsured motorists coverage's are voluntary coverage's. In others, they're mandatory.

	Required coverage types	Minimum liability limits	No fault?
Alabama	bodily injury and property damage liability	20/40/10	no
Alaska	bodily injury and property damage liability	50/100/25	no
Arizona	bodily injury and property damage liability	15/30/10	no
Arkansas	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/25	no
California	bodily injury and property damage liability	15/30/5	no
Colorado	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/15	no
Connecticut	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	20/40/10	no
Delaware	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection	15/30/10	no
DC	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	25/50/10	yes
Florida	property damage liability, personal injury protection	10/20/10	yes
Georgia	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/25	no
Hawaii	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection	20/40/10	yes
Idaho	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/15	no
Illinois	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	20/40/15	no
Indiana	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/10	no
Iowa	bodily injury and property damage liability	20/40/15	no
Kansas	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection	25/50/10	yes
Kentucky	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection	25/50/10	yes
Louisiana	bodily injury and property damage liability	10/20/10	no
Maine	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	50/100/25	no
Maryland	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist	20/40/15	no
Massachusetts	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured motorist	20/40/5	yes
Michigan	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection	20/40/10	yes
Minnesota	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist	30/60/10	yes
Mississippi	bodily injury and property damage liability	10/20/5	no
Missouri	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	25/50/10	no
Montana	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/10	no
Nebraska	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist	25/50/25	no
Nevada	bodily injury and property damage liability	15/30/10	no
New Hampshire	proof of financial responsibility, medical payments, uninsured motorist	25/50/25	no
New Jersey	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured motorist	15/30/5	yes
New Mexico	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/10	no
New York	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist, personal injury protection	25/50/10	yes
North Carolina	bodily injury and property damage liability	30/60/25	no
North Dakota	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist	25/50/25	yes
Ohio	bodily injury and property damage liability	12.5/25/7.5	no
Oklahoma	bodily injury and property damage liability	10/20/10	no
Oregon	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist	25/50/10	no
Pennsylvania	bodily injury and property damage liability, medical payments	15/30/5	yes
Rhode Island	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/25	no
South Carolina	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	15/30/10	no
South Dakota	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	25/50/25	no
Tennessee	proof of financial responsibility	25/50/10	no
Texas	bodily injury and property damage liability	20/40/15	no
Utah	bodily injury and property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist	25/50/15	yes
Vermont	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	25/50/10	no
Virginia	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist	25/50/20	no
Washington	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/10	no
West Virginia	bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist	20/40/10	no
Wisconsin	proof of financial responsibility, uninsured motorist	25/50/10	no
Wyoming	bodily injury and property damage liability	25/50/20	no

Standard| Auto Insurance Policy USA StandardAutoPolicy

The contents of your Standard Personal Car Insurance Policy

Definitions