[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/blog/comprehensive-vs-collision-coverage":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":387,"ctaHref":388,"ctaLabel":388,"dateModified":389,"datePublished":389,"description":390,"draft":391,"extension":392,"featured":391,"image":388,"meta":393,"navigation":394,"path":395,"readingTime":396,"seo":397,"stem":398,"tags":399,"theme":388,"__hash__":406},"blog/blog/comprehensive-vs-collision-coverage.md","Comprehensive vs. Collision Coverage, Explained","Premier Auto Savings",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":376},"minimark",[10,19,28,33,36,80,83,87,90,116,124,128,135,139,142,253,256,259,263,266,269,290,294,300,306,312,318,322,368,371],[11,12,13,14,18],"p",{},"Comprehensive pays when something happens ",[15,16,17],"em",{},"to"," your car. Collision pays when your car hits something. That one sentence settles most of the confusion, and the exceptions are the interesting part: a deer is comprehensive, a pothole is collision, and a hit-and-run can be either, depending on your state and what you bought.",[11,20,21,22,27],{},"Neither coverage is required by any state. Both are required by any lender until the loan is paid off, and together with liability they're what people mean by \"full coverage.\" Our ",[23,24,26],"a",{"href":25},"/blog/state-minimum-coverage-2026","state minimum coverage guide"," covers the required part; this post covers the optional part that does most of the paying when something goes wrong.",[29,30,32],"h2",{"id":31},"what-comprehensive-covers","What comprehensive covers",[11,34,35],{},"Comprehensive pays for damage to your car from almost anything that isn't a crash with another vehicle or object:",[37,38,39,47,57,63,74],"ul",{},[40,41,42,46],"li",{},[43,44,45],"strong",{},"Weather:"," hail, wind, flood and rising water, lightning, fire.",[40,48,49,52,53,56],{},[43,50,51],{},"Theft and vandalism:"," the whole car, or the damage from a break-in. The things stolen ",[15,54,55],{},"from"," the car are usually a homeowners or renters claim, not an auto one.",[40,58,59,62],{},[43,60,61],{},"Falling and flying objects:"," a tree limb, a rock off a truck, debris in a storm.",[40,64,65,68,69,73],{},[43,66,67],{},"Animals:"," hitting a deer, or an elk, or a cow. Insurers treat an animal strike as an event that happened to you, not a collision, which is why it lands here and why our ",[23,70,72],{"href":71},"/blog/deer-season-car-insurance-2026","deer season post"," matters more to your comprehensive deductible than to your driving record.",[40,75,76,79],{},[43,77,78],{},"Glass:"," a cracked or pitted windshield, which some insurers cover with no deductible at all.",[11,81,82],{},"Comprehensive is the coverage that pays in a hailstorm in Oklahoma, a flood in Houston, a wildfire evacuation, or the morning you walk out to an empty parking space. It has its own deductible, and a comprehensive claim doesn't generally carry the at-fault surcharge a collision claim does, because nothing you did caused it.",[29,84,86],{"id":85},"what-collision-covers","What collision covers",[11,88,89],{},"Collision pays for damage to your car when it hits, or is hit by, something:",[37,91,92,98,104,110],{},[40,93,94,97],{},[43,95,96],{},"Another vehicle",", whether or not you were at fault. If the other driver was at fault, their liability coverage should pay, but collision lets your own insurer fix the car first and chase theirs later.",[40,99,100,103],{},[43,101,102],{},"An object:"," a guardrail, a pole, a tree, a parked car, a garage door.",[40,105,106,109],{},[43,107,108],{},"A pothole",", which surprises people. Hitting one is a collision with the road.",[40,111,112,115],{},[43,113,114],{},"A rollover",", with no other vehicle involved.",[11,117,118,119,123],{},"Collision also has its own deductible, and a collision claim where you were at fault is the kind that follows you to renewal. Our ",[23,120,122],{"href":121},"/blog/does-not-at-fault-accident-raise-rates","not-at-fault accident explainer"," covers the difference.",[29,125,127],{"id":126},"the-hit-and-run-exception","The hit-and-run exception",[11,129,130,131,134],{},"Someone hits your parked car and drives off. That's a collision with another vehicle, so collision coverage pays, minus your deductible. If you carry only liability, you're relying on ",[43,132,133],{},"uninsured motorist property damage"," coverage, which in some states covers hit-and-run damage to your car and in others doesn't exist. Oklahoma, for example, sells it as an optional add-on; other states fold it into uninsured motorist coverage or don't offer it. If you've dropped collision on an older car, this is the gap to ask about.",[29,136,138],{"id":137},"what-each-one-costs","What each one costs",[11,140,141],{},"Carriers price the two separately, but public rate data usually reports them together as the step from liability-only to full coverage. From our state guides, which use Insurify data for clean-record drivers with $1,000 deductibles on both coverages:",[143,144,145,164],"table",{},[146,147,148],"thead",{},[149,150,151,155,158,161],"tr",{},[152,153,154],"th",{},"State",[152,156,157],{},"Liability only (mo.)",[152,159,160],{},"Full coverage (mo.)",[152,162,163],{},"Comprehensive + collision add",[165,166,167,185,202,219,236],"tbody",{},[149,168,169,176,179,182],{},[170,171,172],"td",{},[23,173,175],{"href":174},"/cheap-car-insurance-alabama-2026","Alabama",[170,177,178],{},"$66",[170,180,181],{},"$142",[170,183,184],{},"$76",[149,186,187,193,196,199],{},[170,188,189],{},[23,190,192],{"href":191},"/cheap-car-insurance-oklahoma-2026","Oklahoma",[170,194,195],{},"$83",[170,197,198],{},"$169",[170,200,201],{},"$86",[149,203,204,210,213,216],{},[170,205,206],{},[23,207,209],{"href":208},"/cheap-car-insurance-texas-2026","Texas",[170,211,212],{},"$110",[170,214,215],{},"$204",[170,217,218],{},"$94",[149,220,221,227,230,233],{},[170,222,223],{},[23,224,226],{"href":225},"/cheap-car-insurance-south-carolina-2026","South Carolina",[170,228,229],{},"$160",[170,231,232],{},"$255",[170,234,235],{},"$95",[149,237,238,244,247,250],{},[170,239,240],{},[23,241,243],{"href":242},"/cheap-car-insurance-louisiana-2026","Louisiana",[170,245,246],{},"$106",[170,248,249],{},"$209",[170,251,252],{},"$103",[11,254,255],{},"Each guide's footer has its data date. Two things to notice. The step is remarkably similar across states with very different liability costs, $76 to $103 a month, because it tracks the value of the car and the local weather more than the local crash rate. And it's bigger in storm states: Oklahoma's hail and wind, Louisiana's floods and hurricanes, Texas's all of the above. That isn't a coincidence; comprehensive is where the weather gets priced.",[11,257,258],{},"Within the pair, comprehensive is usually the cheaper of the two, because weather and theft are rarer and cheaper to settle than crashes. That's also why dropping comprehensive to save money rarely makes sense: it's the smaller line, and it covers the losses you can't drive around.",[29,260,262],{"id":261},"deductibles-the-number-you-actually-chose","Deductibles: the number you actually chose",[11,264,265],{},"Each coverage has a deductible, the amount you pay before the insurer pays, and you can set them differently. The rate tables above assume $1,000 on both. Raising a deductible lowers the premium; lowering it raises the premium. The right number is the one you could pay tomorrow without a loan.",[11,267,268],{},"Three things about deductibles that catch people:",[270,271,272,278,284],"ol",{},[40,273,274,277],{},[43,275,276],{},"A total loss still subtracts the deductible."," Flooded car, $9,000 actual cash value, $1,000 deductible: the check is $8,000.",[40,279,280,283],{},[43,281,282],{},"Glass is often a special case."," Some carriers waive the comprehensive deductible for windshield repair, and a few states require it. Ask.",[40,285,286,289],{},[43,287,288],{},"Low deductibles on an old car are the worst of both."," You pay more every month to lower a number you'll rarely use on a car that won't generate a big claim.",[29,291,293],{"id":292},"when-to-carry-both-and-when-to-drop-one","When to carry both, and when to drop one",[11,295,296,299],{},[43,297,298],{},"Carry both"," if the car is financed or leased (you have no choice), if you couldn't replace it from savings, or if you live where weather or theft is a known risk. A $1,000 deductible on a $25,000 car is a bargain against a hailstorm.",[11,301,302,305],{},[43,303,304],{},"Consider dropping collision"," on an older car you own outright when the annual collision premium plus the deductible gets close to what the car is worth. If collision costs $500 a year, the deductible is $1,000, and the car's actual cash value is $3,000, the most you can recover in the worst case is $2,000, and you're paying a quarter of that every year for the privilege.",[11,307,308,311],{},[43,309,310],{},"Think twice before dropping comprehensive."," It's the cheaper line, it doesn't surcharge you, and the events it covers are the ones no amount of careful driving prevents. Many drivers who go liability-only keep comprehensive on its own; most carriers allow it, and the car is then covered for theft and weather at a fraction of full coverage's cost.",[11,313,314,317],{},[43,315,316],{},"Never drop either in the middle of storm season to save a month's premium."," The claim you're insuring against is the one that happens in that month.",[29,319,321],{"id":320},"what-to-do-with-this","What to do with this",[270,323,324,335,341,347,358],{},[40,325,326,329,330,334],{},[43,327,328],{},"Read your declarations page."," Confirm you carry what you think you carry, and what each deductible is. Our ",[23,331,333],{"href":332},"/guide/rate-factors","rate-factors guide"," explains how each line is priced.",[40,336,337,340],{},[43,338,339],{},"Match the deductible to your savings",", not to the lowest premium.",[40,342,343,346],{},[43,344,345],{},"If you've gone liability-only, ask what covers a hit-and-run and a hailstorm."," In many states the honest answer is nothing.",[40,348,349,352,353,357],{},[43,350,351],{},"Price the step, not the policy."," ",[23,354,356],{"href":355},"/","Compare quotes with and without comprehensive and collision"," for your car and ZIP code; the step varies more by carrier than the tables above suggest.",[40,359,360,363,364,367],{},[43,361,362],{},"Re-check at renewal."," Cars lose value and premiums drift. The year to drop collision is usually obvious in hindsight; the declarations page makes it obvious in advance. ",[23,365,366],{"href":355},"See what full coverage costs today"," against what you paid last year.",[369,370],"hr",{},[11,372,373],{},[15,374,375],{},"Coverage definitions per the Insurance Information Institute (\"What is covered by a basic auto insurance policy?\" and \"Auto insurance basics\"), the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (\"What You Should Know About Auto Insurance Coverage\") and the Oklahoma Insurance Department's auto insurance definitions, which agree that animal strikes fall under comprehensive, that potholes and rollovers fall under collision, that lenders generally require both, and that glass may be covered without a deductible by some insurers. Uninsured motorist property damage availability varies by state; Oklahoma's optional status per the Oklahoma Insurance Department as cited in our Oklahoma guide. State rates per our guides, which use Insurify data for drivers with clean records and $1,000 collision and comprehensive deductibles; data dates vary by state and each guide's footer states its own. The drop-collision arithmetic is illustrative. This is general information, not advice on your policy; your declarations page and your insurer govern.",{"title":377,"searchDepth":378,"depth":378,"links":379},"",2,[380,381,382,383,384,385,386],{"id":31,"depth":378,"text":32},{"id":85,"depth":378,"text":86},{"id":126,"depth":378,"text":127},{"id":137,"depth":378,"text":138},{"id":261,"depth":378,"text":262},{"id":292,"depth":378,"text":293},{"id":320,"depth":378,"text":321},"tips",null,"2026-10-16","Which one pays for hail, a deer, a pothole or a hit-and-run; what each costs in 5 states; when to carry both, when to drop one, and how deductibles work.",false,"md",{},true,"/blog/comprehensive-vs-collision-coverage","7",{"title":5,"description":390},"blog/comprehensive-vs-collision-coverage",[400,401,402,403,404,405],"comprehensive coverage","collision coverage","full coverage","deductibles","hail","coverage explained","DI7Xgl-Ixj1R0N01GBkkjPYJ34Wr98EjGMrxGkJb2KQ"]