Christian Byrd
If you live in a state that requires auto insurance, you can satisfy this requirement by purchasing a minimum-coverage auto insurance policy. This type of policy will satisfy the requirements of your state but having minimum coverage only has some downsides too, and here are some of those downsides.
It does not typically protect you against uninsured drivers
A minimum-coverage auto insurance policy generally offers liability coverage only, and this means that you probably will not have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage with this policy. Both uninsured and underinsured coverages are vital if you ever encounter a collision caused by a driver who is either uninsured or underinsured. If this ever happened to you, you would have problems collecting compensation to pay for the damages to your car, and this could leave you with major problems to deal with.
It does not offer any protection for your car
Secondly, because minimum-coverage policies offer liability coverage only, purchasing a policy like this will not result in having any protection over your car. The only way you can protect your own car is by purchasing collision and comprehensive insurance coverages. Collision covers your damages if you cause a collision and have damages to your own vehicle, while comprehensive coverage is for damages to your car caused by things such as fallen trees, hail, theft, or deer collisions. If your car is worth money and you want protection for it, you would need to increase your coverage from the minimum amount to a policy that provides you with protection.
It may not be enough coverage for accidents you cause
The final thing to understand is that a minimum-coverage policy might not even offer you enough coverage to pay for the damages to another person if you caused an accident. If you were at-fault for an accident and the other person ended up with long-term injuries, your policy would not have high-enough limits to pay for this person's injuries and damages. This person could sue you in this situation, simply to try to collect more money from you to cover the damages he or she experienced. While having minimum coverage somewhat protects you, it still leaves gaps that could be devasting to you.
These are the three main downsides of having minimum-coverage only on your vehicle. If you would like an auto insurance quote to add additional coverage that protects you, contact an insurance agency today.
After we had kids, we realized that we needed to up the ante on our insurance coverage. While we had a policy in place, I knew that we had to do something to make sure that we were protected in any instance, which wasn't the case at the time. I began talking with different brokers about what we could do to improve our coverage, and they had some really great suggestions that seemed to help. This website is here to help other people to know how to purchase insurance, and what kinds of policies would work best for your special family.