The auto insurance "commodity" is actually a product with six distinct coverages:
Let's look at them here.
- Bodily Injury Liability - It pays the medical and other expenses of those people injured or even killed in accidents you cause. This is required by most states; the mandatory coverage in Ohio is $12,500 for any person involved in an accident with you and no more than $25,000 for all the persons in the accident.
- Property Damage Liability - It covers the damage your car causes to property. Usually, that's the other car or cars involved in the accident, but it also covers damage you do to any object you hit. Garages, buildings, lampposts, fences, whatever. This is also required in most states; the mandatory limit in Ohio is $7,500.
- Collision - This is for damage done to your car when it collides with other vehicles (your fault) or other objects (again, your fault).
- Comprehensive - This covers damage to your car that results from something other than a collision with another vehicle. An example is damage caused by vandals or a wind-blown tree hitting your car. It also includes coverage for theft.
- Medical Payments - It pays medical, and even funeral, expenses for you as well as members of your family and passengers in your car if it is involved in a collision, regardless of who caused the accident. It also covers you as a pedestrian if you are hit by a vehicle.
- Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist - This pays for injuries to you and, in some policies, damage to your car if you are hit by a driver who doesn't have insurance - or by someone who doesn't have enough insurance to cover your losses. In most states, more than 10% of motorists don't have any insurance. In some states, as many as 3 out of 10 drivers don't have coverage.
Many of those who do have insurance don't have enough to cover the damages and injuries that would result in a major collision. If you don't have this coverage, which is often referred to as UM/UIM, you are taking a risk. UM/UIM also provides coverage for any injuries you suffer if you are hit while walking or riding a bicycle by a driver with inadequate or no insurance.
Learn more about additional coverages available in the Ohio Auto Insurance Policy.