Resources and Information
A brief review of the scope of individual coverages follows:
Bodily Injury Liability
Covers the liability of an insured person for bodily injury to others
arising out of ownership, maintenance or use of a covered vehicle.
Also covered is third-party injury that is caused by the use of a trailer
attached to a covered vehicle or a non-owned vehicle operated by an
insured person.
Property Damage Liability
Pays damages for property damage for which an insured person is legally
responsible because of an accident arising out of ownership, maintenance
or use of a vehicle, use of a trailer attached to a covered vehicle
or to a non-owned vehicle operated by an insured person.
Personal Injury (No-Fault) Protection
Pays benefits that an insured person is entitled to receive under the
no-fault statute of the state. Provisions of the various state laws
vary among the states that have enacted them. Benefits are payable
for bodily injury caused by accident, sustained by an insured person,
and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle.
The benefits include medical benefits, disability benefits and death
benefits.
Medical Payments Coverage
Pays, within the specified limits of liability, reasonable and necessary
expenses incurred for medical and funeral expenses because of bodily
injury sustained by an insured person, caused by an accident, and arising
out of the ownership, maintenance of use of a motor vehicle or trailer.
Medical payments coverage is an important consideration for benefits greater than those included in no-fault insurance and, certainly, when no-fault protection is not available or is not in force.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Pays for damages, within covered limits, that an insured person is legally
entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor
vehicle because of bodily injury sustained by an insured person, caused
by an accident, and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use
of an uninsured (or underinsured) motor vehicle.
The one concept applies when the offender has no liability insured; the other, when his or her insurance limits are insufficient. Many insurers write the protection as a single coverage; others, as two separate coverages.
Collision Coverage
Pays for loss to a covered vehicle for which the coverage has been purchased,
to a non-owned vehicle, or to a trailer. It applies when the vehicle
or trailer overturns or is in a collision with another object.
Comprehensive (Other Than Collision) Coverage
Pays for comprehensive loss to a covered vehicle for which the coverage
has been purchased, to a non-owned vehicle, or to a trailer. Comprehensive
loss is one other than a loss covered under collision coverage, including
theft. One recent example of its value is the widespread flood damage
generated by the recent Gulf hurricanes and heavy rains that inundated
many states.