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What Is Comprehensive Car Insurance?

You get into your car in the morning and discover someone has stolen your hubcaps. On your way to work, a rock kicks up and cracks your windshield. During a windstorm, a huge tree branch falls on your car as it sits in your driveway. What do all these events have in common? They're all covered by comprehensive insurance.

Comprehensive car insurance covers your vehicle in the event of damage and disasters not related to a collision. But how does comprehensive car insurance work, and do you really need it? Read on.

What Does Comprehensive Car Insurance Cover?

Simply put, comprehensive insurance covers bad things that happen to your car when you're not driving it. This includes the theft of your vehicle or damage that's not caused by a collision.

Comprehensive insurance is different from collision insurance, which covers damage to your car when you hit another car or object while driving. Drivers often carry collision insurance to protect against risks that comprehensive insurance doesn't cover, and vice versa. In fact, some insurance companies won't sell one type of coverage unless you also buy the other.

When you make a comprehensive insurance claim, you'll be responsible for paying your deductible, which may vary from a few hundred dollars up to $1,000 or more. The insurance company will then cover the rest of the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle, up to the current value of your car. If you have a $500 deductible, for instance, and it costs $3,000 to repair the roof of your car after a tree branch dents it, you pay $500 toward the repairs, and the insurance company pays for the rest.

Although you should always check your specific policy for details, comprehensive insurance generally covers you in the following situations:

Comprehensive insurance has its limitations, however. Here are some situations where it won't protect you:

How Much Does Comprehensive Car Insurance Cost?

States typically require drivers to have a certain level of liability insurance, which covers the cost if you cause damage to vehicles or injuries to other parties while driving. The cost of comprehensive coverage is added to the cost of liability coverage.

The cost of comprehensive insurance can vary widely. Nationwide, the average cost of comprehensive insurance is $159.72 annually, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). However, in some states it's quite a bit lower ($96.15 in California, for example), while in others it's significantly higher ($291.22 in Wyoming). What factors influence how much comprehensive insurance costs?

Who Needs Comprehensive Car Insurance?

When you lease or finance a car, the lender may require you to get comprehensive (as well as collision) coverage to protect the vehicle. Otherwise, comprehensive insurance isn't legally required, and you can opt out of it. But should you?

Owners of older, less valuable cars often drop comprehensive insurance. The payout for a comprehensive claim will never exceed the car's value, so if your vehicle is only worth a few thousand dollars, comprehensive coverage may not be worth the expense. Rather than spend money to insure an old car, you might prefer to put that cash into a new-car fund instead. The III suggests dropping comprehensive and collision coverage if your car is worth less than 10 times the annual premium for the two coverages combined.

But even with an older car, there can be good reasons to get comprehensive car insurance. Here are some questions to ask yourself when making the decision:

Although comprehensive insurance isn't required by law, most drivers find it an affordable way to protect their bank accounts from the unexpected expense of repairing or replacing a vehicle. You can lower your comprehensive insurance premiums by raising your deductible, maintaining a good credit score and comparison shopping among insurance companies to find the best policy for you.

If you’re looking for ways to cut back on monthly costs, it could be a good idea to see if you can save on your auto insurance.

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