- Liability, comprehensive, and collision coverage work together to create full coverage insurance
- Full coverage is not required insurance, but it is recommended for newer vehicles
- You can compare free full coverage insurance quotes online to find the best policy for your budget
When you buy a car, you are essentially making a huge investment that faces a lot of risks. Whenever you are driving your car to work or to school, it could potentially be damaged by the elements or another driver.
That’s why it’s vital that you protect your investment against everything that could threaten it. Now, in order to do that, you’ll need to purchase full coverage auto insurance.
If you’re looking for top-quality insurance, full coverage could be just what you need to protect yourself and your vehicle. While it may cost more than the minimum Texas car insurance requirements, even used cars aren’t cheap to repair these days.
Drivers looking for affordable full coverage car insurance will be ecstatic to learn that even the major players in the insurance industry can offer excellent full coverage car insurance rates.
With today’s technology, you can find the cheapest full coverage car insurance quotes online without ever getting up from the couch and take your time to compare them in order to make sure that you are getting the best deal possible.
If you can’t wait to protect your car, enter your ZIP code to get free full coverage insurance quotes from companies near your city.
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What is full coverage insurance?
Now, don’t start shopping for your next full coverage insurance policy just yet. It’s always wise to make sure that you know exactly what you are buying before you put any money down. Let’s examine what full coverage entails and how it helps you.
Funnily enough, full coverage isn’t a specific policy type. When a car insurance company offers full coverage insurance, it is actually proposing the combination of three different types of coverage.
These insurance coverage types that work together to create full coverage are:
- Liability Coverage
- Comprehensive Coverage
- Collision Coverage
On their own, these three coverage types all provide you with a specialized type of protection.
Let’s start by reviewing what liability coverage does. With this coverage, your insurance actually protects you from being sued by an injured party if you were to cause an accident.
You see, your liability limits would be utilized to pay for the medical bills and vehicle repairs that occurred in this hypothetical accident. Now, when determining the differences between liability vs. full coverage, you should approach the coverage types with this mindset:
Liability protects you from being taken to court. You should also make sure that your liability limits are set in such a way that they actually offer you real protection for your other assets. You are also required to carry liability coverage in nearly every state in the U.S.
Full coverage, on the other hand, is not state-required coverage, and it combines all three coverage types to offer you full-bodied protection. You see, on its own, comprehensive coverage only protects your vehicle from harm. Also known as deer auto insurance in Texas, damage caused by falling tree branches, a break-in, fire, and even storms would be covered by this type of coverage.
Last, but not least, is collision coverage. This coverage plays a very important role in protecting your vehicle. Without collision coverage, drivers wouldn’t be able to repair or replace their cars after incurring damage.
Let’s say you backed into your friend’s car while leaving a party. Thankfully, your friend’s vehicle took no damage, but yours has been left with a deep dent. Now your friend won’t be filing a claim to get his car fixed, but you could file a collision claim to get your vehicle repaired.
How much is full coverage insurance?
Now that you know just how much protection comes with full coverage, you may be left wondering if this intensive type of insurance is affordable for everyone.
It may not shock you to learn that full coverage comes with a higher price tag than just liability, but most people with a wide range of budgets can afford full coverage.
To give you an idea of what you could pay potentially be paying for full coverage insurance, take a look at this pricing breakdown of varying coverage levels in the state of Texas:
| Group | High Coverage Annual Average | Medium Coverage Annual Average | Low Coverage Annual Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allstate | $5,655.81 | $5,438.89 | $5,361.24 |
| American Family | $5,357.52 | $4,672.73 | $4,517.27 |
| GEICO | $3,477.68 | $3,221.75 | $3,090.73 |
| Nationwide | $3,736.52 | $3,701.00 | $4,165.19 |
| Progressive | $4,920.90 | $4,642.33 | $4,431.31 |
| State Farm | $3,039.86 | $2,870.49 | $2,729.50 |
| USAA | $2,582.94 | $2,477.96 | $2,403.46 |
With this information in hand, drivers can expect to pay, on average, $4,110 per year for full coverage while living in the Lone Star State. Of course, these rates will change depending upon the individual applying for insurance.
How do insurance companies calculate insurance rates?
When a driver undergoes an insurance company’s underwriting process, there are many factors that go into rate calculation. Some of these include age, driving history, credit score, location, and more.
All of these factors come together to produce a rate that is specifically designed just for you. For example, you can see in this chart below how your credit score can affect your insurance rate if you live in Houston:
| Insurance Provider | Good Credit | Fair Credit | Poor Credit | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allstate | $5,193.73 | $6,064.69 | $8,285.94 | $6,514.79 |
| American Family | $5,253.86 | $6,015.71 | $9,270.13 | $6,846.57 |
| GEICO | $2,293.67 | $3,462.39 | $6,151.78 | $3,969.28 |
| Nationwide | $3,684.52 | $4,248.38 | $5,295.97 | $4,409.62 |
| Progressive | $4,736.52 | $5,113.92 | $5,920.85 | $5,257.10 |
| State Farm | $2,439.19 | $3,057.10 | $4,901.97 | $3,466.09 |
| USAA | $2,013.20 | $2,496.22 | $4,285.58 | $2,931.67 |
If you lived in another area of Texas like San Antonio or Marfa, your rates could look very different even if your credit score remained the same
How can drivers lower their full coverage car insurance rates?
The best way to achieve a low insurance rate is to resolutely follow all the rules of the road and continuously work to build up your credit score; however, there other steps you can take.
You can also cast your eye over your policy to verify that all the discounts that can be applied to your policy have been so you can save money. You can also make use of free resources like this chart to compare the discounts offered by your insurance company to others:
| Discount Type | Progressive | GEICO | USAA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-lock Brakes | x | Yes | x |
| Anti-Theft | x | Yes | x |
| Claim Free | x | Yes | Yes |
| Defensive Driver | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Policy | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Car | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Good Student | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Bear in mind that when shopping for full coverage, you should never buy one that you cannot afford. Discounts can make most full coverage policies attainable, but you should always compare at least 3 quotes to be sure that you’re getting the best rate.
Who should buy full coverage insurance?
While not every driver in the United States will need full coverage, if you’re leasing your vehicle you will be required to purchase full coverage. Full coverage will also be required if you have a loan on your car.
Now, if you don’t have a car loan but own it outright, you should still consider buying full coverage if you don’t think you have the cash reserves to replace it if it was totaled in an accident. With full coverage, you would have a financial cushion that would help you purchase a replacement vehicle.
It would also make sense for you have full coverage if you drive a very expensive vehicle. Newer cars on the market are full of incredible safety features like lane assist, blind spot sensors, backup cameras, and more. Each and every one of those fancy features come with a high price tag though.
If you have scrimped and saved to buy yourself a brand new car, make sure that you have enough leftover to properly protect it with full coverage so you aren’t stuck looking at a mechanic bill that you can’t afford to pay.
Shopping for Full Coverage: The Bottom Line
If you want to be protected from anything that life could throw at you, you most likely would want to buy full coverage car insurance. With full coverage, you’ll have liability, collision, and comprehensive protection whenever you are out on the road.
It is particularly advisable to buy full coverage insurance if you have a newer vehicle, but bear in mind, that even a used car can be expensive to fix — especially if it comes with gear like a backup camera or lane adjustment. While it’s true that full coverage can cost more per year than just liability coverage, drivers would be wise to remember that this particular insurance product provides so much more than just liability protection.
Of course, if you have to stay on a budget, you can keep your rates low by minimizing any moving violations, maintaining a good credit score, and reviewing your policy to make sure that you are not missing any chances to save some money.
If you want free quotes for full coverage, enter your ZIP code to find the best policy for you today.