Car Insurance Coverage Options

Five Optional Car Insurance Coverages Massachusetts Drivers Should Know About

When buying or renewing a car insurance policy, many people default to selecting the Massachusetts minimum car insurance coverages and limits. However, the Gilbert Insurance team helps clients take a closer look at these requirements to determine if having just these basic amounts might be financially risky. For example, in an at-fault car accident, where several people are injured and multiple vehicles or other people’s properties are damaged, your financial responsibilities could far exceed the insurance provided by your policy if you only have the minimum required coverage levels. This could leave you paying out of pocket for a substantial amount of a claim. Additionally, there are several types of auto-related losses that can occur that are not covered by Massachusetts’s mandatory car insurance coverages, including theft, fire, and damage caused by hitting an animal. It’s a good idea to consider getting broader protection and filling in these potential coverage gaps with the following five auto insurance options:

1. Collision Insurance: If you hit another vehicle, or an object like a mailbox or fence, with your car, it’s likely to get pretty banged up. Collision is the coverage that typically pays to repair the damages to your car, regardless of who is at fault, or if you’re hit by a driver who doesn’t have enough insurance to cover your vehicle’s damages.
2. Comprehensive Insurance: From a car being stolen or vandalized to vehicular damage caused by fire, weather conditions, or hitting an animal, there are a number of situations that will not be covered if you buy only the state’s minimum required insurance coverage and limits. Comprehensive insurance provides coverage for these types of losses as well as for damage to your car resulting from malicious mischief and other similar violent acts.
3. Medical Payments (MedPay): After an accident, you or your passengers may require surgical, medical, or chiropractic treatment; X-rays; prosthetic devices; or more. Massachusetts drivers are already required to carry personal injury protection (PIP), which typically helps you pay for medical expenses like these. However, that doesn’t mean Bay State drivers should overlook the value of adding optional medical payments coverage to their policy. If you want to limit your out-of-pocket expenses for injuries you suffer in an accident, you may want to discuss MedPay benefits with your local insurance professional.
4. Optional Bodily Injury to Others: By purchasing this add-on coverage, you can extend the liability protection on your car insurance policy to cover you and your passengers when an accident occurs outside of your home state, anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, optional bodily injury to others may help you pay for injuries suffered by your passengers when you’re at fault for a crash.
5. Higher Liability Limits: Since state-mandated insurance coverage minimums may not be enough to protect you and your assets from a large auto claim, you may want to consider selecting liability coverage limits for both bodily injury and property damage that are above the state’s requirements. Of course, our team can help you evaluate the preferred liability limits for your specific situation by looking at the value of the assets you need to protect, such as your house, savings, investments, etc. After doing this analysis, if the highest available auto insurance coverage limits still do not seem sufficient, we may suggest you consider a personal umbrella insurance policy.

As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when buying car insurance. And yet, this information doesn’t even give you the entire picture of all that is available to you. There are still many more coverages and endorsements to consider, several of which might save you quite a bit of money if you’re ever in an accident. Here are some additional popular options and endorsements that we would be glad to discuss with you:

Before buying or renewing a car insurance policy, we encourage you to reach out to a Gilbert Insurance professional so we can help you assess the car insurance coverages, limits, and options that are the best fit for you and assist you in accessing them at competitive rates.