There’s no better protection plan than the one that covers everything you might need. This type of policy is commonly known as full coverage car insurance. However, there’s no universal agreement on what this coverage includes.
That’s why we decided to explain every option you might add to your policy to have complete peace of mind when it comes to your car and your loved ones.
Furthermore, we provided a detailed guide on the prices of full coverage, coupled with the rankings of the most reliable companies that offer this protection plan.
What Is Full Insurance Coverage?
There is no prevailing definition of full coverage. Instead, people use it to refer to a combination of standard auto insurance coverages that provide complete protection. For starters, they cover the damages and injuries that you inflict upon others in an accident.
Additionally, full coverage protects you from uninsured/underinsured drivers and covers your vehicle no matter who was at fault.
Finally, it pays your and your passengers’ medical expenses. It may even include roadside assistance and reimbursement for a rental car while your vehicle is in a repair shop.
What Does Full Coverage Insurance Cover?
The coverages commonly included in full coverage auto insurance are as follows:
Liability
This option is mandatory in almost every US state. More specifically, it pays for the damage you’ve caused to others. All in all, it has two different limits. Namely, the first is bodily injury, which covers medical payments, pain and suffering, lost wages, and similar expenses.
This limit has a maximum payout per person and accident. Moreover, the second one is property damage, which pays the repairs of a vehicle you hit. Additionally, it may include personal belongings like a watch, smartphone, or tablet.
When thinking about full coverage car insurance vs. liability, keep in mind that while every car insurance policy has to carry liability, full coverage insurance would typically have higher limits than the state minimum.
Collision
This coverage helps you pay for repairs or replace your vehicle after a covered accident. Furthermore, collision insurance always carries a deductible, and it pays up to the actual cash value of your vehicle, which is the cost of an equivalent car on the used car market.
We recommend a deductible of $500 or $1,000 for full coverage car insurance.
Comprehensive
This coverage repays any damage to your vehicle that didn’t come from a car crash. In fact, it often includes natural disasters, fire, theft, vandalism, and collision with an animal.
Moreover, it pays up to the actual cash value of your car, and a deductible is optional. Full coverage would typically include no deductible or a very low one.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
If you weren’t at fault in an accident, it’s the other driver’s liability insurance covering your medical and property expenses.
But if their limits are insufficient, or they don’t have car insurance, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage jumps in. So, depending on the state, it pays for the treatment of your injuries, your damaged vehicle, or both.
Full coverage car insurance would typically include very high limits since uninsured/underinsured coverage is inexpensive. However, no insurer would let you carry limits higher than your liability.
Medical Payments and Personal Injury Protection
These two coverages pay your medical expenses regardless of who was at fault in the car crash. Personal injury protection is mandatory in some states, optional in others, and even unavailable in some.
As GEICO full coverage page suggests, each state determines which coverages it offers and has separate rules about what and who is covered.
MedPay, on the other hand, is almost always an optional coverage. However, these coverages exclude one another, meaning you cannot add both to a full coverage car insurance policy.
The principal difference between MedPay and PIP is that the former includes expenses besides medical treatment, such as child care, lost wages, and similar outlays. Furthermore, you may choose to purchase MedPay without any deductibles or coinsurance.
In some instances, even your regular health insurance may help. However, you might want to check that first since these policies sometimes carry an endorsement that excludes payouts for car accidents.
An even broader full coverage car insurance may include these:
GAP Insurance
A lease agreement often requires this coverage. As a matter of fact, GAP coverage repays the difference between the amount left on your loan and the actual cash value of your totaled vehicle.
For example, if you have $20,000 left on your loan, and you total a car that’s worth $16,750, your GAP insurance payout would equal $3,250 minus your deductible.
Roadside Assistance
Some customers looking for cheap full coverage auto insurance with no down payment may forego this coverage, but we strongly recommend adding it. In fact, it’s quite affordable.
You get roadside repairs, towing, oil/fuel delivery, locksmith assistance, and other similar services if your car breaks down by the road.
Rental Car Reimbursement
This coverage is slightly more expensive than roadside assistance. Nonetheless, it provides you with the comfort of knowing that you will have a car at your disposal no matter what happens.
The amount covered per day can be up to $30, and the maximum period is usually 30 days. Despite its higher price, rental car reimbursement is a worthwhile addition to a full coverage auto insurance policy.
Who Needs Full Coverage Car Insurance?
A car lender often requires some options that constitute full coverage, like comprehensive, collision, and GAP. This means that those who recently bought a new car with a loan will have to get something similar to full protection.
Overall, full coverage protects you, your passengers, and your vehicle in a manner liability-only coverage does not even come close to. So, we advise every individual to at least consider adding minimum full coverage car insurance to their policy.
Furthermore, we would highly recommend the following drivers get full coverage:
- Those who frequently commute through dense traffic (They have significantly higher chances of being involved in an accident.)
- Those with a new or expensive car (Replacing or repairing such vehicles can be quite costly, so adding full coverage auto insurance means you can drive worry-free, knowing you’re covered even if an accident happens.)
- Those who live in areas prone to natural disasters (If your home state is notorious for frequent natural disasters, you can profit from comprehensive coverage. However, given that this protection plan is inexpensive compared to a cheap full coverage car insurance, it might be wiser to add just comprehensive insurance instead.)
- Those living in states with a high number of uninsured drivers or with very low liability limits (If you live in Mississippi, Michigan, or Tennessee, the chances of running into an uninsured driver are higher than average. Nonetheless, uninsured motorist coverage is relatively cheap, meaning it is better to add just that protection plan.)
Full Coverage Car Insurance Cost by Company
Roughly speaking, you can expect to pay twice as much for complete protection compared to just liability with decent limits.
However, with a little bit of shopping around, you can find a full-coverage plan that costs just a tad more than liability-only coverage from an expensive insurer. Check the table below to see how the average prices compare for different insurance companies.
| Company | Full Coverage Annual Premium |
| GEICO | $1,233 |
| USAA | $1,238 |
| Nationwide | $1,332 |
| State Farm | $1,381 |
| Travelers | $1,426 |
| American Family | $1,454 |
| Progressive | $1,739 |
| Farmers | $1,745 |
| Allstate | $1,994 |
As we can see, the full coverage car insurance from State Farm, Nationwide, USAA, and GEICO comes at the most affordable costs.
Then again, the most expensive average full coverage costs are offered by Travelers, Progressive, Allstate, Farmers, and American Family.
Be that as it may, let’s not forget that small insurers may have more affordable rates than nationwide carriers. Moreover, each auto insurance company has rates based on many factors, like your location, driving history, vehicle, etc.
Most Expensive and Cheapest Full Coverage Auto Insurance by State
We have provided you with a table of the ten states offering the cheapest full coverage cost.
| State | Average Full Insurance Cost |
| Maine | $1,051 |
| Texas | $1,094 |
| Wisconsin | $1,175 |
| Idaho | $1,283 |
| North Carolina | $1,291 |
| Indiana | $1,345 |
| Virginia | $1,350 |
| Vermont | $1,360 |
| Ohio | $1,378 |
| Alaska | $1,433 |
However, if you want to know: “what is the full coverage car insurance cost in California?” keep in mind that the Golden State doesn’t belong in the group of states with the most affordable prices. In fact, the average full coverage cost is $2,052.
Some other states with the most expensive full coverage costs are the following ones:
- Michigan
- Florida
- Nevada
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- Louisiana
- New York
- Colorado
- Massachusetts
- Arizona
- Washington
- Kentucky
- Connecticut
How to Get Low-Cost Full Coverage Auto Insurance
Since full coverage includes so many different components, the price variation across the market is massive. Every insurer uses a different algorithm to determine a final price.
That’s why slight variations in a driver’s profile can significantly affect the final premium. Given this, shopping around is the best route to the cheapest full coverage.
Start off by reading high-quality insurance reviews. They will tell you which companies are the best in customer service, financial strength, and other relevant departments.
Once you’ve made your shortlist, request a full coverage auto insurance quote from all those insurers. It won’t take more than one afternoon, and the savings can be massive.
Additionally, it would help to repeat this at every renewal term in states where price optimization is legal.
Another thing to remember is to check which company has the highest discounts that you might qualify for. Sometimes, they can reduce your premium up to 50%.
Finally, consider enrolling in a program that tracks your driving habits. It’s done by installing a GPS device or downloading a mobile app.
Nothing satisfies an insurance company more than hard evidence that you are a reliable driver. Be careful, though. Some insurers may raise your premium if your results are substandard.
Conclusion
Full coverage car insurance may be twice as expensive as liability only, but the security it provides makes it worth it. It protects your vehicle from almost any accident, and it reimburses your medical expenses as well as that of your passengers.
The only situation in which full coverage may not be worth it is if your car is cheap enough that it can be easily repaired or replaced. Nevertheless, we would still keep the medical portion of full coverage auto insurance.
Finally, at the risk of sounding like we’re stuck on repeat, we cannot stress the importance of exploring the market enough. In the end, you’re purchasing the most expensive coverage option available. Naturally, there will be considerable variance in price.
People Also Ask
What is full coverage insurance on a car?
There’s no universal full coverage car insurance definition. Nonetheless, almost everyone would agree that it includes comprehensive and collision coverages, either PIP or MedPay, and uninsured/underinsured motorist protection.
Furthermore, it may incorporate roadside assistance, rental car reimbursement, and even GAP insurance. All in all, the purpose of all these coverages is to provide full security for the driver, vehicle, and passengers.
How much should full coverage insurance cost?
Each auto insurance company has rates based on many factors, like your location, driving history, vehicle, etc.
However, drivers in the United States pay an average of around $138 per month or approximately $1,655 annually for full coverage insurance.
As we’ve already mentioned, the state with the cheapest average full insurance cost ($1,052) is Maine, while the most affordable company is GEICO, with an annual full coverage premium of $1,233.
How much is insurance on a 100K car?
Different cars have different types of insurance. As we have mentioned earlier, the cost depends on many factors. That’s why an estimate has to be made with the help of a calculator. You are free to use our own calculator.
But let’s show an example. Namely, according to some calculations for property damage liabilities, if the limit per accident is 100,000, the average annual premium will be around $319.
How much more is full coverage than liability?
Liability coverage pays only for the property damage and bodily injuries you have inflicted on others.
In addition to what liability covers, full coverage protects you from uninsured/underinsured drivers and covers your vehicle no matter who was at fault. Moreover, it pays your and your passengers’ medical expenses.Therefore, on average, full coverage car insurance costs $470 per year, or almost $40 more per month, than a liability-only policy.
