Consumers may be wondering about the answer to the question, “Can I buy auto insurance liability coverage and collision/comprehensive insurance from different companies?” An insurance policy is made up of several components, including liability and physical damage coverage, but a driver does not have the option of buying separate policies for each one.

The auto insurance liability coverage portion of a policy is made up of two separate parts: bodily injury and property damage liability. Each one covers claims made by the occupants of the other vehicle following an at-fault accident.

Liability Auto Insurance Coverage

Bodily injury liability insurance pays for personal injury claims, including ones for medical bills, rehabilitation expenses and lost wages. This part of the policy also pays out a certain amount for funeral expenses if the accident causes one or more fatalities.

This part of the policy has two coverage limits. The first one refers to the amount of coverage available to pay for injury claims made by one person injured in an accident. The second number is for the amount of coverage in place to pay for injury claims made by all people injured in the same accident.

Property damage liability coverage pays for the cost of repairing or replacing property owned by others following an accident. It covers the other driver’s vehicle, as well as public property. In this instance, public property refers to items like fences, guard rails, sign posts, light stands, buildings and sheds.

Drivers must have at least a minimum level of liability insurance coverage in place to comply with state laws in most parts of the United States. Consumers can choose to buy a policy with a higher level of protection than the minimum amount required by the jurisdiction where he or she lives.

Physical Damage Auto Insurance Coverage

Physical damage auto insurance coverage also has two components: collision and comprehensive protection. Both of them pay out when the policyholder’s vehicle is damaged but cover different types of losses.

Collision auto insurance coverage comes into play when the loss is due to coming into contact with an inanimate object. It also covers a car which has been damaged in a hit-and-run incident.
Comprehensive auto insurance covers a vehicle against losses from something other than a collision. This is the part of the policy which pays out when the vehicle is damaged by falling objects, hail, wind, flooding or striking an animal. It also protects against vandalism, fire and theft.

The policyholder chooses a level of coverage for each type of physical damage coverage, as well as a policy deductible. Drivers must pay a deductible when they make a claim against the physical damage portion of their policy.
If the car is totaled in an accident, the insurance company will make a payment based on its cash value, less the amount of the policy deductible. Drivers who own an older vehicle with a low cash value may want to drop the collision coverage on their car and limit the comprehensive protection to fire and theft only to save on their coverage costs.