The Extent Of Coverage In Vehicle Insurance Policies

The phrase “vehicle insurance” implies that what you are insuring is your car, but the realities of this type of insurance are a bit more complex than that. When you purchase a comprehensive vehicle insurance policy, you are protecting yourself from the costs of damaging your car, but that is just one element that makes up full automobile insurance coverage. You need insurance that can cover the legal fees that may result during a lawsuit if you take another driver to court after an accident. You need insurance that can cover the cost of prescription painkillers that you may need to buy for yourself if an uninsured driver runs a light and hits your car. These and hundreds of other possible costs that have nothing to do with your actual vehicle can be covered by so-called automobile insurance. The act of buying an insurance policy for your car is tantamount to making sure that it is financially safe both for yourself and for anyone else who you may encounter when you are behind the wheel.

It is a little known fact that you need to protect yourself from the potential financial hardship of paying for the medical bills of anyone who you injure in an accident, and the costs of repairing any public or private property that you may damage. In addition, before you can hit the road you need enough insurance that you will be able to pay for your own medical care if you are injured in a crash caused by an uninsured motorist. So far, none of these important elements of a standard vehicle insurance policy even mention the automobile itself!

A good comprehensive policy will cover at least some percentage of the cost of repair to your car after physical damage. You will most likely have an amount to pay before the insurance kicks in and the insurance company covers the rest. This is called an ‘excess’ and is usually calculated for you by the insurance agent when you take out your vehicle insurance policy but you may have some leeway in setting it yourself. You may be able to take a higher excess which will effectively lower your monthly premiums. Physical damage coverage, however, is just one element of a good automobile insurance policy, and many people consider it optional rather than necessary. The actual cost of insuring the physical form of your vehicle is almost always dwarfed by the costs of the other kinds of insurance that you need in order to drive safely, responsibly, and legally.

Vehicle insurance policies in countries like South Africa tend not to include things like medical payments coverage, which will help you meet the costs of medical attention after an accident. This leads most people to take out medical insurance or to belong to a medical aid fund so that they know they will not have a larger than necessary financial burden if a hospital stay is necessary for them, or for a one of their dependents. There is also the Road Accident Fund which can be claimed from in case of injury resulting from a car accident. People who are injuring themselves where the fault is totally their own can’t claim but people who are partly or not at all responsible for injuries incurred can do so.