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 If you are involved in an auto accident or have your vehicle stolen, owning the right kind of auto insurance will ease that difficult situation. Auto insurance protects you against financial loss if you have an accident.
Accident or liability coverage is available in different amounts. The state regulates the minimum amount of Liability that can be purchased on any policy. Foremost on an auto policy is the Bodily Injury coverage amount. That is the amount your Insurance Company (IC) would pay up to in the event of an accident at which you were at fault. The IC lists the maximum amount (aggregate) that would be paid in an accident as the next figure on your policy. An example would be 100/300 listed on your policy. The 100 would represent in $1000.’s the individual bodily injury amount and the 300 would represent the aggregate. Second to the liability amounts is the Property Damage amount. This pays in the event that you are at fault for the other vehicle or property belonging to the other driver. This represents the third number in the following example of 100/300/100. The Uninsured Motorist / Underinsured Motorist figures represent bodily injury protection for you and any family member of your household in the car with you in the event that you are injured by an uninsured driver. It also applies if you are crossing the street or struck by a hit and run driver.
 Next is Property Protection coverage that does not involve another vehicle. This applies if you were to do damage to someone’s property or building etc. The amount of coverage is generally quite high. Limited Property Damage is also referred to as “Mini Tort” and allows for recovery up to $ 500.00 when another driver is more than 50% at fault. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is a provision created by the state to provide for people who have been very seriously injured in an auto accident. The PIP amount will reach $500,000 by the year 2008. It is used for the care, rehabilitation and or burial of a serious accident victim(s) and provides for survivors as well. The IC pays the first dollars up to the limit in that given year and the state takes over and pays the expenses for the remainder of the accident victim’s life. Every Michigan insured driver shares in that cost.
The coverage called Other Than Collision or “Comprehensive” cover things that occur to the insured’s vehicle other than a car to car collision, a car to an object or a rollover auto accident. A broken windshield would be a comprehensive claim. The two popular forms of collision coverage are Standard Collision and Broad form Collision. You pay the deductible on standard collision no matter who is at fault. With Broad form you pay only if you are at fault and you pay nothing if you are not at fault.
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