Dropping the optional comprehensive insurance coverage on your older automobile may sound like a good way to save a few bucks. But you might want to reconsider if you live in a storm-prone region.
If your car is damaged or destroyed in a storm, you’ll be footing the bill for its repair or replacement when the cost of buying another car has gone through the roof. That’s because severe storms total thousands — sometimes hundreds of thousands — of cars.
So prices will likely rise on the undamaged cars up for sale as drivers scramble to purchase vehicles to replace the ones they lost.
Comprehensive insurance pays out up to the actual cash value of your car, minus your deductible, to replace stolen cars and for damage caused by the following:
- Flooding
- Falling objects
- Hail
- Fire
- Vandalism
- Animal strikes
While giving up comprehensive coverage will lower your car insurance rates, you need to ask yourself whether you have the financial ability to buy a replacement car.
Auto insurance and hurricanes
Comprehensive insurance plays a key role in paying for hurricane damage. And you don’t need to live near the coast to be affected. As anyone who lives in the South or East knows, hurricanes and tropical storms can often take a toll hundreds of miles inland, bringing fierce winds and torrential rains, and spinning off tornadoes.
While comprehensive coverage is a good starting point, it’s not the only insurance you should have if a hurricane strikes.
Comprehensive covers your vehicle if it sustains damage from things like wind, flooding, and flying objects, but if there are any valuables in your car, you need to have homeowners or renters insurance, or those losses won’t be covered.
Another consideration is whether your auto insurance policy provides for a rental car if your vehicle is knocked out of commission. Even with rental reimbursement coverage, there can be limits on the amount you’re reimbursed per day.
Other types of insurance to consider are gap coverage, which pays off your vehicle loan if your car is destroyed and the amount you owe is greater than the car’s value; or new car replacement insurance, which will provide you with a new car if your car is totaled during the first year or two you own it.
The key is to figure out in advance the range of auto insurance options available from your car insurance company that will best meet your needs. Otherwise, there’s a good chance your insurer won’t allow you to make changes if you wait till a hurricane is about to make landfall.
What if it hails during a hurricane?
Thankfully, hail during hurricanes is extremely rare, though it is certainly possible. Our guide to hurricane claims provides all the details you need should you experience hail damage.
— Michelle Megna contributed to this story.
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Laura Longero
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Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.
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