Types of auto insurance policies

Auto insurance comes in different types and depending on the type of the policy you choose to get auto insurance quotes for the price and list of coverage will be different. It would be wrong to say that there's a policy type that's better than the other because they all serve different purposes. And if you aren't quite sure what type of policy you should consider when comparing quotes, here's a short overview of the most common auto insurance policy types available on the market.

Fully comprehensive

The policy type is the most common in the US and the most expensive of all auto insurance policies. Sounds wrong, right? Well, the catch with fully comprehensive policies is that they are required by most lending institutions if you finance your car through a loan. And taking the large numbers of financed cars out there on the road it's easy to understand why it's so common. Apart from being generally expensive, fully comprehensive policies carry the most coverage types and will pay for just any type of damage from accident to storm or theft. And you don't have to show fault in order to get the coverage. Pretty convenient, yet don't expect auto insurance quotes to be low with this type of coverage.

Third party, fire and theft

It may look like this policy type is similar to fully comprehensive yet there are significant differences. You get pretty much the same bundle of coverage options that will protect your car in case of an accident, fire, theft and other perils. Yet the policy will only pay in case you were at cause of the accident and have hit another vehicle. That is if you hit a wall due to steering wheel malfunction you won't be covered because you're not at fault. This policy type will best suit those car owners who have already settled their loans yet have certain value to their vehicles to be covered.

Third party

The most stripped down and thus the least expensive type of car insurance. It only carries the third party liability coverage, which is required legally in all states, only pays for the damage to third parties you have caused during a direct collision with another car and were at fault. You should consider getting auto insurance quotes for such policies only if your car hasn't any significant market value and you want your insurance to be as cheap as possible.