Auto insurance terms, explained
What these terms mean when they appear on auto insurance. Each definition describes the term itself, not what to do about it.
- Bodily injury liability
- Pays for injuries you cause to other people in an at-fault accident, up to your policy limits. It does not pay for your own injuries.
- Collision
- Pays to repair or replace your own vehicle after a crash, regardless of fault, minus your deductible.
- Comprehensive
- Pays for damage to your vehicle from non-crash events like theft, fire, hail, or a fallen tree, minus your deductible.
- Med-pay
- Medical payments coverage: pays medical bills for you and your passengers after an accident, regardless of fault, up to a set limit.
- Uninsured motorist
- Covers your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Many policies also cover an underinsured driver whose limits are too low.
Other policy types
These are general definitions. Your own policy is what governs your coverage, and the same term can be defined differently from one policy to the next. Read your own policy to see what these terms say in your document, cited to the page.