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.
Claim: A request you make to your insurance company to pay for a covered loss.
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.
Coverage: A part of your policy that pays for a specific kind of loss, up to a limit.
Deductible: The amount you pay out of your own pocket on a claim before your insurance starts paying.
Endorsement: An add-on or change to your policy that adds, removes, or adjusts coverage. Also called a rider.
Exclusion: Something your policy specifically does not cover.
In force: Active and providing coverage, because the policy is current and paid.
Insured: A person or thing your policy protects.
Liability: Coverage that pays for injury or damage you are responsible for causing to someone else.
Limit: The most your policy will pay for a covered loss.
Med-pay: Medical payments coverage: pays medical bills for you and your passengers after an accident, regardless of fault, up to a set limit.
Out-of-pocket: Money you pay yourself, that your insurance does not cover.
Policyholder: The person who owns the insurance policy.
Premium: The amount you pay for your insurance, usually each month or once a year.
Sub-limit: A smaller, separate cap inside a coverage that applies to certain items or losses.
Sublimit: A smaller, separate cap inside a coverage that applies to certain items or losses.
Underwriting: How an insurer decides whether to cover you and at what price, based on the risk.
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.