Liability vs. Full Coverage Car Insurance: 2024 Guide (2024)

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Liability car insurance only covers damages to other vehicles or injuries to other people when you’re driving. Full coverage insurance includes liability coverage along with other types of insurance to protect not only others, but also yourself on the road.

Most states require a minimum amount of car insurance coverage, though it tends to be limited to liability only. On the other hand, a full coverage policy is usually optional.

Full Coverage vs. Liability Car Insurance

The table below highlights key differences between full coverage and liability auto insurance:

The cost of your auto insurance policy is determined by a number of factors, including your age, vehicle, driving record, state, and city. Because a full coverage policy includes liability insurance, it is cheaper to purchase only liability vs. full coverage car insurance. And adding comprehensive and collision policies to your liability policy can be relatively inexpensive.

Price Difference Between Full Coverage and Liability

The chart below shows average policy costs for minimum liability and full coverage insurance by state. These rate estimates are based on the driving profile of a 35-year-old married driver with a good credit score and clean driving record.

Liability vs. Full Coverage Insurance: In-depth Analysis

To further underscore the differences between liability and full-coverage auto insurance, the sections below explain each coverage type in detail:

What Is Liability Car Insurance?

Liability car insurance is typically divided into two types of coverage: bodily injury liability and property damage liability. Both types of coverage pay for another driver’s expenses after an accident you are found at fault for.

• Bodily injury liability: This type of liability coverage pays for expenses such as medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering compensation.
• Property damage liability: This coverage pays for expenses such as vehicle repair costs and damage to buildings or fences.

Liability Car Insurance Coverage Limits

Liability car insurance policies do not cover an unlimited amount of damage. When you purchase liability car insurance, your policy will include coverage limits described by three numbers. For example, the minimum required liability car insurance in California is 15/30/5.

These numbers represent the following:

• A maximum of $15,000 is paid for bodily injury liability per person per accident
• A maximum of $30,000 is paid for bodily injury liability total per accident
• A maximum of $5,000 is paid to cover property damage liability per accident

Minimum requirements vary by state, but you can always purchase higher-limit policies than your state minimum. If your insurance policy fails to cover the full costs associated with an accident that you cause, you can be sued in civil court to make up the difference.

What Is Full Coverage Insurance?

“Full coverage” is a term used to describe a car insurance policy that includes liability coverage as well as comprehensive and collision coverage. A full coverage insurance policy might also include medical coverage and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM).

Here’s what each of these types of insurance includes:

• Collision insurance: This policy pays for the cost of damages to your vehicle after an accident. It includes collisions with other vehicles and road hazards. Collision coverage does not include accidents involving animals.
• Comprehensive insurance: Comprehensive coverage pays for damages to your vehicle that are caused by an animal, natural disaster, theft or vandalism.
• Medical payments (MedPay): This add-on pays for expenses such as medical bills and lost wages for you and your passengers.
• Personal injury protection (PIP): This coverage type pays for medical bills for you and your passengers and is mostly used in no-fault states.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage: If you areinvolved in an accident where the other driver is at fault and is uninsured, this coverage willtake care of related property damage and medical costs. It may also make up the difference if the other driver is insured but their policy does not fully cover the cost of damages.

Full coverage car insurance is not required by law in any state. However, if you finance or lease your vehicle, your lender may require that you maintain full coverage car insurance as part of the lease/loan agreement.

Do You Need Full Coverage Car Insurance?

Liability auto insurance is required in most states, but full coverage insurance is not. While a full coverage policy is a good idea for many drivers, it’s not always worth it. Largely, whether you should purchase liability vs. full coverage depends on your finances and the value of your vehicle.

Is Full Coverage Worth It?

Full coverage car insurance is worth buying in many situations. When you include comprehensive and collision insurancepolicies, you cover the actual cash value of your car. That means that if your vehicle is totaled in a caraccident, you’ll get roughly as much for it as if you sold it. This can protect you financially and offer peace of mind.

Therefore, full coverage car insurance is probably worth it if you are in one of the following situations:

• Your vehicle is leased or financed
• You have a newer vehicle (less than 10 years old)
• You can’t afford to replace your vehicle out of pocket if it is destroyed in an accident or act of nature
• Your car is a high-value luxury vehicle

When Is Full Coverage Not Worth It?

As your vehicle ages, its value drops. The general rule of thumb is that once your car is more than 10 years old, it is not worth purchasing full coverage insurance.

To decide if you should purchase full coverage insurance, calculate the value of your vehicle and compare this amount against your expected premiums. A good tool for calculating your car’s value isKelley Blue Book. If the amount you spend on your annual premiums isn’t much less than your car’s value, you may want to skip full coverage.

When deciding between liability insurance and full coverage car insurance, it’s important to consider how much protection you want for yourself, others and your vehicle. Purchasing liability insurance will only cover other vehicles and their injuries — not you or your car. Full coverage car insurance covers you, your vehicle and others involved in the accident.

Full Coverage and Liability Car Insurance Companies: Top Picks

Whatever your auto insurance needs, it’s a good idea to compare car insurance quotes from multiple providers before you purchase a policy. There is no single best insurer for every driver, so comparing liability vs. full coverage quotes from multiple options is the best way to find the lowest price.

Geico: Best for Budget-Conscious Drivers

Geico boasts an A++ financial strength rating from AM Best, an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and high rankings in multiple regions in the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Auto Insurance Study℠. For these reasons and more, we think it is one of the best options out there.

Geico policies are the most inexpensive option for many customers. This is partly due to Geico’s numerous car insurance discounts, which include a good driver discount (up to 26% off), multi-vehicle discount (up to 25% off) and good student discount (up to 15% off).

You can purchase liability coverage from Geico as well as every other standard type of insurance (collision, comprehensive, personal injury protection, medical payments, uninsured/underinsured motorist). Additionally, Geico offers:

• Emergency roadside assistance
• Rental reimbursem*nt
• Mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI)
• Rideshare insurance

Keep reading: Geico insurance review

Erie: Best for Basic Insurance Coverage

Erie is a good option for drivers looking for affordable and basic insurance coverage. Our cost research indicates that Erie often offers the lowest liability coverage rates among its competitors.

Like Geico, Erie has strong financial stability — the insurer is rated A+ for financial strength by AM Best. Also, minimum and full coverage insurance policies are available. In addition to the standard auto insurance options, Erie offers policy add-ons for:

• Roadside assistance
• Rental car reimbursem*nt
• Accident forgiveness
• Custom parts and equipment coverage
• Rideshare insurance

A useful feature offered by Erie is the YourTurn^® usage-based program, which allows customers to get discounted rates based on their driving habits.

Keep reading: Erie insurance review

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best car insurance companies. We collected data on dozens of auto insurance providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the insurers that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Cost: Auto insurance rate estimates generated by Quadrant Information Services and discount opportunities were both taken into consideration.
• Coverage: Companies that offer a variety of choices for insurance coverage are more likely to meet consumer needs.
• Reputation and experience: Our research team considered market share, ratings from industry experts and years in business when giving this score.
• Availability: Auto insurance companies with greater state availability and few eligibility requirements scored highest in this category.
• Customer experience: This score is based on volume of complaints reported by the NAIC and customer satisfaction ratings reported by J.D. Power. We also considered the responsiveness, friendliness and helpfulness of each insurance company’s customer service team based on our own shopper analysis.

Our credentials:

• 800 hours researched
• 45 companies reviewed
• 8,500+ consumers surveyed

*Data accurate at time of publication.