Comprehensive vs. collision in 60 seconds
What is the difference between comprehensive and collision?
The transcript below is the video. Read it now; the recording will appear here when it is published.
The short answer
Both coverages pay for your own car. Collision pays when the car hits something or is hit while moving. Comprehensive pays for almost everything else: theft, fire, hail, flood, and animals. In Michigan, a deer strike is comprehensive and is generally not treated as an at-fault accident.
Transcript
Two coverages pay for your own car, and people mix them up constantly.
Collision is simple: your car hits something, or something hits it while you are driving. Another car, a pole, a pothole.
Comprehensive is everything else. Someone steals it. Hail dents it. A tree limb lands on it. And in Michigan — a deer runs into it.
That deer strike is comprehensive, not collision, and most companies do not count it against you as an at-fault accident.
Both come with a deductible you choose. Both are optional unless a lender says otherwise.
If you could not replace the car tomorrow out of pocket, keep both. If you could, it is a fair conversation.
Related guides and videos.
What does comprehensive auto insurance cover?
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