Comprehensive Coverage

Part II

There are some things to remember with with comprehensive coverage. Most insurance policies will protect your vehicle, but not the contents of your vehicle. What? Yeah, personal property is excluded from the policy under Comprehensive Coverage(this concept also applies to collision). This can get complicated in some instances.

Say you have a pick up truck with a camper in it. Is the camper personal property or is it part of the vehicle? Insurance adjuster will tell you that if the equipment or the part in question is attached to the vehicle by bolts, then it is part of the vehicle and therefore covered. If it is not then there would not be coverage for that. In the case of the camper that is simple.

However, what about equipment like standing DVD players, GPS systems, or satellite radios? This field is highly disputed; they will do whatever they have to tell you that this is not part of the vehicle. Some Insurance companies (SAFECO, PROGRESSIVE, ALL STATE, GEICO, and others) are excluding items like this from their policies all together. They are starting to exclude higher end stereo systems, equalizers, amps, custom speakers, etc.

If you have some of this equipment in your vehicle, then you must be looking for the right insurance carrier. If your stuff is stolen, you do not want your adjuster to tell you that they do not cover GPS or subwoofer because it is not bolted to the car. They will only pay Actual Cash Value for everything, so they will depreciate your equipment.

The theory that if something is not bolted or attached to the car then it is not part of the car is questionable. What about the spear tire, and all the equipment to that comes with the car? The owner�s manual? Are these items part of the car? All of these will be disputed.

Is the key part of the car? I think that is pretty obvious, yet I have seen insurance companies deny coverage of stolen car keys. They argue that the key is not bolted to the car. This is ridiculous; if you are in this situation, I would file a complaint with the state insurance commissioner. (See the section on complaints).

Some insurance companies will pay to replace the actual key, but they will not pay to rekey the car. This is also a bad move in my opinion. If someone has your key out there, they can just come back and take the entire automobile, a bigger loss to you and a bigger loss to them. You will see arguments like this being made all the time. However, when the insurance company is contradictory on their terms, they are playing a dirty game with you.

There are mitigation of damages clauses not very often under the Comprehensive Coverage portion of the policy, but under the "other provision section"(read more on insurance policy terms) in every insurance policy, these clauses are designed so the insured and the claimant make proactive moves to avoid a bigger loss.

For example, If you get hit, you cannot leave your car to be damaged by the elements for months so your insurance company pays more (based on this clause, they could reduce the amount they pay to what they think they would have paid if you avoid more damage to the car).

My point, when you want to have your car rekeyed because someone stole the keys, they should allow you to mitigate your damages (avoid a bigger loss by driving around town in a car knowing that someone else has the key). Insurance companies do not want to answer to this argument, and I honestly think it is a lot stronger than �the key was not bolted to the car�.

There are certain requirements that must be met before they will provide Comprehensive Coverage for your stolen vehicle.

You must have a police report of course, and you will have to wait anywhere from 24 to 72 hours before the insurance carrier will provide any coverage. Their argument for the wait is that most vehicles turn out somewhere else within that period.

Therefore, it could be a vehicle stolen for a �joy ride�, with little or no damage. You will not get a rental until this time has lapsed.

Comprehensive Coverage is extended to rental cars as well, meaning that if you drive a rental car and you have a Comprehensive Coverage claim, then your policy will cover that car (the rental). It does not mean they will provide a rental for you if you have a comprehensive claim. You need rental or loss of use coverage for that.

If you have a comprehensive coverage claim, the towing charges will be covered under this coverage (no need for towing coverage, read more on towing charges).

Read Comprehensive Coverage Part I.
Learn more about Towing and Rental Coverage.

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