Everything That Isn't a Collision

Comprehensive coverage — some policies call it "other than collision," which is a better name — pays for damage to your own vehicle from things that are not a crash. It is the quieter half of physical damage coverage and it responds to a longer list than most people carry in their head.

The list

• Theft of the vehicle, and damage done during an attempted theft.
• Vandalism — keyed panels, slashed tires, smashed glass, catalytic converter cuts.
• Fire, whether it starts in the vehicle or reaches it.
• Falling objects — a branch, debris off a truck, something off a building.
• Weather: hail, wind, flood and rising water.
• Animal strikes, which surprise people every time.
• Glass breakage in most forms.
• Civil disturbance damage, in the usual policy language.

The dividing line that matters

If you hit something in the roadway, that is generally collision. If something happened to the vehicle without you driving into it, that is generally comprehensive. The classic edge case is swerving to avoid an animal and striking a guardrail — the animal did not touch the car, so that tends to be collision, while striking the animal itself tends to be comprehensive.

The reason this is worth knowing before a loss rather than after is that the two coverages usually carry different deductibles, and the classification decides which one you pay.

What it does not cover

Not your personal property inside the car — that is a homeowners or renters question, and it has its own deductible. Not mechanical breakdown, wear, or a failed transmission. Not damage from ordinary rust or deterioration. Not items permanently installed after purchase, unless you specifically scheduled them.

And not the car you are still paying for beyond what it is currently worth. Comprehensive pays actual cash value, which is where gap coverage exists as a separate answer.

When it is required and when it is optional

California law does not require comprehensive on your own vehicle. A lender or lessor almost certainly does, as a condition of the loan, because the vehicle is their collateral until it is paid off.

Once the car is yours outright, keeping or dropping it becomes a real decision rather than a contractual one. The question is not the car's age but whether you could replace it out of pocket tomorrow if it were stolen tonight.

The one that catches people out

Carrying comprehensive without collision is possible and sometimes sensible — a stored or rarely-driven vehicle is the usual case. Carrying collision without comprehensive is generally not offered, because the risks it leaves behind are the cheap ones to insure. If someone has told you otherwise, ask your carrier directly rather than assuming.

Ask to see the policy with and without comprehensive and compare what each version leaves you holding.