The Number You Pay Before the Policy Does

A deductible is the amount of a covered loss you absorb yourself before the insurer pays the rest. If your collision deductible is $1,000 and the repair is $4,200, the insurer's share is $3,200 and yours is $1,000. That is the whole mechanic of it.

Which coverages have one

Physical damage coverages do: collision and comprehensive, each with its own, and they are frequently different amounts. Some optional coverages carry one too, depending on how the policy is written — uninsured motorist property damage often does, in the forms that offer it.

Liability does not. There is no deductible on the coverage that pays other people for harm you caused. Neither is there one on medical payments coverage in the usual form. This trips people up: they hear "deductible" and assume it applies to the whole policy. It applies to specific coverages, and it is listed against each of them on your declarations page.

How it is actually applied

It is subtracted from the settlement, not billed to you separately. On a repair, the shop typically collects it from you and the insurer pays the balance. On a total loss, it comes off the actual cash value the insurer pays out.

Two consequences worth knowing:

• Per claim, not per year. Unlike a health plan, an auto deductible resets for each separate loss. Two unrelated claims in one policy term generally mean paying it twice.
• Two coverages, two deductibles. A single event that damages the car in two ways can, depending on how it is classified, involve more than one.

When you may not pay it

If another driver is clearly at fault and their insurer accepts responsibility, your carrier may pursue reimbursement from theirs — a process called subrogation — and return your deductible to you if it recovers. That takes time and it is not a guarantee. Never plan around it.

Some policies also waive the deductible in specific situations, such as a glass repair rather than a replacement, or a loss involving another vehicle insured by the same company. These are company-specific features; check whether yours has them rather than assuming.

What it does not do

It does not cap what you owe someone else — that is the limit's job, and limits and deductibles work in opposite directions. It does not apply to your liability coverage. And it does not change what is covered; a deductible on a loss that is excluded is irrelevant, because the policy is not paying either way.

The practical check

Pull your declarations page and find the deductible listed next to collision and the one listed next to comprehensive. If you cannot say both numbers from memory, that is normal — and it is exactly the pair of numbers to know before something happens rather than after.

Want the same coverage priced at two deductible levels? Ask and we will show both.