Owning a vehicle comes with a lot of responsibility: knowing driving laws, staying on top of car maintenance, and paying for insurance. While trusted service centers can help with the maintenance part, a lot of drivers do not know enough about the insurance policies they have. Insurance can often be confusing—especially since each state has different laws on what is and isn’t required for their drivers. In general, car insurance can be placed into two basic components: liability and property damage.

The Basics of Liability

This part of your policy typically covers medical bills, legal settlements, and damage repairs to property as a result of your driving. In Minnesota, car owners need to have a minimum coverage of at least 30/60/100. This basically represents 30,000 for bodily injury to one person, $60,000 for bodily injury to multiple people in one accident, and $10,000 for damage to property.

The Basics of Property Damage

This part of your policy includes collision and comprehensive. The collision coverage will cover the damage to your vehicle caused by a collision with another car or object. The deductibles for this coverage will vary, but a higher deductible typically means a lower premium. The comprehensive coverage goes towards other damage to your vehicle caused by theft or natural events like fire, falling objects, hail, vandalism, animal collision, etc. Policies can differ on what events they do and do not cover. Like collision, the deductible you can choose will vary.

For Minnesota residents, they should be aware that auto insurance is require by state law. We are also a no-fault state, and drivers are required to buy Personal Injury Protection coverage (PIP). The minimum for this coverage is $40,000, otherwise understood as $20,000 for medical expenses and $20,000 for non-medical expenses. Minnesota also requires you to have uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage. The minimum for them both is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.

We hope this helps you better understand your own insurance policy and where you might need to make some adjustments. If you are in a collision, our experts can help with filing a claim and understating what is and isn’t covered under your policy. Give the collision experts at Superior Collision Center a call if you need auto body repair in the Southern Twin Cities Metro.