Comprehensive'
cover is classified as 'All Risks' protection, which in
short means that with 'Comprehensive' car insurance you can
make a claim for any form of damage caused to your car.
Offering the highest level of cover,
'Comprehensive' motor insurance provides the same type of
cover offered by 'Third party' and 'Third party fire and
theft', with, most significantly, additional cover for
personal accident, whereby payments will be made in
compensation for certain specified injuries outlined within
the policy such as broken or injured limbs, loss of sight or
hearing and even death.
Comprehensive motor
insurance will protect you against the following sort of
eventualities:
- Liability against damage to any third parties.
- Provision of cover for the loss or damage to your car
as a result of fire, theft or an attempted theft.
- Medical expenses in the event of accident
- Repair costs to your damaged vehicle
- Replacement costs in the event that the vehicle is
written-off.
- Cover for personal belongings within the vehicle, in
the event of a break-in.
- Legal expenses to recover any uninsured losses such
as a loss of earnings following an accident.
- A courtesy car will be provided while your vehicle is
repaired, or if your car has been stolen, until an offer
has been made to settle the claim.
- Physiotherapy treatment following an accident.
- External damage caused by criminals such a theft
attempts, key scratches or slashed tyres.
- Damage such a small chips and cracks to the
windscreen of your vehicle.
- Overseas cover to ensure that you are properly
covered in the event of an accident abroad.
Exclusions : While
'Comprehensive' cover provides the farthest ranging cover,
it should not be considered to provide protection against
all conceivable forms of risk, and you should always check
your policy wording to ensure that you know exactly what
your car insurance policy does and does not protect you
against. These are referred to the exclusions of the policy.
Always read the small print.
'Comprehensive' car
insurance will not, for example, cover your vehicle against
everyday normal wear and tear, thus, you will still be
responsible for the replacement of parts that would need to
be replaced during the natural life of the car, such as
tyers.
In short, car insurance is not intended to
provide cover against the general maintenance costs your car
may require. When you do make a claim, not all the money
will be paid by the insurance company, and you will
inevitably be expected to pay what is referred to as an
'excess'. This is the amount when you purchased your policy,
you designated that your willing pay towards the first
section of the claim, the cost of your policy may vary
depending on the level of excess you're willing to pay in
the event of a claim.
By introducing an 'excess'
policy for customers to pay prior to claiming for
compensation, the car insurance industry has been able to
significantly reduce the number of bogus claims. You should
be able to claim for the 'excess' to be paid by the
responsible party's insurance company, if you were not
responsible for the accident. It is always a good idea to
check that with your policy provider to see that they will
supply you with a courtesy car while you are waiting for
your vehicle to be repaired, as not all 'Comprehensive' car
insurance policies provide this service.
If your
vehicle is broken into, it is, likewise, essential to check
how much you can actually claim back in compensation of your
stolen possessions. For example, if your car stereo is
valued in excess of £150, it may be the case that you
are unable to claim anything near the actual value of your
stolen possessions, as the upper limit for your claim
specified in your policy will be £150.
Even if
you do have 'Comprehensive' cover, you still won't be able
to protect your car against a depreciation in value as a
result of an accident or attempted theft.
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