{"id":5206,"date":"2018-06-08T17:01:56","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T17:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/3-misunderstood-insurance-terms\/"},"modified":"2023-10-03T12:37:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T12:37:46","slug":"3-misunderstood-insurance-terms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/personal-injury-lawyer\/articles\/3-misunderstood-insurance-terms\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 most misunderstood auto insurance terms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does your auto insurance work like you think it does? Read and understand these commonly confused terms so you\u2019re not hit with any surprises.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Texas Department of Insurance recently released its full description of auto injury and policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

YEAH BABY! Let\u2019s break out the champagne!\u00a0\u2026Says absolutely not one single living person.<\/p>\n

But, this is an opportunity to learn exactly what some commonly misunderstood auto insurance terms mean.<\/p>\n

Because your layperson\u2019s understanding doesn\u2019t always match what insurance companies, courts, and lawyers think.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a criticism of you.\u00a0More or less \u2013 it\u2019s how it works.<\/p>\n

So take a second to understand what a few insurance terms truly mean:<\/p>\n

\u201cComprehensive\u201d Doesn\u2019t Mean All-Inclusive<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Accuse the auto insurance industry of being intentionally misleading \u2013 and you\u2019d be right.<\/p>\n

Remember, it\u2019s their goal to not pay. And if you can obfuscate (confuse) the meaning of words, you get a lot of power to shift payment away from yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201cComprehensive\u201d in auto insurance means protection from most things other than a collision with another car. Some companies and agents call this \u201cother than collision\u201d insurance.<\/p>\n

Make sure you check your policy so know your \u201ccomprehensive\u201d insurance covers what you think.<\/p>\n

Bodily Injury Coverage Isn\u2019t for Your Body<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Want coverage of your medical bills during your accident?\u00a0\u2026Don\u2019t rely on \u201cbodily injury\u201d coverage.<\/p>\n

It covers your liability to another driver, passenger, or pedestrian.<\/p>\n

Their \u201cbodily injury coverage\u201d covers you.<\/p>\n

What if they illegally don\u2019t have car insurance, and have no way of paying for your medical bills following an auto collision?<\/p>\n

Your policy likely has an \u201cuninsured motorist\u201d or \u201cunderinsured\u201d motorist option you can collect from for financial help.<\/p>\n

Collision Coverage Is an Optional Coverage that Covers Physical Damage to Your Vehicle<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t the reason you have auto insurance in the first place so you can get your car paid for if you have damage to it?\u00a0Kinda. Sort of.<\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 minimum requirements only include liability. In other words, only if you have responsibility for damage to someone else\u2019s property, car, or body.<\/p>\n

You have to carry $30,000 for each injured person, $60,000 for each accident, and $25,000 for property damage at minimum. This is called 30\/60\/25 coverage.<\/p>\n

Now collision comes into play when you hit another object while driving by yourself, like a guardrail, pothole, fence, mailbox, or tree. You can also use collision coverage to repair damage to your vehicle when in an accident.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more expensive. And law doesn\u2019t require it.<\/p>\n

Typically, you get it if you own a more expensive vehicle. And most people have $500 or higher deductibles.<\/p>\n

Hopefully that clears up any confusion you had around those terms.<\/p>\n

Insurance companies do what they can to confuse so they have the advantage.<\/p>\n

\u2026But you have Mullen & Mullen Law Firm<\/a> on your side. And we\u2019ll make sure you get nothing but the truth.<\/p>\n

Suggested Reading<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Texas drivers beware: Motorists don\u2019t carry enough insurance<\/a><\/p>\n

What can you do if insurance co. denies your claim?<\/a><\/p>\n

What if you’re hurt in Texas and the at-fault driver has no insurance?<\/a><\/p>\n

What do insurance companies look for to reduce or deny payouts?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does your auto insurance work like you think it does? Read and understand these commonly confused terms so you\u2019re not hit with any surprises. The Texas Department of Insurance recently released its full description of auto injury and policy. YEAH BABY! Let\u2019s break out the champagne!\u00a0\u2026Says absolutely not one single living person. But, this is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5206"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12911,"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5206\/revisions\/12911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mullenandmullen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}