When it comes to vandalism, or any other type of theft with your automobile, you will always want to make sure you are covered. If you are looking to have your vehicle covered in any situation, you would probably want comprehensive and collision insurance. They both cover similar things, but are still different in some ways. A lot of times an insurance company will offer a “comp/coll” package which gives you the comprehensive and collision insurance. To point out how the two are different, comprehensive covers things like:

• Your car being vandalized while at a friend’s house
• Hitting a deer that jumped in the road
• Your sound system being taken when your shopping
• Hail storm damages when you are driving home
• Water damage from a flooded road

So comprehensive insurance covers things that happen to your car while you are out, or things of nature that are uncontrollable. On the other hand collision insurance covers your vehicle when:

• You swerve at an animal and hit someone’s property
• You aren’t looking at the road and rear-end someone
• You hit a car in a parking lot
• You run a stop sign and hit opposing traffic

With the collision insurance, it basically will cover accidents that you are at fault for. So even though comprehensive and collision insurance will cover costs the repair your car, there are differences in what is covered with the two. Comprehensive covers a lot of uncontrollable nature accidents along with theft and vandalism. Collision insurance covers your vehicle when you cause harm to it in an at fault accident. The two insurances are very useful, and can save you a lot of money.

If you were interested in getting just collision or just comprehensive it may be possible, but you would have to check with your insurance company first. A lot of times the two are offered together on your policy, but some insurance companies handle them as separate parts to your policy. These coverage’s are not mandatory in any way, but they are recommended to keep your car safe from the elements. Unless you are on a car loan you really only need your states minimum auto insurance requirements, which usually is just liability. Check with your states specific laws to find out your auto insurance minimums, and contact your auto insurance agent to see how they offer comprehensive and collision coverage.