Collision or Comprehensive? Test Your Knowledge!

The difference between collision and comprehensive may seem simple, but there are some situations that make you think. As a review, collision coverage covers any losses caused by a collision, while comprehensive coverage is for things such as vandalism, theft and anything other than a collision. Let’s look at some of those complicated scenarios, and see if you can guess which coverage the loss would fall under!

The Deer

Amanda is driving down a dark, rural road. Suddenly, a deer runs in front of her car. Amanda hits her brakes and honks, but she still strikes the deer at a low speed. The deer runs away, unharmed, but Amanda’s front bumper is damaged. Collision or comprehensive?

Answer: Comprehensive. You may think that because Amanda hit something, this would be under collision coverage. Actually, animals always fall under comprehensive coverage.

Now imagine Amanda is driving that same road. This time, when the deer runs out, she swerves (not advisable) and hits a light pole. Her front end is very damaged. Collision or comprehensive?

Answer: Collision. But wait! There was an animal involved! Even though the deer caused Amanda to swerve, the damage was ultimately caused by her hitting a light pole. This puts her damage under the collision coverage.

The Mattress

Billy is driving behind a pickup truck full of mattresses. Suddenly, one of the mattresses falls out of the truck and lands in the road. Billy hits the mattress, damaging his front bumper. Collision or comprehensive?

Answer: Collision. Even though it was something random and uncommon, Billy still struck an object, making his bumper damage fall under collision coverage.

Now imagine that Billy was driving a little closer to the truck and the truck hit a large pothole, causing the mattress to fly upwards off of the truck and land on Billy’s car. The airborne mattress smashes Billy’s windshield and damages his hood. Collision or comprehensive?

Answer: Comprehensive. It may seem strange, but the action of the mattress matters a lot here. In this case, Billy did not hit the mattress; it hit him. Getting hit with flying objects falls under the comprehensive coverage category.

The Dirt Bike

Charlotte is pulling into her garage when she sees her son’s dirt bike in its stand in front of her. She tries to slow down and park beside it, but she accidentally hits the gas and runs over the dirt bike and stand, causing damage to her front and undercarriage. Collision or comprehensive?

Answer: Collision. Even though the dirt bike was parked, Charlotte still struck it with her car. This makes the accident covered under her collision coverage.

Now let’s say Charlotte safely avoided the dirt bike and parked her car. During the night, the dirt bike falls out of its stand and into her driver’s side door, leaving a large dent and scratch to greet her in the morning. Collision or comprehensive?

Answer: Comprehensive. This is like the mattress incident. The dirt bike hit her, she didn't hit it. This makes it a falling object, which we know is covered by comprehensive coverage.

Those are three examples of tricky situations. Sometimes it can be confusing to know whether your loss will be covered under comprehensive or collision, but if you think back to these examples it may help.

See how important these coverages can be?  Get a Free Auto Insurance Quote Online or Call an Infinity agent today at 1-800-INFINITY to make sure you have both collision and comprehensive added to your policy.