Comprehensive Car Insurance: What It Covers, Exclusions and Costs

Comprehensive car insurance pays to repair or replace your own car when it is damaged by something other than a collision. That means theft, fire, flood and vandalism ¹, as well as hail, falling objects and animal strikes. Insurers and regulators sometimes call it other-than-collision coverage, which describes it more accurately than its name.

What comprehensive covers

• Theft of the vehicle, and damage from an attempted theft
• Fire
• Flood and other water damage ¹
• Vandalism
• Weather, including hail, wind and falling trees or branches
• Animal strikes, such as hitting a deer ²
• Glass damage, including a cracked or shattered windshield ²

It applies whether the car is being driven or parked, and it pays regardless of fault, since most of these events are nobody's fault.

What comprehensive does not cover

The name suggests complete protection. In practice the coverage has clear edges.

Comprehensive or collision? Common scenarios

The line between the two coverages confuses many people. The question is what your car hit, or what hit it.

For the other half of this pairing, see collision car insurance.

Deductibles and glass

Comprehensive has its own deductible, which you can usually set separately from your collision deductible. Because comprehensive premiums are lower and claims such as hail or theft are outside your control, some drivers choose a lower deductible here than on collision.

Glass is worth asking about. Some insurers repair a chipped windshield without charging the deductible, and some states and policies offer glass coverage with no deductible. The rules differ, so check your own policy.

What comprehensive costs

The NAIC reports that comprehensive coverage averaged $283 per insured vehicle in 2024 ³. It is the least expensive of the three main coverages, but it has been rising the fastest: the average was $174 in 2020, an increase of about 62 percent in four years by our calculation.

The cost varies more by state than most people expect.

Source: NAIC ³.

The pattern is different from overall insurance costs. Florida and New York have the highest total expenditures, yet the highest comprehensive averages are in the Plains and Mountain states. The NAIC lists weather and vehicle theft rates among the factors behind state differences, without attributing any state's figure to a single cause, and it cautions against direct comparisons between states ³. The practical point is that what comprehensive costs you depends heavily on where you live.

Do you need comprehensive?

If you have a loan or lease, yes. The lender will require it along with collision ¹.

If you own the car outright, weigh three things:

1. The car's value. The most a claim can pay is the car's market value minus your deductible. If that figure is small, the coverage has little to give.
2. Your local risks. Hail, flooding, wildfire, falling trees, animal crossings and theft all vary by area.
3. Your savings. Could you replace the car if it were stolen tomorrow?

Because comprehensive is relatively inexpensive, many owners of older cars keep it even after dropping collision. Ask your insurer whether it allows that combination, since company rules differ.

Making a comprehensive claim

1. For theft or vandalism, file a police report first. Insurers generally ask for it.
2. Photograph the damage before anything is moved or repaired, and prevent further damage where you safely can, for example by covering a broken window.
3. Report the claim to your insurer and keep receipts for any emergency repairs.
4. The insurer inspects the damage and pays the repair cost or, for a stolen or totaled car, its actual cash value, minus your deductible.

For how claims work more generally, see how car insurance works.

The bottom line

Comprehensive covers the events you cannot steer around: theft, weather, fire, flood and animals. It costs less than collision, varies sharply by state and is required while you have a loan. If you own your car, compare its value and your local risks with the premium. The main car insurance guide shows where comprehensive sits among the other coverages.