Property Damage Insurance
Property damage coverage is listed under the liability portion of your personal auto policy.
This is the coverage that protects you when you damage someone else’s property with your automobile.
Property, in insurance terms, is basically considered to be whatever object your vehicle comes into contact with during an accident. This could include items such another vehicle, or a fixed object like a building, a pole, mailbox, or guardrail.
Coverage limits
New York State requires you to carry a minimum Property Damage limit of $10,000.
Scan the vehicles on the road around you, the next time that you’re driving. That $10,000 minimum just doesn’t stretch the way it might have used to, so it may not cover the total cost to repair the automobile that you were involved in the accident with.
In no way do we recommend or think the state limit is enough coverage.
Our minimum property damage coverage limit that we write in our office is $100,000.
We often see incidents that cover more than one vehicle being struck, a chain reaction that pushes the vehicle you hit into another. Perhaps that vehicle was pushed into an object, such as the guardrail.
Chances are that State minimum is not going to be enough coverage, and could leave you personally liable for what remains.
Insurance Premium
Insurance carriers prefer that you carry the appropriate coverage. Even though that means there is more responsibility on them, they have also determined that consumers that have increased limits, tend to be safer drivers.
With this being the case, the cost to carry higher property damage coverage is very inexpensive.
That few dollars may be all that is needed to protect you properly in the event of an automobile accident.
What’s Next?
Stop what you are doing and pull out your auto insurance policy. Verify what your property damage liability limits are. If they are not at least $100,000 call your agent and raise it.
If you do not use an agent and you currently buy your insurance online or through an 800 number, contact a local agent for a review. Make sure they check to see what other GAPs you might have in your policy.
If you don’t have a relationship with an agent or want a review of your insurance with us at Crowley Insurance?
Click below to learn more about how to proceed.
