Auto insurance is available in three broad categories, each designed to cope with a different aspect of damage or loss to the car, or caused by the use of the car.

The most common form, liability insurance, is often legally mandatory. Liability insurance is a limited form of insurance applying only to the damage done to others in an accident. The primary intention of liability insurance is to make certain that when a car is in use it will not cause injury, damage or destruction to human life or property without there being a certainty that the cost of that damage will be paid for in part or in full

Then come the elements that can be bundled into full coverage insurance with the most common being collision insurance. Collision insurance essentially covers the issues dealt with in liability insurance, but includes damages to the owner’s car as well as to any other car damaged. Rather than covering just others, it covers the driver and the driver’s car.

In many instances the driver’s car is presumed to include rentals, though not a borrowed car. In some instances the definition of “collision” may be restricted in a manner that seems counter intuitive: accidents involving animals, for example, may not be legally categorized as collisions.

The next category of insurance is comprehensive insurance. Comprehensive includes collision insurance, and goes further, adding in a wide range of possible damages to a car. Differing plans allow for various damages: provisions against theft and fire are common.

Depending on where you live and what problems are likely, you may wish to find comprehensive that includes protection against vandalism, or against damage from weather, or from moving accidents involving animals like deer — a very real concern in many suburbs and rural communities as white-tail and mule deer populations grow and come in contact with human habitats.

The final category might, as a group, be called “miscellaneous.” There are specific forms of insurance to cope with various specific risks, and a range of vehicles. It is possible to purchase insurance against the loss of use of a vehicle (when being repaired, for example), and to gain insurance to deal with collisions with the uninsured or underinsured. Property within the car can be covered. Each element added to comprehensive insurance adds to the cost.

To figure out what insurance is best for you, from the supplier to the specific plan you pick, you first need to do some research. Call different companies, pick up pamphlets on specific plans.

Certainly do online research: these days online is often the fastest, most accurate and wide ranging method of exploring your options. Once you have a sense of what you want, start soliciting quotes regarding price. Again, you can do that the old fashioned way, or you can get multiple quotes online.

For example you can use the form below to get free auto insurance quotes: