The Show-Me State: Car Insurance in Missouri

You now know how much coverage you need to carry and roughly what it costs, but what does it all mean?

Car insurance is broken down into different coverage types that look after expenses incurred in a variety of circumstances. Here’s what the minimum coverage requirements mean:

• Liability Coverage: for expenses incurred by an accident that you are at fault for. Includes bodily injury to other persons and property damage.
• Uninsured Motorist Coverage: for expenses incurred by an accident that another party—who does not carry insurance—is at fault for. Normally their insurance provider would cover your bodily injury expenses, but in these cases, your insurance company will take care of it.

While these are the only coverages that you technically need to have on your insurance, there are other coverages that we strongly recommended carrying.

Think of it this way: the more coverage that you carry, the better equipped your insurance company is to help you out.

In addition to the minimum coverage, you have to option to add the following coverages to your Missouri car insurance:

• Collision Coverage: for expenses incurred by damage to your own vehicle in an accident.
• Comprehensive Coverage: for expenses incurred by non-collision-related damages to your vehicle. For example, comprehensive coverage includes theft, vandalism, and weather.
  
  • Note – a ‘standard coverage’ or ‘full coverage’ policy refers to policies that carry the minimum coverage as well as comprehensive and collision coverage.
• Loan/Lease Payoff Coverage: for expenses relating to paying off your vehicle, even after an accident. These policies take into account the depreciated value of your vehicle once it is driven off the lot.
• Medical Payments Coverage: for expenses incurred in an accident relating to medical treatments.
• Rental Car Reimbursement Coverage: for the expense of a rental car while your own is being repaired or replaced.
• Roadside Assistance Coverage: for additional services you may need while on the road such as a tow truck or tire change.
• Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury Coverage: for expenses incurred by an accident that another party is at-fault for. In these cases, the other party does have insurance, but not enough of it to cover the full expense.

Insurance companies offer these additional coverages because they know just how often they can come in handy. Of course, we understand that you have to consider your budget alongside the coverage options, but we do urge you to strongly consider carrying as much coverage as possible.

Insurance experts recommend that most people opt for a policy with comprehensive and collision coverage because these policies provide extra protection while still being affordable.