While most people think of insurance as either being “full coverage” or “liability only” I thought it would be a good idea to lay out a basic outline of what options are available with an Arizona Auto Insurance Policy. Insurance is regulated by each state so if you’re outside of Arizona these may be different.

Liability Coverage – You have two types of liability coverage: Bodily Injury Liability and Property Damage Liability. Bodily Injury Liability pays for damages to other people you injure when you’re at-fault for an accident. It will not pay for your damages. Property Damage Liability will pay to repair the things you hit like cars, lightpoles and other people’s personal property. This is the only coverage required by the state of Arizona and the minimum required limits are $15,000 per person/$30,000 per accident of Bodily Injury Liability coverage and $10,000 for Property Damage Liability coverage.

Uninsured and Under-insured Motorist Liability Coverage – Unlike many other states, Arizona breaks these coverage options into two separate options Uninsured and Under-insured. One of the coverages would pay damages to you or your passengers if you’re hit by someone that didn’t have any Bodily Injury Liability coverage (uninsured motorist) or if they didn’t have enough Bodily Injury Liability coverage (under-insured motorist) to pay for your injuries. This coverage does NOT pay for any damages to your vehicles and is not required by Arizona law.

Medical Payments – This coverage option will pay for medical bills only regardless of fault or reason as long as it’s an auto related claim. If someone is injured getting in or out of your vehicle this could pay for medical bills they incur. In Arizona, it can also pay a death benefit if you or a passenger is killed in a covered claim.

Collision Coverage – This coverage basically pays for damage to your vehicle for any collision claim if it’s your fault or not. If you hit another car, another car hits you, or you drive into a toolbox in the middle of the road, it would be covered under your Collision coverage option and would be paid minus your deductible.

Comprehensive Coverage – This basically pays for damage to your vehicle for anything other than a collision. So, if a tree falls on your car, or it gets vandalized or stolen, it would be covered under your Comprehensive coverage option. Claims would be paid by the insurance company minus your deductible. You also have the option to purchase a waiver your deductible for glass only losses.

These are the key components that make up the basic coverage options available to you on an Arizona Auto Insurance Policy. If you’re coming from another state, remember Arizona breaks out Uninsured and Under-insured Motorist Coverage into two separate coverages and does not offer Personal Injury Protection coverage. Keep that in mind when getting quotes.

Last, this is a very simple, plain English explanation of the policy and you should always contact your agent for all coverage details and make sure you’re covered correctly.

By: Matthew Fox