Liability vs full coverage

What liability does

Liability covers damage and injury you cause to other people. It's what states require, and it does nothing at all for your own vehicle.

A driver with liability only who wraps their own car around a pole has no coverage for the car.

What gets added

• Collision — damage to your vehicle from a collision, regardless of fault
• Comprehensive — theft, fire, flood, hail, falling objects, animal strikes, vandalism, glass

What "full coverage" still doesn't include

• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, unless separately carried
• Rental reimbursement while your car is repaired
• Roadside assistance
• Gap coverage, if you owe more than the car is worth
• Custom parts and equipment beyond standard limits
• Personal belongings stolen from the vehicle, usually a homeowners or renters matter

When dropping collision and comprehensive makes sense

Both are capped by the vehicle's actual cash value, minus your deductible. On an older car that value can approach the annual premium for the coverage plus the deductible — at which point you're paying for very little.

A rough test: add a year of collision and comprehensive premium to your deductible. If that total is a meaningful share of what the car is worth, the coverage is doing less than it appears.

When you can't drop it

If you have a loan or lease, the lender almost certainly requires both. Dropping them can breach the agreement and trigger force-placed coverage at your expense, which is worse in every respect.

If you owe more than the car is worth, look at gap coverage as well — collision pays actual cash value, and the shortfall to your lender is otherwise yours.