Auto insurance loss facts
All files 
Comparative loss information under six coverages
Auto insurance covers damage to vehicles and property in crashes plus injuries to the people involved in the crashes. Different insurance coverages pay for vehicle damage versus injuries. Different insurance coverages also may apply depending on who's at fault — first-party insurance pays for your own losses, while third-party pays for losses to other people and property for which you're liable.
Vehicle and other property damage: If you're at fault in a crash, your own first-party collision insurance covers the damage to your vehicle and other property. If you're liable for damage to someone else's vehicle or property, your insurance pays for it under third-party property damage liability coverage. Theft and other noncrash losses are paid under comprehensive coverage.
1
Collision coverage insures against physical damage sustained in a crash to your vehicle if you're at fault. The damage may occur from striking another vehicle or an object.
- Collision coverage: comparison of losses by vehicle type and size/weight group, 2005-07 models (178K)
- Collision coverage: distribution of collision claims by claim size, 2005 models (182K)
- Collision coverage: historical trends in collision coverage losses of new passenger vehicles, 1973-2007 (177K)
2
Property damage liability coverage insures against physical damage that at-fault people cause to other people's vehicles and property in crashes.
3
Comprehensive coverage insures against theft or physical damage to insured people's own vehicles that occurs for reasons other than crashes.
Injuries to occupants and other people: Insurance coverage for injuries suffered in crashes is complicated because it depends on the insurance system in the state in which the insurance is purchased. In states with NO-FAULT INSURANCE SYSTEMS, the costs of everyone's crash injuries are paid under the injured people's first-party personal injury protection coverages (regardless of who's at fault), up to specified limits that may be monetary or based on injury severity. Costs exceeding the limits may be paid under an at-fault driver's bodily injury liability coverage. In other states with traditional TORT INSURANCE SYSTEMS, who pays for injuries suffered in crashes depends on who's at fault. If you're at fault, your medical payment insurance covers your injuries, while bodily injury liability pays for injuries to other people. If you're not at fault, the at-fault driver's bodily injury insurance covers you.
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Personal injury protection coverage, sold in states with no-fault insurance systems, pays up to a specified amount for injuries, regardless of who's at fault in a collision. The amount, which may be monetary or based on injury severity, varies from state to state and must be exceeded before an injured person may sue an at-fault driver for the additional costs.
5
Medical payment coverage, sold in states with traditional tort insurance systems, covers injuries to insured drivers and the passengers in their vehicles, but not injuries to people in other vehicles involved in the crash.
- Medical payment coverage: comparison of losses by vehicle type and size/weight group, 2005-07 models (167K)
- Personal injury protection versus medical payment: comparison of losses under the two coverages, 2003-05 models (153K)
6
Bodily injury liability coverage insures against injuries that at-fault drivers inflict on people in other vehicles.
Comparison of insurance losses under multiple coverages: Insurance losses by rated driver age: crash losses under five coverages, 2002-04 models (188K)
Which states have what kinds of insurance systems? No-fault insurance is sold in Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Other jurisdictions except Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia have traditional tort systems. Pennsylvania and DC have hybrid insurance systems.