Whether you need insurance for your car or the vehicle you use for your business, we offer the coverage options you need most. You can count on us to give you the service you need with fast and fair claim settlements and local agents who go the extra mile for our customers.
Helping You Protect Yourself with the Auto Coverage Options You Need
If you own a car and drive, you need insurance. Most states require it, and it just makes sense. After all, a car accident can end up costing thousands of dollars. Why put your assets at risk?
As you look for the right insurance company, consider the value Shelter provides. Our agents want to help you to make sure you select the right coverage for your specific situation so you aren’t under-insured or over-insured, and what’s included in our coverage may surprise you.
When you talk to an agent, be sure to ask what additional savings you may qualify for through our car insurance discounts. After all, who doesn’t like to save money?
Cars are expensive to fix or replace, and medical expenses due to injury can quickly skyrocket. That’s why auto insurance is important. When it comes to car insurance, Shelter provides a variety of coverage options. Read on to learn what’s available.
What’s Included
Liability — Bodily Injury
What if you cause an accident that is more than a fender-bender and someone got hurt? Car accidents can cause serious injuries that can be expensive to treat. Since most people can’t afford to pay for another person’s medical expenses, liability insurance is required in most states. Bodily injury liability coverage will help pay the medical bills of anyone injured in the accident that’s your fault. It can even help with your defense fees, court costs or bail bond if legal action is taken.
States that require drivers to carry liability insurance for bodily injury also require a minimum amount of coverage for each driver listed on a policy. Shelter offers various limits for bodily injury coverage, but we recommend that you consider purchasing the highest amount of coverage you can reasonably afford to help ensure you have enough. After all, if more than one person is injured, the medical bills could exceed lower limits and you may be required to pay the difference.
Liability — Property Damage
Oops…you sneezed and it caused you to veer off the road—right into someone’s white picket fence. If you cause an accident that damages another person’s property, you may be held legally responsible for the cost of repairs or replacement. Property damage liability coverage can help pay for these expenses. It covers most types of property damaged in an accident that you cause, as long as the property isn’t owned by you or a member of your household. If that picket fence you ran into was actually someone’s house or a business instead, for example, this coverage can help pay for structural repairs.
Just like bodily injury coverage, most states require you to carry a minimum amount of property damage liability coverage.
Roadside Assistance
Flat tire? Locked out? Dead battery? We hope you don’t experience the inconvenience and frustration of your car breaking down for these reasons, but if it happens, our Roadside Assistance service can help ease at least some of the pain. This service is available 24/7 and pays for services up to $100 per incident. We’re one call away so you get the peace of mind that comes with knowing help is on the way.
New Car Replacement
It’s never good when your car is totaled in an accident, but it’s especially painful if it’s your brand new car that you bought within the last year and it has fewer than 15,000 miles on the odometer. Under our new car replacement coverage, Shelter will replace that car with a brand new one of the same year, make and model. What makes this coverage even better is that it is included in our policy.
What’s Optional
Collision
Have you ever backed out of a parking spot and accidentally hit a pole that was in your blind spot? Collision coverage will help you fix or replace your vehicle due to an accident, whether you were at fault or not.
When you purchase collision coverage, you will choose a deductible amount.
Collision coverage is optional in all states. However, if your vehicle is financed or leased, the lender might require you to prove that you carry the coverage.
Comprehensive
Spring storms can be a concern if you don’t have comprehensive coverage on your car. Hail or a tree limb falling on your car can cause a lot of damage, but comprehensive coverage will help you pay to repair or replace your vehicle for most causes not covered by collision coverage. Examples include:
- Fire
- Flood
- Theft
- Hail Damage
- Falling Objects
- Windshield Chips
Since a few causes of loss are excluded, you should read your policy and discuss the coverage with a local Shelter agent.
When you purchase comprehensive coverage, you will choose a deductible amount. Comprehensive losses will be paid at either the comparable value or the cost of the repair.
Comprehensive coverage is optional in all states, so drivers with an older vehicle might choose not to carry it. However, if your vehicle is financed or leased, the lender might require you to prove that you carry this coverage.
Medical Payments
Ambulance fees, hospital bills, follow-up doctor visits, and x-ray or surgery costs can quickly make even fairly minor injuries become expensive. Medical payments coverage can help pay reasonable medical and dental bills incurred by you or your passengers in a covered loss. And though no one likes to think about it, coverage for funeral expenses is included.
Most states do not require you to buy medical payments coverage.
Personal Injury Protection (No Fault)
If you’re injured in an accident and need to take extended time off work to recover, it could result in some loss of income. Or maybe you’re the one your family counts on for cooking, cleaning and transporting the kids to their activities, but your injuries have stopped you from doing those things. Those are examples of when personal injury protection (PIP), also called no-fault coverage, is good to have.
PIP is designed to help you deal with the expense and inconvenience of being injured in a covered accident. In addition to routine medical expenses, PIP coverage can help cover some loss of income and additional expenses paid for services the injured person normally provided to your family, such as housekeeping, for example.
Some states require PIP coverage for all vehicle owners. In other states, PIP is not available. A local Shelter agent can help you determine what your state requires.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist – Bodily Injury
Being injured in an accident is bad enough, but imagine how much worse it would be if you found out the other driver is uninsured or underinsured. Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage can help pay medical or funeral expenses for you, most relatives living in your household, or anyone driving your car with your permission. Uninsured motorist coverage may apply if:
- The other driver was at fault and did not have current insurance, or
- The other driver’s available insurance limits are less than the full amount owed for your damages.
Uninsured Motorist – Property Damage
Similar to being hurt in an accident where an uninsured motorist is at fault, if an uninsured motorist damages your car in an accident, you may be stuck with your repair bills unless you have uninsured motorist property damage coverage. This coverage can help pay to repair or replace your car if it is damaged in an auto accident. It generally applies if the other driver was at fault and doesn’t have current insurance.
Temporary Transportation Coverage
Temporary Transportation Coverage pays for the cost of renting reliable transportation while your car is being fixed after an accident. It might even apply in the case of theft.
Accidental Death
The accidental death benefit provides a payment if you or your spouse dies as a result of a car accident or being struck by a car. Coverage can be extended to other drivers or family members for an additional amount.
Disability Income Coverage
What if you sustain injuries from an auto accident or from being hit by a car that leave you disabled and unable to return to work for an extended period of time? If you have our disability income coverage, it will provide you with a weekly stipend for up to one year. Disability coverage may not be available in some states, but you may be able to purchase similar personal injury protection coverage.
Gap Insurance
Gap insurance can help pay the difference if you have a wreck and your collision coverage payment doesn’t cover the amount you still owe on your car.
Loss of Use
Loss of use coverage will provide you with a single payment when your car is in the shop following a loss.