Here is a bit of good news: You are not alone. There are, however, some aspects of your auto policy that you should really get a handle on, preferably before you need to collect compensation. If for no other reason, your auto policy is a binding legal document.

For starters, there is a separate page (or section) called a “declarations page”, or “declarations sheet”, or simply “the declarations”, which summarizes your coverage. It is often abbreviated to “dec sheet”. This page, unlike the rest of the contract, was prepared especially for you. When you look at your dec sheet, you are going to find all of the information regarding your coverage limits for each of the vehicles you have insured and how much the premium is for each type of coverage. It identifies your policy with a policy number, found on the sample dec sheet below in the policy information section at the top right corner. This section also includes the dates of your policy period, and when the policy was first processed.

The dec sheet lists the vehicles you are insuring and identifies them by their vehicle identification number (VIN), year, make, model and body type. On our sample dec sheet, there are two vehicles listed: one is a 2002 Honda Civic 4 door sedan, and the other is a 1999 Volkswagen Passat Hatchback.

The coverages listed on the sample dec sheet are for a fault-based auto policy. They include Liability: bodily injury, uninsured motorist, property damage, Medical Payments, Comprehensive, Collision, All Risks and Automobile Death Benefits. Liability coverages have specific limits. On this dec sheet they are written out, but sometimes you might see them listed like this: 100/300/25. This means that for bodily injury, you are covered up to $100,000 per person but up to $300,000 per occurrence (accident), no matter how many people are injured. The third number, 25, is the limit paid for property damage, in this case, $25,000. Other coverage amounts would be written the same way, such as 30/60 ($30,000/$60,000) or 500/1 mil ($500,000/$1 mil).

Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage (to protect yourself from drivers without liability insurance) is often written just like bodily injury and property damage: 30/60, 50/100, 100/300 or 500/1 mil depending on how much coverage you choose. The sample dec sheet shows $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each accident (all persons combined). Often the limits are the same for bodily injury and UM.

In addition to bodily injury, property damage and UM coverage, the top section of coverages includes Medical Payments (“Med Pay”). Generally speaking, this coverage pays the medical bills arising from an auto accident to you or your passengers, regardless of who is at fault. Our sample dec sheet has coverage in the amount of $5,000 per person. There is no “per occurrence” amount for Med Pay; each injured person’s medical bills will be covered up to $5,000.

Each type of coverage has a premium amount listed to the right. The higher your coverage limits, the higher your premium will be. You pay more to get more.

Below the liability and med pay coverages, you will find the coverage for damage to your own car. Comprehensive covers the costs of damages to your vehicle from something other than a crash, such as vandalism, baseballs, fire, theft, riots, animals, or falling stars. There is no limit, but there is a deductible. The sample dec sheet shows a $100 deductible. Collision covers crashes your car has with another object, such as running into a tree or a mailbox, or, of course, another car, without regard to who is at fault. Again, there is a deductible. The sample dec sheet shows a $200 deductible per claim. The higher the deductible, the lower your premium will be. (But beware that this is the amount you will need to pay first when you file a claim.)

All Risks coverage
refers to insurance for mechanical breakdowns and wear and tear on your vehicle, but not damage from collisions or anything falling under comprehensive coverage. This sample dec sheet includes no coverage for these items. Many people don’t buy this coverage. If you have a car five to seven years old or newer, much of this is covered under your warranty.

Automobile Death Benefits cover you should you die in an accident. They are paid according to a “limit code” which you see on the dec sheet. This policy provides $15,000 limits, which are paid to your beneficiary(ies).

The dec sheet shows any discounts the insurance company gives such as: good driver discounts, multi-car/multi-policy discounts, driver training discounts, as well as discounts for certain car features (i.e., LoJack, OnStar, security and tracking devices). It also has a space for a loss payee, which is the bank or credit union that loaned you money to purchase the vehicle and holds the ownership certificate until the loan is paid off.