Full coverage car insurance costs about $2,150 a year, or $179 a month, for a midsize sedan and a driver with a clean record, based on the state averages this site uses. Where you live moves that more than anything else: Maine and Vermont average $1,200, Florida $3,400. “Full coverage” is not a policy you can buy by name. It is shorthand for liability plus collision and comprehensive, and the last two are the parts you get to decide on. The same state figures feed the insurance line in our cost of car ownership calculator, so the numbers on this page and the calculator always match.
What Full Coverage Car Insurance Includes and What It Leaves Out
Three parts make up the package, and only one is mandatory. Liability coverage is the part almost every state requires. It is written as split limits such as 25/50/25: $25,000 per injured person, $50,000 per accident for injuries, and $25,000 for property damage. If you cause an accident, it can help pay the other driver’s medical bills and pay for damage to their vehicle, but never to yours. The physical damage side can help protect your own vehicle, up to its actual cash value minus the deductible. Actual cash value is what the car was worth the moment before the loss, not what you paid, which is why a totaled two-year-old car often fails to clear the loan. Comprehensive coverage can help cover a hail-dented roof or a stolen catalytic converter, damage no crash caused.
Most auto insurance policies sold as “full” also carry coverage options your state mandates or the agent adds by default. Check your declarations page for each one rather than assuming:
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage: pays your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little.
- Medical payments coverage or personal injury protection: your own medical bills regardless of fault, required in no-fault states.
- Rental car reimbursement: a daily allowance for a rental car while yours is in the shop after a covered claim.
- Gap insurance: the difference between the vehicle’s value and the loan balance if it is totaled, which the physical damage payout alone will not close.
Losses a full policy still will not pay
These claims are commonly expected and commonly denied:
- Wear and mechanical breakdown. A failed transmission is a maintenance cost, not an insured loss.
- Belongings inside the car. A stolen laptop falls under a homeowners or renters policy, even when the window was smashed to get it.
- Delivery and ride-hail driving. Personal policies commonly exclude business use without an endorsement.
- Towing and roadside help. Usually a small separate add-on.
Full Coverage vs Liability Only: Where the Money Goes
Collision and comprehensive account for roughly half of a full premium. State regulators collect premium data from every auto insurer, and the most recent national split (2023 data, released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in February 2026) shows how a policy that carries all three parts divides up:
| Coverage | What it pays for | 2023 average premium | Share of the bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liability | Injuries and property damage you cause to other people | $737 | 51% |
| Collision | Damage to your vehicle from a crash, whoever is at fault | $464 | 32% |
| Comprehensive | Theft, hail, flood, fire, vandalism, a falling tree, hitting a deer | $238 | 17% |
| All three | A policy with all three parts | $1,438 | 100% |
Those 2023 averages run lower than today’s prices because they blend every limit and deductible on the road, and the combined average rose 14.4 percent from 2022 to 2023. The split is what matters. Collision plus comprehensive, together called physical damage coverage, make up about 49 percent of a full premium. Applied to the $2,150 average, roughly $1,050 a year buys protection for your own car and about $1,100 pays for liability insurance. That $1,050 is the number to weigh when you decide whether full coverage still makes sense.
A July 2026 analysis of more than 250 million quotes put the national average for a full policy at $2,232 a year ($186 a month), within 4 percent of our figure, with liability-only policies at $98 a month. By that measure, adding physical damage protection nearly doubles what you pay.
Your state sets the starting point. Across the state table our calculators read, a midsize sedan with a clean record runs from $1,200 a year in Maine and Vermont to $3,300 in Louisiana and New York and $3,400 in Florida, a spread of nearly three to one. Claim frequency, repair and medical costs, weather and state insurance law all feed those differences. Every state’s figure, plus how insurance rates change with age, is on the car insurance cost by state page.
Vehicle type changes the premium too
Repair cost and theft risk drive physical damage pricing, so the model matters. Our calculators apply these factors to the state figure; at the national average they work out to:
| Vehicle | Factor | Premium per year |
|---|---|---|
| Compact sedan or hatchback | 0.95 | $2,040 |
| Midsize sedan, SUV or minivan | 1.00 | $2,150 |
| Pickup truck | 1.05 | $2,260 |
| Large three-row SUV | 1.10 | $2,370 |
| Midsize electric | 1.15 | $2,470 |
| Luxury or European | 1.30 | $2,800 |
| Sports or performance model | 1.40 | $3,010 |
Check the factor before you shop: a luxury model adds about $650 a year over a midsize sedan, and the car affordability calculator counts insurance when it sets a price ceiling.
When to Drop Collision and Comprehensive
The Insurance Information Institute offers a rule of thumb: if your car is worth less than 10 times the premium for this protection, buying it may not be cost effective. The most an insurer will ever pay on a total loss is the car’s value minus your deductible, and you pay the premium every year whether you claim or not.
Here is the test at the national average of about $1,050 a year for the physical damage part, with a $1,000 deductible:
| Car’s value | Most you could collect | Yearly premium as a share of that | 10 times rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| $4,000 | $3,000 | 35% | Consider dropping |
| $8,000 | $7,000 | 15% | Consider dropping |
| $12,000 | $11,000 | 9.5% | Keep |
| $20,000 | $19,000 | 5.5% | Keep |
At $1,050 a year the line falls at a value of $10,500. Two cautions before you cancel. First, an older vehicle often carries a smaller physical damage premium than the average, so pull your own figures from the declarations page; if yours is $600, the line drops to $6,000. Second, ask whether you could replace it out of savings tomorrow. The average collision claim in 2024 was $5,489 and the average comprehensive claim $2,306, so one bad week can cost more than several years of premiums.
Drop the crash protection first and keep comprehensive if hail, flooding or theft is common where you park; it is the cheaper of the two. Our car depreciation calculator estimates what the vehicle is worth now and next year, which tells you when you will cross the line, and the used car value calculator gives a quick figure for an older model. Rerun the test at every renewal, since the car loses value each year while the premium rarely falls as fast.
Financing a Car or Leasing It: What the Lender Requires
If you have a loan or lease, the decision is not yours until the title is. Leasing or financing a car almost always requires comprehensive and collision coverage, with the lender named as loss payee on the policy. Credit union auto loan terms commonly cap each deductible at $1,000 (some lenders allow $1,250 to $2,500), and some say the limit cannot be less than the loan. Leases often set liability minimums above the state floor too, a cost worth adding to the lease vs buy calculator.
Let the policy lapse and the lender can buy collateral protection insurance and add it to your payment. That force-placed policy usually costs more, protects only the lender’s interest, and carries none of the liability insurance your state requires. In July 2024 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered a regional bank to refund borrowers after it placed duplicate policies more than 37,000 times between 2011 and 2019 on loans that already had insurance. If a notice arrives, send proof of insurance the same day. Our car loan calculator shows how long until the balance is paid and the requirement ends.
How to Lower the Cost of Full Coverage Car Insurance
The two biggest levers, the deductible and how you shop, cost you no type of coverage.
$500 or $1,000 deductible
The deductible is the part of each physical damage claim you pay before the insurer pays the rest. Most online quote tools and any auto insurance calculator that asks for a deductible will show the effect of raising it. The Insurance Information Institute puts the savings at 15 to 30 percent on that part of the premium when you go from $200 to $500, and 40 percent or more at $1,000.
Moving from $500 to $1,000 therefore trims about 10 to 25 points off the physical damage premium. On $1,050 that is roughly $105 to $260 a year. You take on $500 more per claim, so the switch pays for itself after two to five years without a claim. If you have $1,000 in savings and claim rarely, the higher deductible usually wins. If a $1,000 surprise would go on a credit card, keep $500.
Compare quotes on identical limits
Compare insurance quotes from at least three companies every renewal, and request each auto insurance quote with the same limits and deductibles. A car insurance quote on different limits tells you nothing about who is cheaper. Ask about car insurance discounts for bundling, paying in full, a telematics program or a good driving record, and review your coverage limits rather than cutting them to the minimum.
Start with your state’s average and the 10 times test above to find the coverage you need, then get a quote on identical limits from several companies before you renew. Full coverage car insurance is one line of the true cost of owning a vehicle; our ownership calculator adds it to depreciation, fuel, maintenance, taxes and interest for your state.
Full Coverage Questions
What does full coverage mean for car insurance?
It means a car insurance policy with liability, collision and comprehensive. No insurer sells a product by that name, and it does not mean everything is covered. Wear and tear, mechanical breakdowns and personal items inside are excluded, and add-ons such as rental reimbursement or gap insurance are separate.
Is full coverage car insurance worth it?
For a vehicle worth more than about 10 times its physical damage premium, yes; below that it often is not, unless you could not replace it from savings. At the national average that line is about $10,500 of value. It is required while you have a loan or lease.
What is the cheapest full coverage I can get?
The cheapest company differs by driver and ZIP code, so no single insurer is cheapest for everyone. The reliable way to find it is to price the same limits and deductibles with at least three companies, then raise the deductible to $1,000 if your savings can cover it.
Is 50/100/50 good insurance coverage?
It is double a 25/50/25 state minimum such as Ohio’s, and it handles many accidents, but one serious injury can pass $50,000 per person. Anyone with savings or a home to protect should price higher limits too before settling.
Does full coverage pay for a rental car?
Only if you add rental reimbursement. The physical damage parts pay to repair your vehicle; they do not pay for a replacement while it is in the shop. When you rent, your own car insurance coverage often extends to the rental, which is worth confirming before you buy the counter product.
Do I need full coverage on a paid-off car?
No state requires it once the loan is gone. Run the 10 times test with your own premium and the vehicle’s current value, and keep at least comprehensive if theft, hail or flooding is a real risk where you live.
Estimates only, not a quote. Figures are state averages for comparison and are not an offer of coverage; your premium depends on your driving record, vehicle, ZIP code and insurer. Last reviewed: October 2026.