Ask a room of drivers what they carry and half will say "full coverage." It's the most common phrase in personal insurance, and it doesn't mean anything on its own. Your auto policy is a stack of separate coverages, each with its own limit, and the ones that matter most after a serious accident are often set at the lowest numbers available. Here's what's really on your declarations page.
The pieces of the stack
- Liability: pays for injuries and damage you cause to others, and it's the coverage that protects your savings and your home. Missouri and Kansas minimums are $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage, which won't come close to a serious injury claim
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): pays for your injuries when the other driver has no insurance or too little. Both states require uninsured motorist coverage at minimum limits, but it's one of the best values on the policy to raise
- Medical payments or PIP: Kansas is a no-fault state that requires personal injury protection; in Missouri, medical payments coverage is optional and inexpensive
- Collision and comprehensive: pay for damage to your own car, from a crash (collision) or from hail, deer, theft, and falling limbs (comprehensive), each with its own deductible
- The small extras: rental reimbursement and towing, which cost little and save a lot of aggravation when you need them
The limits I'd look at first
Most families I review carry liability limits that made sense when they bought their first car and were never revisited. If you own a home, have retirement savings, or have a teenager on the policy, minimum or near-minimum liability limits put all of that at risk. Raising limits usually costs far less than people expect, and it's the step that qualifies you for an umbrella policy. Then match your UM/UIM limits to your liability limits, because the driver who hits you is just as likely to be underinsured as you are to be sued.
When to drop collision, and when not to
On an older car worth a few thousand dollars, collision and comprehensive may cost more over a couple of years than the car is worth, and dropping them can make sense. On a financed or leased car, the lender requires them. And on any car you couldn't afford to replace out of pocket next week, keep them. "Full coverage" means what you decide it means, so it's worth deciding on purpose. Bring me your dec page, and we'll go line by line in fifteen minutes.
This material is for general information only. Coverage depends on the actual policy language, and availability varies by carrier.