Fully Comprehensive

Fully Comprehensive insurance cover is the most expensive of the three types of insurance cover available to motor vehicle owners and with good reason. Here we look at what Fully Comprehensive is and why it costs considerably more than Third Party and Third Party, Fire and Theft.

What is Fully Comprehensive Insurance?

Whereas Third Party is the lowest available insurance cover and covers others against damage to their property, vehicle and injury caused by you as a driver whilst Third Party, Fire and Theft does the same but also covers you for the theft of your vehicle or damage by fire – Fully Comprehensive Insurance covers a great deal more.

As the name might suggest this particular type of insurance covers a lot of different aspects of driving for both you and others that you may come into contact with whilst driving.

How does Fully Comprehensive Differ from Other Insurance Cover?

Fully Comprehensive cover has a host of optional extras incorporated into the cost of the policy, these include:

• Legal Fees
• Rental of a Courtesy Car
• Breakdown Cover
• Windscreen Cover
• Road Rage Cover
• No Claims Bonus

Legal Fees

If you have been involved in an accident and you – or the other party – wishes to take the matter to court, then your insurance company will pay for your legal fees should the matter progress to the court hearing stage. These fees will most likely include fees incurred by your legal representation (solicitor, barrister) and any expert witnesses that may be called to act on your behalf.

Rental of a Courtesy Car

Many Fully Comprehensive policies now offer to provide you with a courtesy car should your own vehicle not be road legal after an accident. Likewise, while you are waiting for your own vehicle to be repaired or replaced a courtesy car can be provided to ensure you stay on the road.

Breakdown Cover

This is now almost an industry standard with insurance companies offering free breakdown cover on most of their Fully Comprehensive policies. Breakdown cover includes the cost of towing your vehicle to the nearest garage if it has broken down and also returning you to your home or onto your allotted destination.

Windscreen Cover

Again fast becoming an industry standard Windscreen cover – as the name would suggest – covers the cost of replacing cracked or broken windscreens. If the windscreen is broken and you are unable to drive your vehicle to a garage of the insurance company’s choosing then they will instruct a designated repair team to visit your vehicle at a designated location to repair the damage.

Road Rage Cover

Not all Fully Comprehensive policies cover this but some do and it is worth checking to see if the policy you are interested in – with the company you are interest in – does offer this. Road Rage cover is designed to allow the policy holder to be eligible if he or she sustains personal injury as the result of an attack due to Road Rage.

No Claims Bonus

Perhaps one of the most important elements of Fully Comprehensive insurance is the ability to accumulate what is known as a No Claims Bonus. A No Claims Bonus is awarded after a designated period of time has elapsed without you – as the policy holder – having made a claim against your policy. This No Claims Bonus can equate to a substantial reduction in your insurance premiums as time goes by.

These are just some of the advantages to having a Fully Comprehensive policy as well as the ability to drive another individual’s vehicle and be covered legally under the terms of your own policy.

Again it pays to shop around before entering into a Fully Comprehensive policy with an insurance company and you can access a quotation on many of these companies’ websites.