If you own multiple cars, then you will have to insure all of them. These cars might belong to different members of your family, or they might be all yours. You might have your everyday car and a car that has been your reliable friend for years, and that you only use on special occasions. Regardless of who owns or drives any of these vehicles, you need to have insurance on all of them.

Still, insuring multiple cars might seem like it’s going to cost you a lot of money, and you might wonder if it’s worth the investment if you only use one vehicle once in a blue moon. Don’t let this fool you, though. Every vehicle in your household needs insurance at all times. However, to make the cost burden easier on yourself, you might be able to benefit from a multi-car policy. What is this coverage? How can it help you manage and afford your coverage?

A multi-car policy isn’t really all that different from a single-car plan. However, it allows you the flexibility of being able to insure numerous cars in one place, and at one price. They can give you the auto insurance you need while enabling you to better manage, and more easily afford, your insurance portfolio.

Understanding a Multi-Car Policy

Families and individuals who own numerous vehicles should not have to deal with the extra stress of having to insure these vehicles separately. After all, if you buy separate plans for each of your vehicles, then you could face numerous hassles, such as having to pay multiple bills per month, or not knowing exactly what coverage a vehicle in question has.

Why not eliminate that extra burden? If you buy a multi-vehicle policy, then you will be able to cover all of the cars in your possession with a single plan that offers numerous benefits.

To set up your multi-vehicle policy, you will list all of the vehicles in your household on the plan. You can generally insure all standard vehicles from sedans to SUVs and pickup trucks. Certain vehicles, like RVs, motorcycles or antique cars are not insurable under a multi-vehicle plan, however, due to their unique features. You also cannot insure a commercial vehicle under a personal multi-vehicle plan.

You also can insure nearly all drivers within your household under a multi-vehicle plan. The policy will provide each family member with the requisite liability insurance they need to be able to legally drive, and it won’t leave them with any uncomfortable gaps on their insurance histories. Usually, you can cover your spouse, a dependent child and other qualifying residents. The drivers on the plan also can drive any of the insured vehicles.

What Coverage Does a Multi-Car Policy Offer?

Your multi-vehicle plan will offer most of the same benefits of a standard auto policy, including:

• Liability insurance will pay others in the event you are at-fault for a car wreck that harms them. The policy usually will pay for their bodily injuries or property damage.
• Physical damage insurance pays for damage to your car. Collision insurance pays for damage sustained in wrecks. Comprehensive coverage pays for damage from such hazards as theft, vandalism, severe weather or vehicle fires.
• Medical payments insurance pays you for your own injury costs after wrecks.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage pays for your own damage if another driver is at-fault for an accident, but lacks the liability coverage to pay for your car’s damage.

Components of your coverage—notably collision & uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage—will apply to the insured vehicles themselves, and therefore follow the vehicles. Other portions of your coverage, like your liability benefits, apply to the driver’s actions behind the wheel. They therefore will follow the insured driver no matter which vehicle they are driving.

The Benefits of Multi-Vehicle Coverage

All in all, multi-vehicle policies are designed to offer their drivers convenience. The costs and coverage benefits provided within these plans will of course vary from policy to policy. However, they can make your ability to maintain and afford your auto policy a lot easier overall.

Consider just a few of their benefits:

• You won’t have to juggle multiple policies for multiple vehicles. It’s a lot easier to have a single plan that you can easily refer to following a car wreck, vehicle theft or other damaging incident. You won’t have to search for your policy paperwork, review your benefits, and then clarify what your plan will pay you. With a multi-vehicle plan, you’ll be able to concentrate cohesive benefits in one convenient place.
• Multi-vehicle policies are often more affordable overall. When you buy policies piecemeal, you’ll have to pay separate premiums for each. A single premium will be easier to manage, and is often lower overall than the combined cost of separate plans. Plus, drivers who buy multi-vehicle policies will often qualify for multi-vehicle discounts.
• With a multi-vehicle plan, you won’t run the risk of coverage lapses because you forgot to make a payment on one of your numerous policies.

All in all, multi-vehicle plans are much more beneficial than you might think at first. In the end, they’ll create convenience for you so that you won’t have to worry about whether you have the right policy, but instead, you’ll know it.