Common Car Insurance Claims and Costs

Auto · Claims · Collision · Comprehensive · Liability · Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist

Common car insurance claims and costs are easier to plan for when you separate how often a claim type happens from how large the average check is. Collision and comprehensive show up often; bodily injury liability shows up less often and then dominates the dollars. This guide walks collision, comprehensive (hail, theft, animals), bodily injury and property damage liability, and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage—with multi-state framing and Texas and Colorado notes where they matter. Cost figures below are industry averages for illustration, not your quote.

Cost honesty: Figures cited from Insurance Information Institute (based on ISO data) and related industry reports are average paid claims, not what Freedom or any carrier will pay on your file. Hail severities in Texas and Colorado Front Range seasons can sit well above the blended comprehensive average.

Two numbers describe any type of claim. Frequency is how often a claim happens, usually shown as claims per 100 insured vehicles in a year. Severity is how much the average claim costs once it is paid. A coverage with high frequency and low severity, such as glass repair, creates many small bills, while a coverage with low frequency and high severity, such as bodily injury liability, creates a few very large ones. Looking at both numbers helps explain why each part of your policy costs what it does and why certain coverages deserve higher limits.

1. The scoreboard: frequency versus severity

Insurance Services Office and Insurance Information Institute industry summaries commonly used for 2024-era planning put approximate average paid claims and frequencies in this ballpark:

Read the table as a teaching tool: bumpers are common; big injury files are rarer and far more expensive. Repair-cost research (for example CCC Intelligent Solutions Crash Course reporting) has also put recent average total cost of repair on repairable vehicles in the mid–four-thousands, with newer vehicles higher—another reason “my last claim was cheap” does not predict the next one.

The Insurance Information Institute is an industry organization that publishes consumer education and statistics, and many of its auto claim figures come from data gathered by the Insurance Services Office, which collects claim information from many insurance companies. CCC Intelligent Solutions is a company whose software and data are widely used by insurance companies and repair shops to estimate and track repairs. These sources describe averages across very large numbers of claims, so they are useful for understanding patterns but cannot predict the cost of any single accident.

2. Collision: the everyday wreck

Collision pays to repair or total your vehicle after a crash with another object or vehicle, subject to your deductible—regardless of who was at fault (subrogation may still chase the at-fault party). It is usually the most common first-party physical-damage claim type.

• Modern sensors, advanced driver-assistance system calibrations, and aluminum panels push repair bills above older “bumper” intuition
• A repair just above your deductible may not be worth a claim if it triggers a surcharge; a multi-thousand-dollar hit usually is
• Financed and leased cars almost always require collision

Subrogation is the process an insurance company uses to recover what it paid from the driver who caused the crash or that driver’s insurance company. If your company recovers the money, part or all of your deductible may be returned to you. Advanced driver-assistance systems, such as cameras and radar sensors used for lane keeping and automatic braking, often need careful calibration after a repair, which adds cost even to minor-looking damage. That is one reason collision repair costs have risen faster than many drivers expect.

Product deep-dives: comprehensive versus collision (Texas drivers) · Colorado collision insurance.

3. Comprehensive: one coverage, many different bills

Comprehensive covers non-collision physical damage—theft, vandalism, fire, flood (auto form), falling objects, animals, and typically hail and glass—again subject to deductible and form wording. The blended Insurance Services Office average looks “cheap” because high-frequency glass claims pull it down while theft and hail sit much higher.

Colorado hub: Colorado comprehensive insurance.

4. Liability: property damage and bodily injury

Property damage liability pays for damage you cause to someone else’s vehicle or property. The Insurance Services Office average near $6,770 is already above many state minimum property damage limits when you hit a newer vehicle—or two cars in a chain.

Bodily injury liability pays for injuries you cause to others. The average paid claim near $28,000 with low frequency is the classic “rare, then enormous” pattern. One surgery can exceed a statutory per-person minimum quickly.

Bodily injury claims can include emergency treatment, surgery, rehabilitation, lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering, and when the injuries are serious those costs can grow for years. If the total goes over your policy limit, the injured person may pursue you personally for the difference. That is why the low frequency of these claims should not lead drivers to choose minimum limits; the rare claim is the one that can affect your savings and future income.

Texas and Colorado minimum context: Texas personal-auto financial responsibility is widely cited as 30/60/25 ($30k bodily injury per person / $60k per accident / $25k property damage). Colorado’s mandatory bodily injury and property damage floors are also consumer minimums—not settlement strategies. Treat minimums as a license to drive, not adequate protection. More on limits: insurance limits · liability-only coverage · Colorado liability car insurance.

5. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage: when the other driver underinsured you

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can pay you (and eligible occupants) when an at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough liability to cover your injuries (and, depending on the form, sometimes property). It is how you avoid absorbing someone else’s 30/60/25 decision.

• Stack uninsured and underinsured motorist limits thoughtfully against your own bodily injury exposure and medical reality
• Rules on stacking, rejection forms, and what uninsured motorist coverage pays for (bodily injury versus property) vary by state—read the declarations
• In Texas, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is a standard shopping conversation; Colorado shoppers should confirm uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on every quote, not assume it mirrors another state

Uninsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver has no insurance at all, including many hit-and-run situations depending on the policy terms. Underinsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver has insurance but not enough to pay your injuries in full. Stacking means combining limits across several vehicles or policies, and whether it is allowed depends on state law and the policy. In Texas, insurance companies must offer this coverage, and you can reject it only in writing, so check your declarations page to confirm what you carry.

Related: Texas uninsured motorist coverage · Colorado uninsured motorist coverage.

6. What a “common claim” costs beyond the check

• Deductible — immediate out-of-pocket on collision and comprehensive
• Rate effect — at-fault collision and some comprehensive claims can affect renewals; ask how your carrier treats weather versus at-fault files
• Rental and downtime — only if you carry rental reimbursement or similar
• Diminished value and total-loss ACV debates — especially on newer financed cars

Diminished value is the loss in a car’s resale value after it has been in an accident, even when repairs are done well. Whether a claim for diminished value is possible depends on the state, the policy, and whether you are claiming against your own insurance company or the at-fault driver’s. A total loss happens when repairs would cost more than the car is worth, and the payment is usually based on actual cash value, meaning the market value of your vehicle right before the loss. On newer financed cars, that amount can be less than the loan balance, which is where gap coverage can help.

Process overview: Texas car insurance claim process.

7. How to use the numbers without worshipping them

1. Pick a deductible you can write a check for this week—not just the cheapest premium
2. Raise liability above state minimums; plan for bodily injury severity, not property damage convenience
3. Keep comprehensive on financed cars and on paid-off cars you could not replace in cash after hail or theft
4. Add or confirm uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage before you need it
5. After a loss, estimate repair versus deductible and rate impact before filing small claims

These averages work best as a planning tool rather than a prediction. Choose a deductible you could pay right away, set liability limits high enough to protect what you own, and keep comprehensive and collision on any car you could not replace without hardship. For small damage, getting a repair estimate before filing helps you decide whether a claim makes sense once you consider the deductible and possible effect on your renewal price. Asking your agent how your insurance company treats weather claims compared with at-fault accidents can also help with that decision.

Car insurance claims follow a clear pattern. Collision and comprehensive claims happen often and usually cost a few thousand dollars, although hail and theft can cost much more. Property damage liability claims are less common but can exceed minimum limits when newer vehicles are involved, and bodily injury liability claims are rare but can be very expensive. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage protects you when the other driver cannot pay. Use these industry averages to guide your choices on limits, deductibles, and optional coverages, and rely on a personalized review for the numbers that fit your own household.

Frequently asked questions