The Number You Actually Have to Produce

Everyone knows a deductible is the part they pay. The details of how and when tend to be learned during a claim, which is a bad time to learn them.

You usually never write the check

In a typical repair, the insurer pays the shop the estimate minus your deductible, and you pay the shop that difference when you collect the car. So you produce the money at the shop, not to the insurer. On a total loss, the deductible is subtracted from the settlement instead.

It applies per claim, not per year

Unlike health insurance, there is no annual accumulation. Two separate incidents in a year mean two deductibles. This surprises people every single time.

Comprehensive and collision are separate

They are two coverages with their own deductibles, and they can be set at different amounts. Which one applies depends on what happened: an impact with another vehicle or object is normally collision, while theft, vandalism, weather, fire and animal strikes are normally comprehensive. Deductibles for comprehensive are often lower, which is why the classification of a loss genuinely matters to your wallet.

When you do not pay it

• Claiming against the at-fault driver's insurer directly. That is a liability claim against them, not a claim on your own physical damage coverage, so no deductible applies.
• When your carrier recovers through subrogation. Your deductible is normally returned in proportion to what is recovered, which can take months.
• Certain glass provisions. Some policies handle glass differently. Ask about yours.

The two-deductible situations

Two incidents obviously. Also a single event that produces both a collision and a comprehensive loss — a theft where the car comes back crashed, for instance — where carriers handle it differently and it is worth asking. And a vehicle damaged twice before the first repair is completed.

If you cannot pay it

Say so early. Some shops will work with you on timing, and some carriers can issue payment in a way that helps. What does not work is disappearing until the storage charges have built up. This is also the argument for choosing a deductible you can actually produce, rather than the one that gave the lowest quote.

The decision it drives

Before filing at all, compare the repair estimate to your deductible. If the repair is close to it, filing may cost you more than it returns. That arithmetic is on our page about when filing is worth it.

If your deductible no longer suits your car, it takes minutes to change.