No Collision Coverage and Someone Hits You
If the other driver is at fault, their liability coverage pays for your car, not yours, so this gap matters less than you'd think.
What actually happens when someone else hits you
- Fault is the whole thing If the police report and the insurers agree the other driver caused it, their liability property damage coverage pays to fix or replace your car. Your own collision coverage never enters into it.
- Collision is for your fault Collision coverage exists for when you're the one who caused the crash, or when there's no other driver to collect from. Dropping it doesn't change what happens when someone else is clearly at fault.
- Disputed fault changes things If fault is unclear or contested, you may need to wait on the other insurer or file under your own policy if you have collision. Without collision, a disputed claim can leave you with no fast path to a repair.
- Uninsured drivers are the gap If the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough, collision coverage is often what pays your repair bill instead. Check whether you carry uninsured motorist property damage coverage, since in some states that covers this instead.
- Rental cars may depend on this Some policies only pay for a rental car while your car is being repaired if you carry collision. Check your policy or ask your insurer directly, since this varies by company.
What if the other driver has no insurance?
This is the real risk of dropping collision, more than an at-fault accident with an insured driver. If the person who hits you has no insurance or not enough to cover the damage, there's no company liability policy to collect from. Without collision coverage of your own, your options narrow to suing the other driver directly, which is slow and often doesn't pay out, or covering the repair yourself.
Some states require or offer uninsured motorist property damage coverage, which can fill this gap at a lower cost than full collision. Check whether your policy has this, or whether your state requires insurers to offer it. If you drive in an area with a lot of uninsured drivers, or you can't easily absorb a repair bill, that coverage matters more than collision did.
Once you know which gap you're actually accepting, compare quotes to see what it costs to close it or leave it open.
Dropping collision while keeping liability
If you do
If another driver hits you and they're clearly at fault, their liability coverage pays for your repair, so you lose nothing in that case. You save the collision premium every month. The risk shows up only if the other driver has no insurance or fault gets disputed, leaving you to cover repairs yourself.
If you don't
If you keep collision, you have a fast path to repair no matter who caused the accident or whether the other driver carries insurance. You pay a higher premium every month for that certainty, whether or not you ever use it. For many drivers with an older car, that premium isn't worth what it buys.
Why this depends on who caused the crash
Car insurance is built around fault. Liability coverage is what a driver carries to pay for damage they cause to other people, and collision coverage is what you carry to pay for damage to your own car regardless of who caused it. When someone else hits you and they're at fault, you're making a claim against their liability coverage, not your own policy, so whether you have collision doesn't come into it at all.
The complication is that fault isn't always obvious right away. Insurers investigate, police reports get written, and sometimes both drivers' companies disagree about who caused what. If you have collision, you can file under your own policy immediately and let the insurers sort out fault later, getting your car fixed faster. Without collision, you may be waiting on someone else's investigation before anything moves.
The other complication is whether the other driver actually has insurance, and enough of it. Liability requirements and limits vary by state, and plenty of drivers carry only the minimum or nothing at all. If the driver who hits you can't pay, your collision coverage becomes the thing standing between you and an unpaid repair bill, or you fall back on uninsured motorist property damage coverage if your policy or state includes it.
So the honest way to think about this is that dropping collision is a bet on two things going right, that the other driver is insured and that fault isn't disputed. If you drive somewhere with reliable insurance rates and you're confident in your own driving record, that bet often pays off. If either of those isn't true for your situation, the coverage you're dropping was quietly doing more work than it looked like.
Does my insurance rate go up if someone else hits me and it's their fault?
Usually not, because an accident that's clearly the other driver's fault isn't held against you the way an at-fault accident is. Insurers generally track fault, not just whether you were in a crash. Check your policy's accident forgiveness terms or ask your insurer directly, since a small number of policies consider any claim, even a not-at-fault one, when setting renewal rates.
Can I still get a rental car if I don't have collision coverage?
Only if you carry rental reimbursement coverage separately, or if the at-fault driver's insurer agrees to cover it while your claim is processed. Collision and rental reimbursement are often sold together but they're not the same coverage. If you drive one car and can't be without it, check whether your policy includes rental reimbursement regardless of what you decide about collision.
Is it worth getting a dashcam if I drop collision coverage?
Yes, because a dashcam makes fault disputes much faster to resolve, which is exactly where dropping collision creates risk. Clear footage can settle who caused the accident before it becomes a drawn-out disagreement between insurers. It won't help if the other driver has no insurance at all, but it closes the other gap collision used to cover.
