Part D - Coverage for Damage to Your Auto

Part D in the PAP architecture

The ISO Personal Auto Policy (PAP), form number PP 00 01, is the national standard tested on every state Property & Casualty exam. It is divided into six parts: Part A Liability, Part B Medical Payments, Part C Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists, Part D Coverage for Damage to Your Auto, Part E Duties After an Accident or Loss, and Part F General Provisions.

Part D is the only first-party physical-damage coverage in the policy. It pays the insured for damage to the insured's own vehicle, regardless of who was at fault, subject to the deductible. This is fundamentally different from Part A liability, which is third-party and protects others.

Collision vs. Other Than Collision

Part D splits physical damage into two coverages, each purchased and rated separately:

• Collision is defined in the PAP as the upset of your covered auto or its impact with another vehicle or object. Rolling the car over (upset) is collision even if nothing was struck.
• Other Than Collision (OTC), marketed as Comprehensive, is everything else. The PAP lists examples: missiles or falling objects, fire, theft or larceny, explosion, earthquake, windstorm, hail, water, flood, malicious mischief or vandalism, riot or civil commotion, contact with a bird or animal, and breakage of glass.

The form expressly resolves the classic overlap: glass breakage caused by a collision may be treated as a collision loss at the insured's option, so the insured pays only one deductible rather than two.

Animal-strike trap

A recurring exam trap: a driver swerves to avoid a deer and hits a tree versus a driver who strikes the deer.

Because Comprehensive (OTC) deductibles are usually lower than Collision deductibles, the classification directly changes what the insured pays out of pocket.

How the loss is valued and paid

The PAP Limit of Liability condition states the insurer will pay the lesser of: (1) the actual cash value (ACV) of the stolen or damaged property, or (2) the amount necessary to repair or replace the property with other property of like kind and quality. The chosen amount is then reduced by the applicable deductible.

Actual cash value is generally replacement cost minus depreciation. Because autos depreciate, an older vehicle is almost always valued at ACV, not the cost of a brand-new car.

Worked example - total loss: A car with a Collision deductible of $500 is totaled. Repair would cost $14,000, but the vehicle's ACV is $9,000. The insurer pays the lesser figure (ACV) minus the deductible: $9,000 - $500 = $8,500.

Worked example - partial loss

A hailstorm dents the roof and hood. The OTC (Comprehensive) deductible is $250.

• Estimated repair cost: $3,200
• Vehicle ACV: $11,000 (irrelevant here because repair is cheaper)
• Insurer pays the lesser of repair vs. ACV ($3,200), minus deductible: $3,200 - $250 = $2,950

The deductible applies per occurrence, not per item damaged. If the same storm also broke a window, the glass and the dents are one OTC occurrence and a single $250 deductible applies.

Insured autos and Non-Owned Autos

Part D follows the same vehicle definitions used policy-wide:

• Your covered auto - vehicles shown in the Declarations.
• Newly acquired auto - a replacement or additional vehicle; for Part D physical damage, coverage is provided only if the insured asks the company to insure it within the grace period stated in the form (commonly 14 days, but the candidate should apply the period printed in the policy/Declarations).
• Non-owned auto - a private passenger auto, pickup, van, or trailer not owned by or furnished/available for regular use, while in the custody of or being operated by the insured. Coverage applies on the broadest physical-damage coverage the insured carries on any owned auto.

Part D will not pay for the use of a vehicle as a public or livery conveyance (e.g., taxi), which is a separate exclusion addressed in the next section.

Transportation Expenses

Part D includes a Transportation Expenses provision. The insurer pays a stated daily amount up to a stated maximum (commonly written as a $20 per day / $600 maximum baseline, raisable by endorsement) for:

• Temporary transportation (rental, ride costs) when theft of the entire auto occurs - subject to a waiting period (the PAP requires the loss to continue more than 48 hours after theft of the entire vehicle before this expense begins), and
• Loss of use expenses the insured is legally responsible for when a non-owned auto is damaged.

Because transportation expense is triggered only by a Part D covered loss, a mechanical breakdown or routine maintenance does not qualify - those are not covered perils.

Collision vs. Other Than Collision

The two physical-damage coverages divide losses by how the damage happened, and each carries its own deductible:

A classic trap: striking a deer is Other Than Collision, but swerving to miss the deer and hitting a tree is Collision. Each loss is paid at the lesser of ACV or repair/replacement cost, minus the applicable deductible, so an older car is capped at its depreciated value.