Insurance
Auto Insurance Policy
An auto insurance policy is the contract between you and an insurer that covers losses from a vehicle — liability, collision, comprehensive, and more. You pay a premium, and the insurer agrees to cover specific costs outlined in the policy. The declarations page summarizes your carrier, policy number, covered vehicles and drivers, coverage limits, deductibles, premium, and the policy term.
Every U.S. state except New Hampshire requires drivers to carry at least a minimum amount of liability auto insurance.
Written & maintained by the Granite team · Last updated June 2026
Overview
An auto insurance policy is issued by your carrier and renews on a set term, usually every six or twelve months. The page you reach for most is the declarations ("dec") page — a one-page summary of who and what is covered, the limits, and your premium. The full policy booklet behind it spells out exclusions and claim procedures.
Most policies bundle a few core coverages: liability (pays for injuries and property damage you cause to others), collision (repairs your car after a crash), and comprehensive (covers theft, fire, weather, and other non-collision damage), often alongside uninsured-motorist and medical-payments coverage. Liability is legally required in nearly every state; collision and comprehensive are usually required by a lender or lessor rather than the state.
Proof of insurance — the wallet card or digital ID derived from the policy — is what you show after an accident or at a traffic stop. The policy itself is what you reference when filing a claim or comparing renewal quotes.
When you’ll get your Auto Insurance Policy
- You own or lease a vehicle and are legally required to carry coverage
- You bought, renewed, or switched auto insurance carriers
- You added a driver or vehicle to an existing policy
- You need proof of insurance for registration, a lender, or a traffic stop
- You're comparing coverage and premiums at renewal
What’s on your Auto Insurance Policy
These are the fields Granite reads and extracts automatically the moment you upload one.
- Carrier
- The insurance company that issued the policy.
- Policy Number
- The unique identifier for your policy, used on every claim and ID card.
- Covered Vehicles & Drivers
- The vehicles (by VIN) and named drivers the policy covers.
- Coverage Limits
- The maximum the insurer pays per category — bodily injury, property damage, etc.
- Deductibles
- What you pay out of pocket before collision or comprehensive coverage kicks in.
- Premium & Policy Term
- What the coverage costs and the dates it runs (usually 6 or 12 months).
How long to keep it
Keep the current policy and dec page until the next term replaces it; keep records of any claim for at least 5 years.
You only need the active policy for proof and renewals, but a claim can resurface years later — for subrogation, a premium dispute, or a related injury claim — so retain anything tied to a filed claim well past the policy term.
How Granite handles your Auto Insurance Policy
Upload your declarations page and Granite reads the carrier, policy number, covered vehicles, limits, and renewal date, then files it under your vehicle and your insurance documents. When the term is about to lapse, it can remind you before your proof of insurance expires — so you're never caught at a traffic stop or registration renewal with a stale card.
FAQ
Auto Insurance Policy: common questions
- What is auto insurance and how does it work?
- Auto insurance is a contract between you and an insurer that protects you from financial loss if your vehicle is damaged or you cause an accident. You pay a premium, and the insurer covers specific costs spelled out in the policy. It typically bundles liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage, each with its own limits and deductibles listed on your declarations page.
- What are the three parts of an auto insurance policy?
- Most personal auto policies are built around three core coverages: liability (pays for injuries and property damage you cause to others), collision (repairs your car after a crash regardless of fault), and comprehensive (covers non-collision damage like theft, fire, and weather). Many policies add uninsured-motorist and medical-payments or PIP coverage. Each appears on your dec page with its own limit.
- What is an auto insurance declarations page?
- The declarations (or "dec") page is the one-page summary at the front of your auto policy. It lists your carrier, policy number, covered vehicles and drivers, coverage limits, deductibles, premium, and the policy term. It's the page lenders, the DMV, and you reach for most — the full policy booklet behind it covers exclusions and claim rules.
- What's the difference between my policy and proof of insurance?
- The policy is the full contract describing your coverage; proof of insurance (the wallet card or digital ID) is the short document derived from it that you show after an accident or at a traffic stop. Both reference the same policy number, but the card only confirms active coverage — it doesn't list your limits.
- How long should I keep old auto insurance policies?
- Keep your current policy and dec page until the next term replaces it. For any policy under which you filed a claim, keep the records at least five years — claims can resurface for subrogation, injury, or premium disputes long after the term ends.
- What coverage limits should be on my policy?
- Your dec page lists limits for bodily injury liability, property damage liability, and optional collision and comprehensive coverage. State minimums vary widely — California requires 30/60/15 and New York 25/50/10, for example — and are often below what's prudent. Check your dec page against your state's requirement and your own risk.
Sources
This page is checked against primary and authoritative sources:
Keep your Auto Insurance Policy in one place.
Drop it in once. Granite reads it, files it, and makes it findable forever — by you today, and by the people who'll need it later.