How comprehensive differs from collision is a terminology difference between Australia and the United States. In the United States, car insurance is split into two separate optional covers. Collision insurance covers damage to your own car when it collides with another car or object, such as hitting a tree, pole, fence or another vehicle, regardless of fault. Comprehensive insurance in the US, also called other than collision, covers non-collision events like theft, fire, vandalism, hail, flood, animal strike, falling tree and windscreen damage. So in the US you need both collision and comprehensive to be fully covered. In Australia, the terms are different. Australia has Compulsory Third Party insurance for injury, Third Party Property Damage which covers damage you cause to others, Third Party Fire and Theft which adds theft and fire for your car, and Comprehensive car insurance which is the highest level and includes both what Americans call collision and comprehensive in one policy. Australian comprehensive covers at-fault collisions including single vehicle accidents where you hit a tree, plus theft, fire, storm, hail, flood, vandalism and malicious damage, plus third party property damage up to $20M. So Australian comprehensive is equivalent to US collision plus US comprehensive plus US property damage liability combined. That is why comprehensive in Australia costs $800 to $1,800 per year on average and is considered complete cover, while in the US you might pay separately for collision and comprehensive.
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