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Choosing an auto insurance policy can be tricky business, especially when there are so many factors to consider within each policy besides car insurance rates. Whether you're choosing the amount of liability coverage to purchase, deciding whether to add comprehensive and collision coverage, or contemplating extras like personal injury protection and gap coverage, there's a lot to think about.

What's interesting about selecting coverage is that personal circumstances almost always play a role in what is best for us. However, most of us consider price more than our circumstances when choosing our coverage.

If you're interested in choosing the right coverage based on your life then it's a good idea to take a look at the auto insurance matrix below. It could help you determine which type of coverage or rider could work for you based on specific preferences or circumstances.

Auto Insurance Matrix: Choosing the Right Coverage

	Bodily Injury & Property Damage Liability	Uninsured / Underinsured Motoritst Bodily Injury Liability	Personal Injury Protection (PIP)	Comprehensive	Collision	Gap Coverage
If insurance is required by your state
If you have an old car
If your car is new or financed
If you have no health insurance
If you have health insurance but a frequent driver or passenger does not
If you live in an area with wild animals
If your area is prone to natural disasters
If you owe more than your car is worth
If you ever park on a lot or street
If you have a teen driver
If you live in a high-crime neighborhood
Expect a deductible with

(The numbers represent the minimum coverage to purchase per scenario)

Note: Some states require uninsured or underinsured motorist bodily injury liability, as well as personal injury protection. Check with your state's Department of Transportation for more information.

It's no secret that car insurance companies sometimes come up with policy features/riders that are basically useless. While some features like roadside assistance, rental reimbursement, gap coverage and towing and labor can be very beneficial, some being offered just aren't.

So in case you're not sure of what features you want before buying an auto insurance policy, take a look at the top five features that you can pretty much do without.

Photo by brian cors

1. Customized Equipment

Customized equipment features can cover any variety of parts on your car, including the customized wheels, spoilers, and customized paint or decals. While this isn't a bad option to have if you own a "Pimp My Ride" styled car, if you have a run-of-the-mill, point A to point B car, you don't need to insure anymore than the car itself - and of course, the passengers in it.

Photo by thefatnick

2. Sound System

If an insurer tries to convince you to add on sound system coverage when you're working with the standard manufacturer-installed system, you can feel free to throw any expletives you want their way as you tell them to remove the feature. This type of coverage protects your high-end sound system if it is stolen or damaged, but since warranties typically come with this type of purchase, you shouldn't need this feature at all.

Photo by aramk

3. Vehicle Rental/Trip Interruption

While this feature isn't entirely worthless, it's really not necessary unless you are an avid traveler. Usually, you can take advantage of some decent features with your rental car, credit cards, etc., that will help reimburse you quite impressively. So paying every month for this type of feature is essentially a waste of your money.

Photo by nedrai

4. CD/DVDs

Do you carry that many CDs and DVDs that you feel the need to insure them - alone? Well, if the answer is yes then you can take advantage of CD/DVD coverage that will reimburse you for a certain amount of the loss of the digital media used with your car's stereo as long as they were in the car at the time of loss. For most people, however, this is just throw-away coverage.

Photo by sea turtle

5. Auto Glass

If you already have a comprehensive auto insurance policy, it will cover broken glass. So paying for additional auto glass coverage is only beneficial if you carry only liability coverage and for some reason worry that your crazy ex-boyfriend/girlfriend will smash your car windows.

When obtaining your quote for auto insurance, whether online or in person with an insurer, you want to double check that you're not about to pay for these or other worthless auto insurance features. Affording auto coverage can be tough enough without having to pay for features that you will never use.

When you think about auto insurance, the first thing that usually comes to mind is how expensive your car insurance premiums are. It is important to compare car insurance premiums , and there are some factors you may not be paying enough attention to when comparing rates.

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