Does Insurance Cover Damages from Hitting an Animal with your Car?

Whether or not your insurance will cover hitting an animal with your car depends on the type of insurance policy you have. Unfortunately, collision insurance does not cover this kind of accident – it only covers the collision of two vehicles. However, if you have comprehensive car insurance, also known as ‘other than collision’ insurance, you should be covered for hitting an animal.

Hitting an animal with your vehicle can be very upsetting, whether the animal is large or small and whether you were travelling slowly or at speed. Despite your best intentions, sometimes it is impossible to avoid hitting an animal that jumps out in front of your car or is too fearful to run away. From small animals to skunks, raccoons, deer and even household pets like cats and dogs, many animals are hit by drivers that can’t avoid them.

Not only is this experience upsetting, it can also cause minor or major vehicle damage, depending on how large the animal was and how hard the hit.

What Does Comprehensive Insurance Cover?

Comprehensive car insurance can cover almost anything that could happen to your vehicle outside of collision. Some of these incidents include:

• Theft
• Fire
• Flooding
• Water damage
• Hurricane damage
• Theft
• Vandalism
• Fallen trees
• Hitting an animal

Comprehensive car insurance can bring you peace of mind when it comes to natural disasters and other incidents that are due to no fault of your own. Hitting an animal is just one of many incidents comprehensive car insurance can cover.

Who Has Comprehensive Insurance?

Comprehensive insurance is more typically purchased by those with high-value vehicles. Those that live in areas with high theft or vandalism or frequent natural disasters might also chose to get comprehensive insurance as they’re more likely to rely on it.

If you live in an area with a lot of wild animals crossing the roads, you might consider choosing comprehensive insurance for this reason.

I Hit an Animal – What Do I Do?

Due to the unexpected expense of hitting an animal, it is worth checking your policy to see what exactly you’re covered for.

As noted above, if you have comprehensive insurance, it is most likely you will be covered should you hit an animal. However, this might not mean the entire cost of the damage is covered. Most plans include a deductible, averaging around $500.  This means you will have to pay the first $500 out of pocket. After that, the insurance company will cover the rest of the damages.

If the damage is minor, get a quote – if the cost of the fix is less than your deductible, you might choose to fix this without getting your insurance company involved.

Will this Incident Increase my Insurance Payments?

Don’t worry – hitting an animal while driving should not increase your insurance payments, so don’t worry about telling your insurance provider. Animals can cause other damage to autos other than by striking them. Small animals, especially those seeking shelter from the elements can cause damage by making your car a home. Here is a link that explains how rodents or small critters can cost big bucks!

Contact Us

If you are looking for more information about auto insurance in Illinois or the Chicagoland area, contact Insure On The Spot at 773-202-5060. Free Quotes available for SR22 Insurance in Chicago and general Auto Insurance.