How Useful Is Car Insurance If You Hit an Animal with Your Car?

Hitting an animal with a vehicle can lead to significant injury, extensive vehicle damage, and even death. If you don’t have the proper coverage, then you can potentially lose thousands of dollars if you hit an animal. If you are unlucky enough to hit an animal while driving a vehicle, then the only coverage that will reimburse you is comprehensive car insurance.

Just in case you will ever hit an animal, you should know more about the following:

• Collision coverage. This coverage typically comes bundled with comprehensive insurance, but it does not pay if you hit an animal with your car. Collision coverage can be applied if a driver tries to avoid contact with an animal and strikes an object like a fence or telephone pole.
• Comprehensive coverage is worth it. Typically, you will pay an extra several hundred dollars to your yearly car insurance premiums. However, it’s good to have comprehensive coverage in the event of a collision with a large animal. To save money on comprehensive insurance, you can choose to pay a higher deductible.
• Liability coverage. If you hit an animal with your vehicle, then liability coverage will not be applied. Liability insurance applies only to the damage you do as a driver, not to the damage done to you or your vehicle. For example, if you are at-fault in an accident and you cause damage to another vehicle, the liability property damage will be applied and will reimburse the victim.
• Animal damage clause. Comprehensive coverage is meant to pay for the damage caused in auto accidents that are not covered by collision insurance. Comprehensive insurance has an animal damage clause that can be applied if your car suffered damage caused by an animal. You can hit an animal that is wildly running in the middle of the road, or you can strike a stationary animal; it does not matter, as long as you have comprehensive coverage with an animal damage clause you will be reimbursed for the damage done to you or your vehicle.
• Paying the deductible. The deductible is the amount of money you will have to pay upfront before the insurance kicks in. Not all types of car insurance coverages have a deductible, but collision and comprehensive coverages do have it. If you have a high deductible, then that means you are paying lower premiums. If the animal collision results in a total loss, then you will be reimbursed with the actual cash value of the vehicle minus the deductible.
• Increased premiums. Filing a claim with your provider through the comprehensive coverage will probably won’t significantly increase your car insurance rates. On average, a comprehensive coverage claim will increase the premiums with as much as $100 per year. However, your insurance rates will return to normal after 3-5 years have passed since you filed a claim for an animal collision.

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