Animals are responsible for a significant number of car accidents each year.
Animals are unpredictable, and it may be impossible to avoid them if they suddenly appear from behind overgrown vegetation, a house, or a nearby forest. But does car insurance cover pet damage?
When you hit an animal, especially a beloved pet, with your vehicle, it may be an extremely upsetting experience for everyone involved. Because of this, it is essential to plan for what to do and understand how your insurance might come into play.
Here in this article, we will tell you whether or not car insurance provides coverage for pet damage.
Does Car Insurance Cover Pet Damage?
The short answer to that is yes, car insurance can provide coverage for pet damage. Let us take a look further into the subject.
Some auto insurers provide coverage for your pet if it is injured in a car accident, but most insurers do not. Some insurers make pet coverage readily available, but it is not always a given.
If your pet is injured in a car accident, you should check with your insurer to see if it provides coverage. In most cases, auto insurance will only cover domestic pets such as dogs and cats, and it will pay for veterinary care and other medical expenses up to the policy’s limit.
Only if it is specifically mentioned in your insurance policy will your collision coverage pay for your pet’s veterinary bills if you cause an accident and are found to be at fault. If your insurance policy does not cover pets and you frequently transport your dog in your vehicle, you may want to consider purchasing an endorsement. If you already have collision and comprehensive coverage, pet insurance is typically quite affordable or may even be provided at no additional cost if you meet certain requirements.
A car insurance policy’s collision coverage will reimburse you for any costs associated with repairing damage to your vehicle that was caused by colliding with another object or flipping over.
Damages To Your Car
Your comprehensive insurance policy may also pay for repairs to your vehicle if it was damaged by a collision with a dog or another animal.
Comprehensive car insurance protects you against the various damage that can occur to your vehicle while not in use. This includes vandalism, theft, and damage caused by the weather.
Pets are considered property by car insurance providers. The property damage coverage of the other party, which is regarded as an element of liability coverage, would pay for your dog or cat’s veterinary bills if someone else was at fault for causing a car accident in which your pet was harmed. To get the other party’s insurance company to pay for the damages or get you reimbursed for them, you will need to make a claim with their insurer.
Car insurance liability only covers injuries or damages to third parties and their property; it does not cover injuries or damages to the driver or the driver’s property, which may be covered separately by other parts of the driver’s policy.
Your insurance company might also talk to the owner of the dog to ask their homeowner’s insurance company to compensate them for the cost of repairing your vehicle. This occurs when it is determined that the pet owner was negligent by failing to have proper control of their dog at the time of the accident.
If you hit a domestic animal, such as a dog or cat, you must pull over and report the incident to the police. If you continue to drive without stopping, you risk being prosecuted for animal cruelty or neglecting to notify the owners of any damaged property.