This is the time of year that we see a lot of deer accidents. Deer tend to be much more active during this time of year. The financial cost on Car Insurance industry is over $1 Billion a year according to moneygeek.com
When you hit a deer, the damage to your car is covered under your comprehensive insurance coverage of your car insurance. Comprehensive coverage on your car insurance are losses from hail damage, vandalism, theft, falling object. Typically occurrences that occur when your vehicle is not moving. If you only carry liability insurance on your car, than you would not have coverage to repair your vehicle if you were to hit a deer. Also included in the comprehensive coverage is an accident with an animal. Most commonly Deer.
All other moving accidents are covered under your collision insurance coverage. How does Comprehensive Insurance Coverage work? You will have a deductible. A deductible is the dollar amount that you pay before the insurance company pays for damages. The most common car insurance deductibles are $250 or $500. After your accident with the deer, you will take your vehicle to a collision/repair shop. The shop will create an estimate of damage. Most of the time, the car insurance company will send you a check for the estimate amount, minus your $500 Deductible.
Once the vehicle is repaired, you will pay the shop the full amount for the repairs, which will include your $500 Deductible. For simple math, as an example, let’s say there was $5000 damage to your car. The insurance company will pay you $4500. You will pay the shop $5000.
Does this affect your car insurance premiums? Most of the time, yes. With most insurance companies, this will be listed as a not at fault accident. Even though it is categorized as a not at fault you are typically still surcharged (charged more because of the claim). The surcharge is not as large as what an at fault accident is. Often times it is very small. Many Insurance companies have moved to a philosophy that if you have a claim, your rate should be increased.
For more information on comprehensive coverage or any other car insurance options, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office at (763)767-0522 or email info@ameri-guard.com. You can also hit the chat button in the lower right hand corner to ask any questions that you may have.