Among the many dangers on the road, animals are often the most unexpected. Animals big and small can heavily damage your car if you’re going fast enough. Sometimes, animals may ram into your car while it’s parked, such as bears. If you’re going to a nature reserve or you’re out camping in a cabin, you should prepare for animals possibly taking interest and causing damage to your vehicle.

Thankfully, your car insurance can cover damages by animals as long as you have comprehensive coverage. Comprehensive coverage under car insurance provides compensation for loss of or damage to the insured vehicle due to fire, wind, hail, falling objects, animals and other incidents.

Does Car Insurance Cover Damage Inside the Car? 

Say a raccoon crawls through the window you accidentally left down in the middle of the night. While you’re sleeping, the raccoon tears up your seats and chews through the wires in your console. Is this damage covered by comprehensive coverage? 

In short, it’s likely you will be covered. Comprehensive coverage can even cover damage caused by birds and nests. If an animal makes a nest under your hood, for example, damages caused by the nest and its inhabitants can be covered under this type of coverage. 

Make sure to double check your policy, however. Some circumstances may not be covered. If you don’t have comprehensive coverage, as it’s not generally required by state laws, then damages to your vehicle caused by animals will not be covered.  

Am I At Fault for Hitting a Deer? 

Striking animals on the road such as deer is unfortunately common, especially at night when visibility is low and animals are more apt to come out. Even if you hit a deer, you’re generally not considered at-fault. This means that your car insurance rates may not go up if you hit a deer on the road. It’s still important to drive carefully and avoid distractions, however. A large animal can cause substantial damage or even total your vehicle. 

Keep in mind that you may not be able to receive compensation if the cost of damages to your vehicle is lower than your deductible. Comprehensive coverage commonly has a $500 deductible, so if damage to your vehicle is worth less than $500, it may be cheaper to simply pay for repairs out of pocket rather than trying to file a claim.