Does Car Insurance Cover Vehicle Damage by an Animal?

Accidental damages to cars are distressing and sometimes require a significant investment for repair and replacement of car parts. Comprehensive car insurance plans cover damages due to fire and allied perils like explosion, natural calamities etc, including damages caused due to animals crashing into your car. 

An animal bumping into your car is generally quite abrupt, that’s why you need to be quite careful while driving in the outskirts. If, unfortunately, any such incident happens and your car incurs bodily damages and losses, there are several car insurance plans that cover such animal attacks. Go through the article below to know about car insurance damage cover after an animal bumping and ways of filing an insurance claim thereafter.

Why Do You Need Car Insurance Cover for Animal Attack? 

It is common for animals to cross highways and roads in the outskirts and forests. While driving through such areas, you need to be vigilant as animals can bump into your car and leave it damaged. Sometimes animal crashing can be fatal and result in fatal accidents causing complete damage to your car. However, if you have a car insurance plan in place, your insurer covers the repair expenses for the damages incurred due to an animal attack.

To get coverage against animal attacks, you need to opt for comprehensive car insurance in the UAE. Owning third party liability insurance won’t provide any benefits in case of damages due to animal attacks. 

Attacks from small animals might not seem like a big deal, but the repair cost in some cases may take up a huge amount. Paint and car wiring damage may seem inexpensive but, you need to pay a large sum for repair. 

Common Animal Attacks on Your Car

While it is more likely to bump into an animal on a forest road, animals such as dogs, cats and other pets can also dart into your vehicle on city roads. Some attacks may be severe while others may not. Here are a few examples of animal attacks on your vehicle. 

• Large animals such as bulls, moose charge over the vehicle, 
• Pets such as dogs and cats run over while darting across the road,
• Rodents like rats, squirrels, etc chewing down the car wirings, 
• Animals marking scratches and dents on the car’s body, 
• Animals enter the car through unattended openings and cause damages to the interior and exterior. 

How Does Your Car Insurance Cover Animal Attack?

Bumping into an animal is very similar to bumping on a pole or another vehicle. The damages might be severe and require you to visit the service centre. Repairing accidental damages may require investment of large capitals and, you need to have car insurance to get your car repaired without hassles.

If you own comprehensive or own-damage car insurance, the insurance provider covers the cost of damages from a large variety of threats including animal attacks. 

In case of damages due to an animal bumping into your car, you can file a car insurance claim and your insurance provider would settle your claim based on proofs and supporting documents you produce. However, the repair cost must be greater than the deductibles otherwise, you will have to pay the full repair cost from your pocket. It must be noted that third party liability insurance cannot secure your vehicle against animal attacks.

Although there are no suspects in animal accidents, you need to file a police report for the event. It increases the genuinety of the incident in your insurer’s eyes and your claim settlement becomes convenient. 

How to Claim Car Insurance after an Animal Attack?

Similar to filing settlements for other accidents, you can claim car insurance for animal attacks. Here are the steps you need to follow when filing a car insurance claim after an animal attack. 

1. Report the Incident - After hitting an animal, you need to report your accident to your insurance provider. In case of casualties, you must also call the police and other authorities. Inform your insurer about the type of accident, damages incurred and enquire about roadside assistance for severe damages.
2. Collect Pictures and Video Proofs - Subsequently, collect all the relevant proofs such as pictures of the accidents, damages to vehicles etc. The pictures and video proofs help the surveying team to verify your claim easily and quickly. Along with the pictures and video proofs, you may also be required to submit various documents such as policy number, FIR copy. 
3. Inspections and Survey - Once you have submitted the documents and the proofs, your insurer would conduct a survey to ensure the genuineness of your claim application. It is a standard procedure and you don’t need to worry about it. 
4. Claim Settlement - Once your claim application has been approved, your insurer would directly pay the repair expenses to the service centre in the form of cashless claims. 

How to Prevent Animal Attacks on Your Car?

Although car insurance can help you financially to get your car repaired, animals are not always lucky enough and bear collateral damages. Along with being cautious on the road, you also need to ensure the safety of other individuals and being while driving. Animal attacks on your vehicle can occur anywhere and anytime. Here are some ways to reduce animal attacks on your car. 

• Shut the doors and windows - When the car is not in use, always ensure to shut the door and windows to avoid the entry of animals into the vehicle. Whenever you leave your vehicle unattended, you should verify all the probable entries such as window, sunroof, boot door, are closed and properly sealed. 
• Avoid Storing Food Inside Your Car - Animals are attracted by food and storing food inside your car is an invitation to stray animals. They can attack the window and weak opening to reach for the edibles, damaging your car and marking dents and scratches. 
• Drive Vigilantly - Whether on a highway or a street road, always be cautious to ensure safety. Animals are unpredictable and may dart into your vehicle without warnings. 
• Avoid Open Parking - When you are keeping your vehicle unattended for some time, try keeping it under closed parking space or out of the reach of stray animals. Birds and tiny animals can find entries and create nests. 

The Bottom Line

Car insurance secures a car against damages from a variety of threats. However, to get extensive protection, you need to purchase a comprehensive car insurance plan. With a comprehensive policy, you not only get protection from accidental damages, fire and explosion, natural calamities but also from animal attacks. The insurance claim process for the animal attack remains the same. To find out more, visit our car insurance section.

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