Will My Insurance Go Up If I Hit a Deer?

WV & OH ONLY

"I hit a deer on my way home in West Virginia. If I turn it in to my insurance, will my rate go up?"

Around here, nearly everybody has a deer story, and nobody needs the extra bill.

It depends on your company, so nobody can honestly promise it won't, but a deer hit is generally handled under comprehensive coverage and isn't treated like an at-fault crash. You'll usually pay your comprehensive deductible, and the claim can still show up on your claims history. If you swerve and hit something else instead, it can become a collision claim, and that's a different situation.

A deer shouldn't cost you a thing, if you ask me. Our goal is the best rate possible for you, deer or no deer.

Companies don't all look at a comprehensive claim the same way, and some care about how many you've had. If you've got a deer claim on your record and your renewal has gone up, we can compare 13 companies to see who treats it best.

I'm not shy about it: call me. If your car's hurt and you aren't sure whether to turn it in, call me first. I'll tell you what I think.

WV & OH ONLY

Comprehensive, even though you did collide with it. The Highway Loss Data Institute says it directly: animal strikes are covered under comprehensive, unlike collisions with guardrails and other stationary objects.

The West Virginia Insurance Commissioner's office says the same, and adds the catch: if you only have collision or liability, your insurance won't cover the damage from hitting an animal. There's more on that in Deer Season Is Claim Season.

Because that part is up to each company, within state rules. A deer usually isn't anybody's fault, and in my experience companies don't look at it the way they look at running a stop sign. But a claim is still a claim. Insurers use claims and loss history from reporting companies, and a run of comprehensive claims can get a company's attention.

So I won't tell you it can't matter. I'll tell you that it's usually a far smaller problem than what people are afraid of.

More common than anywhere else we have numbers for. In HLDI's analysis of 2013 to 2022 claims, West Virginia had the highest November claim frequency in the country: 44.1 claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years, more than three times the national November average of 13.3.

The data doesn't say what kind of animal it was. HLDI says most are believed to be deer, and the November peak lines up with mating season. It's lowest in August.

So if this just happened to you, you're in a big club.

Look at the numbers. HLDI found the average animal strike claim in 2022 was $5,447. If yours is anywhere near that, the deductible is an easy decision.

If it's a cracked piece of trim on an old car and your deductible is $1,000, maybe it isn't. Get an estimate first. A repair shop will look at a bumper without your insurance company knowing about it.

And look closely. On a newer car, what looks like a dent can have sensors behind it.

Then you may have turned a comprehensive claim into a collision claim. If you ran off the road into a tree or a guardrail, that's generally collision coverage, with a collision deductible, and it can be treated more like an at-fault accident.

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources puts it simply: don't swerve. Brake and stay on the road. It's hard advice to follow at 55 miles an hour, but it's right.

• Get off the road if you can, and turn on your flashers
• If anyone's hurt or the car can't move, call for help
• Stay away from the deer. A hurt animal can still kick.
• Take pictures of the car, and of the spot, including any hair or blood on the bumper
• Don't drive it if lights, the radiator or the hood are damaged
• Call me

Not for the next deer. It won't help with the one you just hit. Companies can have their own rules about adding it, so call before you drive much more in November.

Hit a deer, or want to make sure you're covered for the next one? Call me.

WV & OH ONLY

Next in the series: Part 23, Should I Try One of Those Apps That Tracks My Driving?