When a Deer Causes an Accident: Understanding Your Auto Insurance

Deer collisions become a greater concern for drivers in the fall, especially in areas with wooded roads, open fields, and heavier deer activity. A deer can enter the roadway with little warning, leaving a driver only seconds to react.

What happens next can affect more than the damage to your vehicle. Whether you hit the deer or swerve and strike something else can change which part of your auto insurance responds.

If You Hit the Deer

Damage caused by hitting a deer is generally covered under the comprehensive coverage on your auto policy.

Comprehensive coverage protects your vehicle against certain types of damage that are not considered a collision with another vehicle or object. In addition to contact with animals, it can cover losses involving theft, vandalism, hail, falling objects, and other covered causes.

If a deer runs into the road and you strike it, comprehensive coverage may help pay for damage to your bumper, hood, headlights, windshield, sensors, or other parts of the vehicle, subject to your policy terms and comprehensive deductible.

If You Swerve and Hit Something Else

The insurance situation changes if you avoid the deer but collide with another object.

Suppose a deer runs into your path and you swerve, miss the animal, and hit a guardrail. Because your vehicle struck the guardrail rather than the deer, damage to your vehicle would generally fall under collision coverage, not comprehensive coverage.

The same would generally apply if you hit a tree, utility pole, parked vehicle, or another object while trying to avoid the deer.

Collision coverage can help pay for damage to your own vehicle after this type of accident, subject to your policy terms and collision deductible. Because comprehensive and collision deductibles may be different, the way the accident occurs can affect your out-of-pocket cost as well as which coverage handles the claim.

What If You Damage Someone Else's Property?

Swerving to avoid a deer can also result in damage to someone else's property.

If you move into another lane and strike another vehicle, or leave the roadway and damage a fence, mailbox, building, or other property, your property damage liability coverage can help pay for the damage you caused. If another person is injured in the accident, your bodily injury liability coverage can also come into play.

This is one reason drivers are generally advised to brake firmly and maintain control rather than making a sudden evasive maneuver when a deer enters the roadway. Swerving can turn an animal collision into a crash involving oncoming traffic, another vehicle, or property along the side of the road.

What Should You Do After Hitting a Deer?

After a deer collision, move your vehicle to a safe location if you can do so, turn on your hazard lights, and contact law enforcement to make a report and request the deer to be removed from the road when appropriate. Do not approach an injured deer or attempt to move it from the roadway yourself.

Document the accident and vehicle damage when it is safe to do so. If you plan to file an insurance claim, contact your insurance carrier or agent and provide the information available about the accident.

Do not assume minor-looking damage is only cosmetic. A deer collision can damage headlights, cooling components, sensors, cameras, body panels, and other equipment that may not be obvious immediately after the crash.

Know How Your Coverage Responds

A deer collision can happen quickly, and the claim can involve more than one part of your auto policy depending on what happens.

If you have not reviewed your comprehensive and collision deductibles recently, this is a good time to do it. Concklin Insurance Agency can help you review your auto coverage, understand how the different parts of your policy work together, and make sure your insurance program continues to fit the risks you face on the road.