Does Car Insurance Cover Hitting a Deer?

When you’re driving along the road and a deer suddenly appears in front of your car, you realize just how fast they can move. Hitting a deer can cause significant damage to your vehicle, and in some cases, may even lead to injuries.

Car insurance serves many purposes, and sometimes it’s hard to know if your specific situation will be covered. So, does car insurance cover when you hit a deer? Generally speaking, if you have comprehensive coverage as part of your car insurance policy, you will be covered for damage caused by hitting a deer, but you’ll need to check your insurance policy or contact your insurance provider to know for sure.

While that's the quick and easy answer, there's plenty more to unpack. Here’s all you need to know about how car insurance covers hitting a deer and what to do if you find yourself in that situation.

Comprehensive Coverage vs Collision Coverage: Which One Covers Hitting a Deer?

The declarations page in your car insurance policy breaks down the various parts of your policy. The comprehensive and collision portions of your policy are coverages that protect your car after certain types of incidents.

Comprehensive coverage pays for damage to your car when a sudden, unpredictable event occurs. As hitting a deer—or a deer running into your car—is sudden and unpredictable, deer accidents typically require comprehensive coverage to be covered under your auto insurance policy.

Comprehensive Coverage

In addition to hitting a deer, comprehensive coverage applies in various other circumstances that damage your car, such as:

Hail damage
Fire
Theft
Vandalism
Glass breakage
Falling objects

Collision Coverage

Collision coverage comes into play when you hit another car or object with your car. If you hit a tree, fence, or even a ditch, your collision coverage will cover the claim. The exception to this rule is hitting a deer, which is covered by comprehensive coverage.

For comprehensive coverage to apply to a deer accident, the car must make contact with the deer. However, if you swerve to avoid hitting a deer and strike something else or your car rolls over, collision coverage would apply instead.

You may choose to only have liability coverage on your policy, or you may elect to add comprehensive and collision coverage. If you are financing or leasing a car, the lender will usually require you to have comprehensive and collision coverage.

Are medical injuries covered from hitting a deer by insurance?

A deer accident could be serious enough to send a driver or passenger to the emergency room in an ambulance. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 200 Americans are killed and over 10,000 are injured in car accidents involving deer each year.

In this case, who would pay the medical bills?

The answer lies in the other coverages included in your policy. While your car is covered under comprehensive coverage (if you have it in your policy), your injuries are not. However, you may have medical payments coverage or personal injury protection (PIP) which would cover your injuries or a passenger’s injuries up to the stated limit on your policy.

How To Avoid Hitting a Deer

Many variables can impact your odds of hitting a deer, from the time of day you’re driving to where you live. You may never wonder if you need to file a police report if you hit a deer if you live in Hawaii or California, but you likely do if you live in a state where you’re more apt to encounter a deer on the road, like West Virginia, Wyoming, or Pennsylvania.

Let’s stack the odds in your favor with a few simple tips that can help you avoid hitting a deer. Deer have distinct behavior patterns, and by learning more about how they behave, you can reduce your risk of being involved in a deer accident.

The following three tips can help you steer clear of an accident involving deer:

1) Be on the Lookout for Herds

Deer are social critters and like to travel in herds. They spend most of their days foraging for food; while looking for sweet grass and leaves to eat, they commonly wander near roadways. Where you see one deer, others are bound to be in the vicinity. Slow down and exercise caution, as they may decide to cross the road.

2) Consider Adding a Deer Whistle to Your Vehicle

A deer whistle is a small whistle that attaches to the front of a vehicle. When the vehicle goes over thirty mph, the whistle emits a sound in a frequency deer can hear. The sound alerts the deer that danger is nearby. There are differing opinions about the effectiveness of deer whistles. However, the cost is fairly minimal, so for those who live in heavily wooded areas or areas that are inhabited by deer, deer whistles may be worthwhile.

3) Be Extra Cautious During High-Risk Times

With 90% of vehicles manufactured in 2021 featuring automatic braking systems, advanced safety features are rapidly becoming the norm. While many of these systems work well and fast, deer are often faster. Therefore, driver alertness is key.

While deer are out at all times of the day, they are particularly active from dusk to dawn. There are various theories as to why this is. Some believe deer can see best at twilight, while others believe they prefer the more temperate climate at that time of day.

Deer are exceedingly active during the annual mating season. Generally, the mating season for deer occurs from October to December and peaks in November. This timeframe is the riskiest period of the year for deer accidents.

Do You Have To Pay a Deductible if You Hit a Deer?

When starting a new policy, the policyholder gets to choose which deductibles they want for comprehensive and collision coverages. The deductibles start at zero and go up, usually in increments of $50 or $100. In general, the higher your deductibles, the lower your car insurance premium will be.

If you hit a deer, your comprehensive deductible would apply. This is important because your collision and comprehensive deductibles may be different. If you hit something else when you swerve to avoid hitting a deer, your collision deductible would apply.

For example, let’s say your comprehensive deductible is zero and your collision deductible is $500. If you hit a deer and your car is damaged, the comprehensive deductible applies, and you would not have to pay anything toward the repair of your car. If you swerved to avoid hitting a deer and hit a fence damaging your car, you would have to pay your $500 deductible for any associated repair costs before the insurance company would pay up to your policy limits.

Depending on your insurance policy, your rates may or may not go up after you hit a deer. Some companies will apply a surcharge for an accident involving a deer, and you could lose discounts as well. However, many insurance companies are aware that accidents happen to nearly everyone once in a while. Some companies may choose to reward loyal customers for keeping a fairly clean driving record by waiving accident surcharges after only one claim. There are also policies that offer Accident Forgiveness for your first accident.

Unlike health insurance where the deductible only applies once per year, your comprehensive and collision car insurance deductibles apply every time you file a claim. For example, if you have a $250 comprehensive deductible and file a claim in the spring for hail damage, you would pay your $250 deductible first when you go to get your car fixed. Then, if you hit a deer in the fall and need to file a claim for damage, you would have to pay your $250 deductible again for any related repairs.

Will My Driving Record Reflect a Deer Claim?

Your driving record, also known as a motor vehicle report or MVR, lists all accidents, traffic violations, suspensions, and major offenses like DUIs. An accident with a deer will be listed on your driving record if you make a claim on your car insurance or if the police respond to the accident.

To sum things up, a claim for hitting a deer is covered under the comprehensive portion of your car insurance policy. The comprehensive deductible applies before the insurance company pays its portion. If you swerve to avoid a collision with a deer, any damage incurred by hitting something other than the deer falls under your collision coverage and the corresponding deductible applies. An accident where you hit a deer will likely appear on your driving record, and your insurance rates may go up.

By understanding more about deer and how and when they’re on the move, you can reduce your chances of hitting one at any time of year.

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