Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Are My Pet's Injuries Covered In An Accident?

By Leigh Jackson


When I get in a car accident and my pets are riding with me, if they get hurt will my auto insurance cover their injuries? Or, will my insurance company be responsible for my pets injuries, or will the other drivers? If you are a pet lover, you need to know how to deal with pet injuries in the event of an auto accident.

If another driver is at fault, then, yes, typically their property damage liability coverage will pay for damages done to your pet -- if the car owner's liability limits are high enough to cover both the damage to your vehicle and pet.

Pet injuries don't fall under the at-fault's bodily injury liability, like medical expenses for you would, since this coverage is normally only for injuries sustained by humans in an auto accident. Pets are seen as property and thus veterinarian bills would go under a property damage liability claim.

There is a chance that the damages to your car and property would be so extreme that the other drivers coverage would be maxed out and you would not be able to collect the extra money to help pay for your pets medical expenses. When this happens, there is no recourse to help you deal with those expenses, no extra insurance that the other driver has or has to be responsible for.

If you are at fault in a car accident - if you cause it - then your insurance is responsible for any damages caused, this includes your pets injuries. Often times your insurance will not extent to cover pet medical expenses or injury recovery times. After searching multiple companies, we could only find one that included coverage specifically for pets riding along with you in the car.

Most car insurance companies would not cover your pet in any way if you were the at-fault driver. For your own injuries, you can use medical payments or personal injury protection, but these medical coverages don't extend to animals.

If you do go with the insurance company that includes coverage for your pets and their injuries, you will find that they have a $1000 coverage limit which helps with pet medical expenses and does not cost anything to add to your collision coverage.

Right now pet coverage only covers cats and dogs, the most common types of pets, and not pigs, ferrets or other exotic pets. To make a claim for your pet's injuries, the pet must have been injured inside the vehicle during an auto accident.




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