Does car insurance cover hitting a deer?
Hitting a deer is treated as a comprehensive claim, not a collision claim, so it's covered only if the policy carries comprehensive coverage.
What flips the answer
- Covered when
The driver swerved to avoid the deer and struck another object instead — that's a collision claim, covered if collision coverage is on the policy even without comprehensive.
- Not covered when
The policy carries collision coverage but not comprehensive coverage.
- Not covered when
The policy is liability-only.
Insurers classify a collision with an animal as a comprehensive event, not a collision event, because it's considered outside the driver's control in the same way as hail or a falling tree branch. That means it's paid out under comprehensive coverage, minus the deductible, if the policy has it.
This distinction matters because collision and comprehensive are separate optional coverages. A driver who carries collision but dropped comprehensive to save on premium would not be covered for hitting a deer, even though they'd be covered for hitting another car.
If swerving to avoid the deer causes a crash into a guardrail, tree, or another vehicle instead, that impact is typically a collision claim, not comprehensive — the classification follows what was actually struck.
That's the general answer. Yours is written in your actual policy.
Drop in your policy or benefits document and get the answer for your exact coverage — with the clause it comes from. Nothing is stored.
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