I hit a deer, I need to file a claim, will my rates go up?
Hitting a deer, pig, horse, cow, or any animal, is considered
a Comprehensive or an Other than Collison claim, depending
on what state you are in. Comprehensive claims are not
considered at fault claims. Usually they are acts of
nature or unavoidable claims or accidents or even
thefts and acts of vandalism.
No, your rates should not go up. One instance in where
they could go up is if you happen to be in a few of these
Comprehensive claims within a 3 year period. Then you could
be considered accident prone or an accident magnet and a higher risk to an insurance company so you could see higher rates if you have
3-4 comp claims within 3 years.
This also includes glass claims in most states. Glass claims
are considered Comprehensive losses so if you have several
glass claims your insurance company may force you to increase
your deductible high enough to where these losses would be
lower than your deductible. For example, you could have a
$500 deductible and this is more than what most windshields
cost so you would be forced to pay for the claim out of your
own pocket.
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