Does auto insurance cover hitting my own car?

If you have multiple cars parked at home, you might run out of luck one day and actually end up hitting your own vehicle. This is not actually that uncommon. If you have a small garage or a narrow driveway (or teen drivers), running into your own car happens more than you think. Fortunately, filing an auto insurance claim for these vehicles does not have to be that complicated. Let’s take a look at some scenarios.

Hitting A Parked In Your Own Driveway

If you are rolling backwards down your driveway and happen to smash into your friend’s car, the insurance claim process is pretty straightforward. You call up your insurer, you file a claim, and your insurance will cover damages to both your vehicle and his. Your liability auto insurance coverage will pay for damages to his vehicle. Your collision coverage will pay for damages to your own vehicle.

If you are rolling down your driveway and smash into your wife’s or your child’s vehicle, are you still covered? Chances are that answer is still ‘yes’. If both cars are covered on the same multi-car insurance policy and both have collision coverage, the repairs should both be paid for by that coverage.

If you do not have collision coverage, however, you may have to pay for damages out of pocket. Even the vehicle that is “the victim” will not be covered by the other car’s liability policy. Most liability coverage excludes damages to vehicles that you own. This is why having collision coverage is so important.

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Hitting Your Own Car On The Road

If you are on your way home, turn onto your street, and happen to slam into the side of your wife’s vehicle, your insurance coverage will work in a slightly different way. If there are no injuries to anyone involved in the accident, both of the collision coverage policies will ‘kick in’ and pay for the damages.

If there are injuries involved, the claims process can get a bit tricky. The at-fault car’s liability policy will cover injuries to the other party. If the driver or passengers in the at-fault vehicle are injured, they will be covered by their personal injury protection policy (PIP) insurance, if they have it. If there is no PIP coverage, the injured’s health insurance policy will most likely cover the injuries.

Driving Through Your Wall Or Into Your Mailbox

Driving into your own mailbox or some other item you own is both stupid and careless, but usually there is insurance coverage available to pay for the damages. Like in the scenario above, damage to your vehicle would be covered by your collision coverage if you crash into part of your house. But, who will pay for the actual damage to your house? We’ve all seen videos online where people accidently drive right into their living room, but we most likely do not know if insurance pays for that damage.

If you own the house, the damage to your property most likely will not be covered. You will need to have homeowner’s insurance pay for the damage, or you will need to pay for the damage out of pocket. If you rent your house, however, your property damage liability insurance policy most likely will cover the damages. The reason for this is because most personal car insurance policies do not cover damage to property you own. If you rent your house or your apartment, you are not the owner. The landlord is. Therefore, if you drive into your landlord’s property, your auto insurance will cover the damages, you just have to go through the property damage claims process.

In all car accidents, whether you crash into your own property or not, it’s best to call up your insurance company and report them. The first step in properly dealing with vehicle damage always involves reporting it to your insurer. Your insurance agent will be able to properly assess damages and get you well on your way to fixing them. Failing to properly file a claim could lead to trouble down the road and hurt your chances of getting the damage paid for.

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