Hit a Deer? What to Do, Which Coverage Pays, and When to Claim

Pull off the road if the car is drivable, turn on the hazard lights, and stay in the car or well off the roadway. A stopped vehicle on a rural road at dusk is a hazard to following traffic, and secondary crashes after animal strikes are common. Do not approach the deer. An injured deer can be dangerous, and moving it is a job for police or animal control.

Call the police. Many states require reporting any crash with damage above a threshold, and insurers routinely ask for a police report on animal claims because the comprehensive-versus-collision distinction turns on what actually happened. The officer will note the animal strike, which protects you from any later suggestion that you hit something else and are calling it a deer.

Photograph the damage, the location and, if it is safe, the animal. Check for leaking fluids, a damaged radiator, and whether the airbags deployed; a car that seems drivable may not be. If anyone is hurt, call for medical help and get examined even for apparent minor injuries, since deer strikes at speed produce the same neck and head injuries as any frontal crash.

Auto policies divide physical damage into two coverages. Collision covers damage from hitting another vehicle or object. Comprehensive covers damage from events other than collision: theft, fire, hail, falling objects, vandalism, and contact with an animal. Hitting a deer is a comprehensive claim. That matters in three ways.

First, the deductible. Comprehensive deductibles are often lower than collision deductibles, because comprehensive events are considered outside the driver's control. Second, fault. Most insurers do not treat a comprehensive claim as an at-fault accident, so a deer strike generally does not raise rates the way an at-fault collision would, though a pattern of comprehensive claims can. Third, coverage at all: a driver who carries liability only, with no comprehensive, has no coverage for deer damage and bears the repair cost personally.

The line is crossed when you swerve. If you avoided the deer and hit a tree, a guardrail, a ditch or another vehicle, you did not strike an animal; you struck an object, and that is a collision claim with a collision deductible and, in some insurers' view, an at-fault accident. The police report's description of what happened decides which coverage applies, which is another reason to make sure it is accurate.

Suppose you were driving a rural highway at dusk in November when a deer ran out and you struck it. The front end, radiator and both airbags were damaged, with repairs estimated at $9,400. You had a sore neck and were examined that evening. Your policy carried comprehensive with a $500 deductible, collision with a $1,000 deductible, and $5,000 in medical payments coverage.

The police report recorded an animal strike. You filed a comprehensive claim; the insurer paid $8,900 toward repairs after the $500 deductible, and the claim was coded as not-at-fault. Your medical payments coverage paid the emergency visit and two follow-ups. There was no one to claim against for the deductible or for pain and suffering, because no one was at fault.

Now suppose instead that you swerved, missed the deer, and hit a guardrail. The same damage is now a collision claim with a $1,000 deductible, and some insurers would record it as an at-fault accident. And if a following driver had struck your stopped car after the deer strike, you would have a liability claim against that driver for the second impact and any injury it caused, because that driver's failure to stop in time is ordinary negligence. All figures are hypothetical.

The steps are short, and most of them are about documentation.

• Pull over safely, hazards on, and stay away from the animal and the roadway.
• Call the police and get the report number; ask that the report record an animal strike.
• Photograph the damage, the scene and the animal if safe.
• Check whether the car is safe to drive; airbag deployment, fluid leaks and a damaged radiator mean it is not.
• Report the claim to your insurer as a comprehensive claim and say explicitly that you struck a deer rather than swerving.
• Get examined if you have any symptom; neck, chest and head injuries from a frontal impact and airbag deployment are common.
• If another vehicle was involved in any way, get that driver's details and insurance; a separate liability claim may exist.

Reporting requirements vary. Most states require a police report for crashes with injury or with property damage above a set amount, and several states have rules about possessing a deer carcass that require a permit or a call to the wildlife agency. Some states allow the driver who struck a deer to keep it with a permit; others prohibit it.

Insurance treatment of comprehensive claims is governed by state regulation and the insurer's own rating rules, and whether a deer strike affects your premium varies. Several states restrict surcharging for not-at-fault claims, which generally includes comprehensive claims. Whether swerving and hitting an object is treated as at-fault depends on the insurer and the facts, and an insurer that assigns fault can be asked for the basis.

A claim against a government body for a deer strike, on the theory that signage or fencing was inadequate, is rarely viable; deer crossing signs are discretionary and most states immunize such decisions. Claims against another driver follow ordinary negligence and comparative fault rules, including contributory negligence in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Injury claims against another driver run on the state's injury deadline, one year in Tennessee and Kentucky, two in Texas, California, Florida and Georgia, three in New York and North Carolina.

Most deer strikes have no at-fault party and no injury claim beyond your own coverage. The exceptions are worth knowing. A driver who hits your stopped car after you struck a deer is liable for that impact. A driver who swerves to avoid a deer and crosses into your lane is liable for hitting you, though the sudden emergency doctrine may reduce that driver's responsibility if the swerve was reasonable. A passenger in a car that struck a deer has a claim against the driver only if the driver was negligent, such as by speeding or driving impaired, and not for the deer itself.

Commercial drivers and employers add another layer. A deer strike while driving for work is a workers' compensation claim for the employee's injuries. And a deer strike in a rental car is governed by the rental agreement and any coverage you bought or carried.

Where there is an at-fault driver, the claim works like any crash claim: that driver's liability insurer pays, your uninsured motorist coverage stands in if the driver had none, and the fault evidence, including the police report's account of the sequence, decides it.

A deer strike with vehicle damage only is a comprehensive claim most people handle with their own insurer in a week. The situations that warrant advice are an injury, a dispute with your insurer over whether the claim is comprehensive or collision, an insurer treating a swerve as an at-fault accident, and any case where a second vehicle was involved. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency and will say quickly whether a claim against another party exists.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in your state, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say whether a claim exists. If you were hurt in a crash that started with a deer and another driver was involved, you can request a free claim review.

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