Does car insurance cover damage you cause?

[FADEC]

My mother in laws husband recently ran his Volvo over the median on a street, due to not paying attention . It was still driveable and he took it to Volvo a few days later. I'm not sure what was damaged but the estimate came out to over 9k. He says he'll just call his insurance and they will fix everything.

Does insurance cover damage you do to your own car due solely to your own negligence?? He, my MIL and my wife all say it will. I really don't think it will. Thoughts????

 

[ragtoplvr]

it will but rate increase may apply accident forgiveness is possible and different deductible. If he is over 65 they may,if allowed, drop him

see policy and state rules.

Rod

 

[opus1]

Depends on the policy, but it can. It will count against any accident-free/claim-free discounts, and depending on the age of the car, they may total it.

 

[MrHorspwer]

Depends on the coverage.

There are liability-only plans that only covers damage caused to the property of others. Say you lost control of your vehicle because you fell asleep and ran into someone's house, damaging your car and their house. A liability-only plan would pay for repairs to their house, but wouldn't pay to repair your car. This is typically the minimum required insurance for most states.

Full-coverage collision pays for all collision-related damage. For the same scenario above, it'd pay for repairs to the house you hit and damage to your own car, even if it was 100% your fault. Same would be true if you drove over a median and only damaged your own car.

 

[The Critic]

Fundamentally, insurance covers unintentional negligence...

 

[FADEC]

Depends on the coverage.

There are liability-only plans that only covers damage caused to the property of others. Say you lost control of your vehicle because you fell asleep and ran into someone's house, damaging your car and their house. A liability-only plan would pay for repairs to their house, but wouldn't pay to repair your car. This is typically the minimum required insurance for most states.

Full-coverage collision pays for all collision-related damage. For the same scenario above, it'd pay for repairs to the house you hit and damage to your own car, even if it was 100% your fault. Same would be true if you drove over a median and only damaged your own car.

I'm not sure what type of coverage he has. I really don't have a dog in the fight...just curious how insurance would work in this scenario.

 

[dishdude]

I'm not sure what type of coverage he has. I really don't have a dog in the fight...just curious how insurance would work in this scenario.

If they have collision coverage it'll cover the damage, less the deductible.

Liability you must have - covers other vehicles or objects you hit
Collision (optional) covers your own vehicle
Comprehensive (optional) covers theft, vandalism, deer and other losses that are not the fault of the driver.

 

[DuckRyder]

1) Read the policy and Dec Page,

2) Generally - Yes (Assuming he carries the requisite Physical damage coverages, the car is the described or qualifies under NAC or TSC and he's not an excluded driver)

Keywords: Direct, accidental

 

[Leo99]

He's covered. Usually it's only if you caused the damage on purpose that it's not covered.

 

[Quattro Pete]

My mother in laws husband recently ran his Volvo over the median on a street, due to not paying attention .

Majority of accidents happen "due to not paying attention."

If he has collision coverage on his insurance policy, it should cover it, alas, his rates may go up, as others already pointed out.

 

[gathermewool]

He's covered. Usually it's only if you caused the damage on purpose that it's not covered.

That's misleading. It 100% depends on whether he has PAID for collision coverage

I damaged my car at the base hobby shop once and my comprehensive (I believe) coverage covered it. In retrospect, I should have just paid for the damage out of pocket.

 

[Leo99]

That's misleading. It 100% depends on whether he has PAID for collision coverage

I damaged my car at the base hobby shop once and my comprehensive (I believe) coverage covered it. In retrospect, I should have just paid for the damage out of pocket.

The question was whether insurance will cover you for self-inflicted damage. Having collision is assumed. The question wasn't whether insurance will cover collision if you don't have collision insurance. Insurance won't cover collision if you don't have collision insurance. That's obvious.

 

[gathermewool]

The question was whether insurance will cover you for self-inflicted damage. Having collision is assumed. The question wasn't whether insurance will cover collision if you don't have collision insurance. Insurance won't cover collision if you don't have collision insurance. That's obvious.

Why is collision assumed? We don't even know the age of the vehicle or any other details.

If what you say is obvious were true, the OP wouldn't have started this thread. He didn't ask whether collision or comprehensive would cover this, he asked if insurance would cover it. That's a very generic question, which also shows the OP didn't even Google first before asking here.

 

[Pelican]

They'll investigate and depending on the findings they may or may not cover. Generally insurance does not cover one's stupidity! (couldn't think of another word)

 

[gathermewool]

They'll investigate and depending on the findings they may or may not cover. Generally insurance does not cover one's stupidity! (couldn't think of another word)

You couldn't think of another word? Right.

What are you basing your post on?

 

[RhondaHonda]

If he has collision they will cover it as others mentioned already. Insurance is basically for stupidity/negligence. It does not cover intentional acts.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Insurance is basically for stupidity/negligence. It does not cover intentional acts.

But how do you prove that it was one vs. the other?

 

[RhondaHonda]

But how do you prove that it was one vs. the other?

Short of telling the adjuster or typing a text /email that says “I’m going to run over my ex girlfriend with my car tomorrow at noon” you will be fine.

 

[Dave9]

Of course, that's why you have collision insurance (if you do), for things that are your fault. It does cover "stupidity" (of most types, never say never...)

This is a standard part of a collision policy but do read the policy because they could put anything in it they want.

 

[Malo83]

They covered a failed paint job on my C10 that I paid for.