|
Pets ride in cars all the time, but what if they're injured in a car accident? Whose car insurance pays to treat their injuries? The answer depends on the cause of the accident.
Tips for traveling by car with pets
- Cats should be in a cage or in a cat carrier to allow them to feel
secure and prevent them from crawling under your feet while you are
driving.
- A dog that must ride in a truck bed should be in a protective kennel that is fastened to the truck bed.
- Dogs riding in a car should not ride in the passenger seat if
it is equipped with an airbag, and should not be allowed to sit on the
driver's lap.
- Harnesses, tethers and other accessories to secure pets during car travel are available at most pet stores.
- Pets should not be allowed to ride with their heads outside
car windows. Particles of dirt or other debris can enter the eyes, ears
and nose, causing injury or infection.
Source: American Veterinary Medical Association
|
Riding in cars can be dangerous for pets (as well
as distracting to the driver), especially because they ride without the
benefit of seat belts. If someone crashes into you and causes injuries
to you pet, you're entitled to make a "third-party claim" on their
policy for your pet's medical bills. That's because their liability insurance must put you "back where you were" before the accident.
If you are at-fault in an accident in which your pet is injured, you'll want to check your auto insurance policy
for exclusions. Say you crash into another car or a fence: Collision
insurance pays for the repairs to your own vehicle. But you may have an
exclusion on your collision insurance for damage to personal property
that you are transporting, whether it's your antique vase or your pet.
If your policy has such an exclusion, you won't have a valid claim. For
example, State Farm says that its policies don't provide coverage for
pet injuries.
In this scenario, if you don't carry collision
coverage at all, you must pay for all damage from the accident,
including your car and pet.
Perhaps someone comes to visit you and your dog
goes to lie down under their car. Then, unknowingly, the visitor backs
over your pet. Is the visitor liable for your dog's injuries? Yes, he
is, but not under the bodily injury section of his policy. Bodily
injury pays out for injuries sustained by any "one person" in an
accident. Your pet doesn't qualify as a person so he's not covered by
this portion of the policy.
However, for insurance purposes, your pet qualifies
as your "personal property," and you have the right to be "put back
where you were" before the accident — in this case, meaning having a
healthy dog. You'd have the right to make a claim on your visitor's
auto insurance policy for your dog's medical bills, just as you would
have the right to make a claim if he backed over your lawnmower.
Certainly pets are part of the "family," and the
death of a beloved pet can lead to extreme grief. But your pet's status
as your "personal property" may limit your options for compensation if
someone causes an accident that kills your pet. State laws do not
recognize the loss of personal property as valid claims for "loss of
companionship" compensation, unlike the loss of a spouse. In the event
your pet is killed in an accident, you can likely make a claim only for
the "market value" of your pet.
Some courts have allowed damages for deceased pets
to go beyond "market value" by applying "pecuniary value" or "special
value," which applies to personal property that has no ascertainable
market value.
|
