Does auto insurance cover hitting a deer in Ontario?

The short answer

Striking an animal is a comprehensive claim. Comprehensive is optional in Ontario, so a policy carrying only the compulsory coverages does not pay for the damage. Where comprehensive is in force, the insurer pays the repair cost above the deductible.

Why does it matter whether the car hit the deer or swerved?

Because the two are different coverages. Contact with an animal falls under comprehensive, which also responds to theft, fire, vandalism and falling objects. Leaving the road to avoid an animal and striking a tree, a pole or a ditch is a collision claim, because the vehicle collided with an object rather than the animal.

The distinction reaches further than which box is ticked. A comprehensive claim is not assigned fault to the driver, while a single-vehicle collision claim is normally recorded as at-fault, which is a rating factor at renewal.

The two coverages often carry different deductibles on the same policy, so the amount payable differs as well.

Where the vehicle is left undriveable, the response depends on what was purchased: comprehensive and collision each pay repair or actual cash value, and loss-of-use coverage for a rental is a separate item.

What does this mean after a collision with an animal in Ontario?

The claim is reported in the same way as any other, and the coverage in force decides what is payable. A police report is not what determines the coverage; the facts of the collision are.

Deer collisions concentrate around dawn and dusk and rise sharply in the autumn rut, which is when Ontario rural claims for animal strikes cluster.

Sutherland Insurance reports claims on 519-822-0160 during business hours, and an in-house claims representative is available to the client.

Related questions

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