Deer hit car

seaswimmer

A deer jumped out and hit my car on Sunday evening after dark. Luckily we were unharmed, but the car needs £2-3k repairs. 

I did not stop or report the incident, as the deer fell back onto the (flat) grass verge, the A-road that it happened on did not have stopping-places or a pavement, there was a child in the car I could not leave alone on a side-road, and according to gov.uk., you don't legally have to stop if you hit a deer.

Returned to the scene by daylight Monday (found a side-road to park on) to find the poor thing dead beside the road. 

My question is: is it worth calling insurance? Nothing in the policy booklet unfortunately. 

I'm worried that the insurers will turn the claim down as the only witness to the incident was my 13-year old son, also travelling with me at the time. In the past, I once notified insurers of a collision (other driver at fault) which for some reason they would not cover, but they hiked my premiums anyway, and I have to cite the incident each time I apply for new insurance. So I'd like to avoid doing that again.

Can anyone help me here? Dig deep to pay for of repair out of pocket, or pick up the phone to Churchills? 

HHarry

Why do you think you need a witness to make a claim on your insurance?  Obviously, it’ll go down as a fault claim.

My brother had a tyre blow out on the motorway - wrote the car off, but no need for ny witnesses.

henry24

Funny thing with deer when they are in a field they belong to the landowner and it's illegal to kill one but when they jump into the road they are a wild animal and the landowner isn't responsible 

RandomTourist

Your policy will almost certainly require you to notify the insurers of the collision. Read the documentation carefully. Failing to follow the terms of the policy can leave you uninsured and at risk of large financial consequences.

DullGreyGuy

seaswimmer said:

My question is: is it worth calling insurance? Nothing in the policy booklet unfortunately. 

I'm worried that the insurers will turn the claim down as the only witness to the incident was my 13-year old son, also travelling with me at the time. In the past, I once notified insurers of a collision (other driver at fault) which for some reason they would not cover, but they hiked my premiums anyway, and I have to cite the incident each time I apply for new insurance. So I'd like to avoid doing that again.

Can anyone help me here? Dig deep to pay for of repair out of pocket, or pick up the phone to Churchills? 

Assuming you have comprehensive insurance why would they decline it? Insurance covers you doing stupid things like driving into a lamppost, it also covers more unusual things like wildlife hitting your car. As they cannot recover their outlay from anyone it will be recorded as a fault claim if you go ahead with it. 

Can't speculate why the previous claim was declined without a lot more detail. As you say it was non-fault then certain insurers would encourage you to use their pet accident management company rather than claim on your insurance but thats not the same thing. 

CliveOfIndia

seaswimmer said:

the car needs £2-3k repairs. 

is it worth calling insurance?

Dig deep to pay for of repair out of pocket, or pick up the phone to Churchills? 

Hitting a deer is one of those things, unfortunately (sadly, an extremely common occurrence where I live, where there are millions of the bloomin' things who all seem to have a death-wish).

If you want to claim off your insurance then of course you have to notify them.  £2-3K is a hefty chunk of money to pay out of your own pocket, so I'd probably be tempted to make a claim anyway - that's what insurance is for, and it'll probably be worth it in the long run - even allowing for your excess and increased premiums.

But if you want to pay for it yourself, then there's no point in reporting it (even though you should, strictly speaking).  It's not like there a third-party who's going to suddenly make a whiplash claim out of nowhere.

maman

We had a similar incident where a deer literally jumped out of a hedge onto the car, back off and into the opposite field. So it used the car like a stepping stone and caused considerable damage.

We did claim as, although we weren't to blame technically, you can't claim off a deer.

Like any incident, even one that costs the insurance company nothing, you are required to inform the company so don't see how you can avoid risking your premium going up. 

Brie

I'm surprised the deer was still there.  Where I'm from any deer would be gone as soon as it was spotted and someone would butcher it for their freezer. 

And the damage done to your car I would suggest is minimal from a deer.  There was a road near where I used to live where in the autumn there was at least one deer related accident a week, some of which were fatal to the drivers as well as the deer.  Worst is when they hit the windscreen and exit through the back window.  

photome

It will cost you far more if you dont tell them…premiums are not goi g to rise by 2 to 3 k

CliveOfIndia

Brie said:

And the damage done to your car I would suggest is minimal from a deer.

I'm assuming that's a typo?  Hitting a deer at anything more than a few MPH can make a hell of a mess of a car.

GrumpyDil

 CliveOfIndia said:

Brie said:

And the damage done to your car I would suggest is minimal from a deer.

I'm assuming that's a typo?  Hitting a deer at anything more than a few MPH can make a hell of a mess of a car.

I think Brie was pointing out that 2 to 3k of damage suggests the OP was relatively lucky given other cars get written off.