PET Injury Insurance Is your dog covered in case of a collision?

By Cherese Cobb

Car accidents can be traumatic and expensive enough. But if your pet happens to be riding with you when the accident occurs and you both get hurt, you could be hounded by additional medical bills during your recovery. Luckily, many car insurance companies offer injury coverage that pays for your pet's veterinary or burial expenses. You may even have pet injury coverage included in your policy now but aren’t aware of it.

Here is how pet injury coverage works.

The basics

• Pet injury coverage is usually part of collision coverage. The add-on pays for car repairs and replacement, no matter who is at fault for the accident.

• Pet injury coverage is limited to cats and dogs. While some standard pet insurance policies cover other types of pets like miniature horses, they don’t pay for car accident injuries.

• Car insurance only covers your pet if they are hurt while riding with you or a household member.

• Most insurance companies will pay $500–$2,500 for medical bills or burial expenses if your pet is hurt or dies in a car accident.

• Car insurance companies classify pets as personal property.

• Collision insurance may cover the cost of a new pet.

“Insurance companies may refuse to pay for damages incurred while partaking in an illegal activity, such as driving while intoxicated,” says Chase Gardner, data scientist at Insurify. “But, some states don’t allow insurers to cancel payments in this event.”

No deductible pet injury coverage

Some of the companies that offer pet injury coverage without a deductible include:

Chubb. Chubb pays up to $2,000 for medical or burial expenses, regardless of how many pets were hurt.

The Hanover Insurance Group. If your pet is injured or killed in an accident while riding in your vehicle, a Hanover policy will pay up to $2,500.

Metromile. Metromile will pay up to $1,000 for veterinary fees. If your pet dies, you may get $1,000 in death compensation. If someone steals your car with your pet inside, you may also receive up to $1,000.

Nationwide. Nationwide’s pet injury coverage is included with collision insurance. It pays up to $1,000 for veterinary bills or burial expenses. No pet limit.

Progressive. If you have collision insurance, Progressive pays up to $1,000 for medical treatment if your pet is hurt during a car accident.

State Farm. Offering many options for coverage, State Farm has teamed up with Trupanion, which covers health and injury. Enrollment prior to an accident is required.

The average cost of pet injury coverage

Collision insurance costs about $24 per month. According to Insurify, the average American driver pays $166 per month for car insurance with pet accident coverage. If you have collision coverage as part of your car insurance policy, you may already have pet injury coverage. “You may have to buy extra pet injury coverage if your insurer doesn’t include it under their standard collision coverage policy,” Gardner said. “To find out, your best option is to call your insurance agent, who can provide details about pet injury coverage as it relates to your policy.”

Will your pets be covered if they are hit by a vehicle?

If a pet is roaming freely and hit by someone’s vehicle, pet injury coverage doesn’t pay for the animal’s medical bills. “Instead, pet insurance purchased outside your auto policy can cover this kind of accident,” said Gardner. Also in this situation, you may be cited and must pay for damages. In Arizona, dogs must be leashed, but cats can legally roam.

Suing after an accident

Has your cat or dog been injured in a car accident? “You can make a claim or sue the at-fault driver for your pet's vet bills," said Kevin Rowe, cofounder of Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys. If the driver who caused the accident has minimumliability car insurance, you can submit a claim against their property damage coverage.

Besides the damage to your motor vehicle, minimum-liability car insurance pays for damaged or destroyed personal items, from your pets to your prescription eyeglasses. Property damage coverage pays up to $15,000.

If the damage was significant, you may want to look into the viability of a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. Rowe said to weigh your vet bills against legal fees and the ability to collect from the defendant. Is the at-fault driver struggling financially? They might be judgment-proof. Essentially, if you win in court, you lose because they can’t pay. The statute of limitations in Arizona for a car accident is two years from the accident date.

Is the damage less than $3,500? Rowe recommends filing a small claims case. The judge makes the final decision, and you can't appeal. The justice court handles cases with damages less than $9,999, while the superior court deals with damages above $10,000. Rowe said, “The costs to file a complaint are a lot less in small claims court than in superior court.”

Even with auto insurance, a traffic accident that only causes property damage costs an average of $4,700 per vehicle, says the National Safety Council. While you love your pet like family, you may not be able to foot steep veterinary bills after a tragic motor vehicle crash. Pet injury insurance can give you peace of mind.

Cherese Cobb is a professional writer and photographer from Tennessee. When she’s not penning copy for magazines and blogs, she splits her time between family, nature, and catworship, and chugs coffee to survive all three.