by LifeIsGood » Tue Sep 30, 2008 07:47 pm
Yes. I know. Brutal. Harsh.
But none the less true.
If you are rockin' down the highway (my hat tip to the Doobie Brothers) and suddenly, out of nowhere, a deer jumps in front of you...
Bambi must die.
Do not swerve to avoid the cute little mammal. Run it down. Become one with Bambi. Substitute the German peace symbol with an antler.
Yes. I know. Cruel.
But consider the alternative. You could slam on your brakes forcing you to slide to the right, taking out the two cars next to you. One of those cars could catapult into the ditch on the side of the road while the other car rolls over five times and smashes into a tree.
The two people in the car that has ended up in the ditch survive. Barely. One has a broken neck and is paralyzed from the neck down. The other has to have their right leg amputated.
The single driver of the car that has ended up against the tree was killed on impact.
Your auto insurance coverages are 50/100/50.
So, boys and girls. Two choices.
1. You have been found 100% at fault in the accident. Judgement is in excess of seven figures. Not only will your paycheck will be garnished...FOREVER, but your home will have a lien placed against it. You can forget about any retirement fund. Your credit is destroyed because the judgement is entered on your credit report. That summer house on the lake? Splash around in the tub instead. That new Mercedes? Can you say Kia? Winter vacation in the snow? Scrape out the bottom of your freezer and throw it at your spouse.
I won't even mention the lifetime of guilt you will probably feel.
Or....
2. Kill Bambi. Pay your deductible and let your insurance company repair the car.
But none the less true.
If you are rockin' down the highway (my hat tip to the Doobie Brothers) and suddenly, out of nowhere, a deer jumps in front of you...
Bambi must die.
Do not swerve to avoid the cute little mammal. Run it down. Become one with Bambi. Substitute the German peace symbol with an antler.
Yes. I know. Cruel.
But consider the alternative. You could slam on your brakes forcing you to slide to the right, taking out the two cars next to you. One of those cars could catapult into the ditch on the side of the road while the other car rolls over five times and smashes into a tree.
The two people in the car that has ended up in the ditch survive. Barely. One has a broken neck and is paralyzed from the neck down. The other has to have their right leg amputated.
The single driver of the car that has ended up against the tree was killed on impact.
Your auto insurance coverages are 50/100/50.
So, boys and girls. Two choices.
1. You have been found 100% at fault in the accident. Judgement is in excess of seven figures. Not only will your paycheck will be garnished...FOREVER, but your home will have a lien placed against it. You can forget about any retirement fund. Your credit is destroyed because the judgement is entered on your credit report. That summer house on the lake? Splash around in the tub instead. That new Mercedes? Can you say Kia? Winter vacation in the snow? Scrape out the bottom of your freezer and throw it at your spouse.
I won't even mention the lifetime of guilt you will probably feel.
Or....
2. Kill Bambi. Pay your deductible and let your insurance company repair the car.
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:48 pm Post Subject:
You are funny Lori. I like your remark about the dog bambis. Here they are big too not those little ones. Most recently my hubby (notorius for hitting deer) hit one in my Grand am. I really grossed me out to drive it. The next day after we talked to the adjuster and he scheduled the car to go to a shop for repairs they told us to go ahead and wash it. This is what the repair shop said...they never even looked at it first. I of course was thankful....
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:11 am Post Subject:
This is what the repair shop said...they never even looked at it first. I of course was thankful....
Yeah a lot of carrier either have people send estimates or go to a drp shop who writes it, the company I work for the adjusters write all the estmiates...so it's important to verify the loss...all company's don't though...you'd be surprised, (in this party of the country anyway) the number of people that SAY they hit a deer that didn't..as I said, I've never ever not been able to prove a deer it...sometimes it takes a lot of looking but there is evidence always there....Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 08:35 pm Post Subject:
In twenty plus years I have NEVER NOT ONE TIME looked at a deer hit that didn't leave 'some' type of evidence...no one should of course ever wash the car etc until the adjuster either looks at it or says it's ok to do the same.
I once spent two hours looking for a single piece of evidence to substantiate that a totaled vehicle came into contact with a deer. The owner claimed he swerved to miss and he was sure his mirror was knocked off by the deer's head. He was traveling down the interstate at 75mph and wound up underneath the barrier cables. The mirror could not be located to prove his version of the story.
I finally found three deer hairs wedged in the rear driver side door vent glass rubber channel. Collision coverage was changed to comprehensive loss. I always try to document with photos all animal hits for my customers.
My question is, if you run over the top of a deer that was hit by the car just a head of you, is that considered a collision with an object already on the road or will it be a comprehensive coverage.
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 08:53 pm Post Subject:
Collission. Unfortunately.
Happened to me..not a deer but a piece of tire from an 18-wheeler. Tore up the whole front skirt of my car. While talking to claims, I was told that if I'm the "first" contact, then comp...but if something else hit it before me, then collission.
I don't exactly agree - every situation is different but...
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:02 pm Post Subject:
Wow I wonder if it still applies if you ran over the deer? You would still think it would be covered under comp.
Lori, alot of I hit the deer goes on around here also. I know people that have actually thrown a deer carcus into their vehicle so it looked like they hit it. Pretty discuting (and probaly smelly too). I imagine they had a high collision deductible to actually go pick up a dead deer and throw it into their car. One word comes to mind...YUCK>
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 09:33 am Post Subject:
I once spent two hours looking for a single piece of evidence to substantiate that a totaled vehicle came into contact with a deer.
Me too Mike...not two hours, but a good one, about five times, course had couple techs helping too...eventually though I 've always found it if it was the truth..Life is right..it's collision...ANYTHING already on the roadway that you hit is collision..however...I have seen some policys that say...''collision with an animal'' under their comp definition....one 'might' be able to debate it..unless there is a definition for that..which I have also read in some policys that define it as 'collision with an alive animal''
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 10:01 am Post Subject:
It's not just the deductible that causes dishonest people to claim deer hits...they typcially are not a chargeable accident, thus no rate increase, where a collision would be...
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 01:58 pm Post Subject:
Wait a minute.....when it comes to insurance claims...some people are dishonest?
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 03:13 pm Post Subject:
define it as 'collision with an alive animal''
Is an "alive animal" one that has a zest for life and full of exuberance as opposed to one that is generally depressed? I know you meant live animal, but that conjures up this scenario.
Adjuster: How do you know it was alive when you hit it?
insured: We held a mirror on a stick under it's nose and it was still breathing and we poked it with a stick and it moved. I am pretty sure it was alive. My wife has a picture on her cell phone somewhere.
What's scary is that there are people out there in some parts of the country that wouldn't think twice about resuscitating a deer they had hit already on the road to qualify for comp coverage under that definition.
I have always been told that if its in the air or falling it's comp if it's already in the road dead its a collision.
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 03:27 pm Post Subject:
This happened long before I was in the insurance biz - also when I was young and single. I was sitting at a red light when a quite attractive young women pulled up next to me. I looked over and smiled...She smiled back.
I was getting ready to ask her for her number when I heard a loud "boom" and she began to scream hysterically.
A seagull had plummeted out of the sky and landed on her front hood. Bird guts and feathers everywhere, huge dent in the hood, she is screaming like a lunatic.
I would have loved to stayed and help her but the light turned green and there were cars honking behind me. By the time I could get over to the side, there was already a police car helping her.
Probably scared her for life.
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