Simply Explaining Insurance #90- Hitting your own car or house.

How does insurance work if you strike a car you own, with another car you own? How about if you accidentally run into your garage door? Or some property you own in your garage or driveway?

Good news is, there will most likely be coverage for you. What you need to know about these scenarios, is that you cannot be liable to yourself. Every auto policy has a coverage called liability. Liability covers medical and property damage TO OTHERS.

What this means is the liability on the auto you are driving, will not extend to property you own. As long as the vehicle you struck, has collision coverage on it, you can file a claim on vehicle number two, to repair it. If there is damage to both vehicles, it will require two claims to be filed. One claim on each auto policy.

It works similarly if you damage your house or property. You would have to file two claims as well though. One on the car, if it is damaged. One on the homeowners policy. Two deductibles would need to be collected and the insurance company would pay for the rest.

I suggest always consulting your agent to explain the process to you. Sometimes, if the damage is minimal, it can be better just to pay for the repairs out of pocket instead of filing a claim.