Are my Pets Covered Under my Car Insurance?

Q: My dog goes with me almost everywhere. If I am in a car accident and he is hurt, will my car insurance cover the vet bills?

A: There is nothing in current car insurance policies that cover injuries sustained by a pet in a car accident. However, the good news is that car insurance companies are starting to understand how important pets are to us now and they have been starting to add pet coverage to other types of policies, like homeowners and specialty boat coverage. Car insurance may be a ways off though, if they even do decide to add that coverage, as having a pet in a car is actually a hazard if they aren’t in a carrier and most aren’t. So car insurance companies aren’t in a big hurry to offer protection for something they would rather not have in the car in the first place.

There is though, a big push to start selling pet insurance as a standalone policy. Again, insurance companies are seeing the importance of pets to us and know that we would pay for insurance protection on them. Now, these policies will most likely have coverage for your pet if they were injured in a car accident, so this is what you should be asking your car insurance agent about if you are looking for protection for your pet in a car accident.