If you’ve hit a tree, driven into a lamppost, or run into a fence, wall or anything else solid enough, you might be looking at serious damage to your car, and possibly your health.
Whether your car insurance will cover the accident depends on your policy, and the situation.
Generally, the only kind of policy that will pay out for this kind of accident is comprehensive car insurance.
The only circumstances where cheaper third-party fire and theft car insurance will generally cover you are if:
If you have comprehensive car insurance then it should cover the cost of repairs to your car, in line with the policy terms.
For example, your policy will probably cover the cost if you accidentally skidded on a wet road, despite driving prudently; or if you had to swerve to avoid a dog on the run.
However, you probably won’t be able to make a claim if you hit the lamppost because you were driving whilst drunk, or even if you were driving sober but refused to take a drug or alcohol test at the scene of the accident.
It depends on who the lamppost belongs to and the exact circumstances of the crash, but typically yes, you will have to pay for the damage.
Fortunately, your car insurance should cover the cost – if the lamppost is owned by someone other than yourself, they would be referred to as the third party and likely covered by most car insurance policies.
If you’ve been involved in an accident, you should take the following steps:
Generally not; car accidents themselves are not a fineable offence. However, the driving that causes them might be. If you do get fined after running into a lamppost or a tree it’s probably for the traffic offence that led to the accident, rather than the accident itself. Fines are not covered by car insurance so you would pay out of your own pocket for this.
You won’t be “fined” for damage to the pole, tree or other property either, but you might be held liable for the cost of repair. This will generally be covered by all car insurance policies.
Yes. Hitting road debris can be covered in the same way as hitting a pole.
The main difference is that if you hit road debris, it’s probably less likely to be your fault than hitting a tree. It’s possible that whoever was responsible for it being on the road might be held liable, in which case their third-party car insurance may pay for the damage to your vehicle.
However, this can only happen if the person responsible can be identified.
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