Does Your Car Insurance Policy Cover Your Pet?

Posted by Lauren Moss on August 29, 2010 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

If you travel frequently with your dog or cat, listen up.

First, check your car insurance policy. Your pet is probably not covered in case of an accident (though increasingly, the top car insurance companies and many smaller ones are offering this coverage – read on.)

Secondly, consider whether or not you allow your pet to wander freely inside the vehicle while you’re driving. If so, you seriously need to reconsider that practice, both for your own sake and that of your pet.

The Ultimate Distraction? “Distracted driving” – whether that distraction comes from a cell phone, sipping a latte, jabbering with friends, fiddling with the stereo or something else – is very much in the news these days. Pets are not generally thought of as a distraction while driving, but the American Automobile Association (AAA) did a recent survey that returned some rather disturbing results. According to the survey, 31% of drivers reported being distracted by a dog while operating their vehicles; 21% admitted to allowing the dog to sit on their laps while driving.

There’s a word in Yiddish for that: meshuggeh.

People who are very conscientious about buckling their young children in a safety seat yet seem to believe that the same restraints shouldn’t apply to their four-footed “children” need a reality check. First of all, the laws of physics are not in your favor. Even if you are traveling at a leisurely thirty miles per hour and are carrying an eighty pound dog, if you run into something, that unrestrained dog will suddenly gain an extra 2,300 pounds of weight as s/he continues to travel at almost fifty feet per second.

The consequences are something you don’t want to think about.

Secondly, research demonstrates that being distracted for even two seconds doubles your risk of being involved in a collision. This comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which also reports that one out of every five auto accidents result from driver distraction.

Buckle Fido Up Any animal that travels with you in the car – whether it’s on a cross-country road trip (which is actually an excellent idea for people traveling alone) or to the vet for a check-up or treatment – needs to be restrained in a carrier. This also includes dogs traveling in the bed of a pickup truck; in this case, the carrier should be secured to the front of the bed, right behind the cab. If you can get a padded carrier, so much the better.

Cats are not especially good travelers, even when restrained in a carrier; many will howl for hours on end when taken on an extended road trip. If this presents a distraction for you, it’s a good idea to administer a mild sedative, which your veterinarian can provide for you.

Protection It’s possible to get car insurance that covers your pets when they travel with you. If you do not currently have such coverage, ask your car insurance agency; chances are good that you can purchase a rider to protect your animal companions while riding in the car for a small fee.