wrx

serious question

If I ran over my pet and the vet bill was very high does anyone know if my car insurance would pay out if there was no pet insurance?

Clarebabes

Er.... what you planning?

wrx

Not planning already done. Cat is recovering in animal hospital but after 5 day's (and they still won't let him out) I think the bill is going to be high. I don't care about the cost but if the car insurance would pay out it would help finacially.

Clarebabes

I dunno, not like a dog is it? Cats are classed as "wild" aren't they? Like if you ran over a deer and it survived, the insurance wouldn't pay out for it's treatment I don't think.

I can recommend Pet Plan. I can say they were faultless when my cat was run over. Settled up with the vets, I didn't have to do much at all. His treatment came to over a grand, so he would be an ex-cat if we didn't have insurance. Sad, but true.

Nick

A cat is not legally classed as "wild", it's legally classed as private property - like a fence.
You've left it very late to inform your car insurance company if you were intending to claim. You need to discuss this with them asap.

It depends where the accident happened (private/public roads) & whether you were at fault. It's an interesting situation.

Tiggs

"Like if you ran over a deer and it survived"

lol- just imagine "can i have £20 towards the cost of putting a sparrow up for two nights before it died after it bounced of my car"

Dazza01

So why then do u not have to report it to the police if u run over a cat, but u do if u run over a dog ??

talizman

iTrader: (1)

As stated in the Road Traffic Act, the only "animals" that require the police to be notified are -:
Horse
Cow
***
Mule
Sheep
Goat
Pig
Dog

As you can see, cats are not included so you can run over one and there is no requirement to notify anyone.

As for the vets bills, I doubt your insurance will pay out, but I may be wrong.

I wouldn't be looking forward to the bill if I were you....

I know of someone whose cat required a couple of ops recently but they were unsuccessful so the car was put to sleep.
£800 thank you.

yoza

Talizman,

It must have been a fecking big cat if the car was put to sleep.


PMSL

You owe me a can of Carling as this one is all over the monitor.......

talizman

iTrader: (1)

LMAO

Unfortunate typo! but I think I'll leave it as is..... see if anyone else notices!

talizman

iTrader: (1)

P.S. I like how its your can of Carling you are concerned about and not your fcuked monitor! lol

yoza

Monitor is fine, a bit sticky, but its used to that.

The better half is not too impressed though, she was engrossed in HolbyCity when the call went out......

Nother can.......now!

Nick

You are correct there is no legal requirement under the road traffic act. However as my post mentioned, a cat is classed as it's owners property, like a fence, so you could be subject to civil proceedings for damages - just like if you hit someones fence. (Not quite the same especially if the fence is adjacent to the highway, but you get the idea.)

I'm sure that most people have enough humanity in themselves to care for any animal that they have injured, whether they are required to do so by law or not.

talizman

iTrader: (1)

Regards civil proceedings for injuring a persons cat.....

This would only apply in the following circumstances; where the driver has DELIBERATELY hit the cat, by driving at it, or mounting the kerb etc etc.

In 99.9999999999 % of RTA's involving cats, it has been the daft moggy that played chicken with the car, and lost.

There are no ground for a civil law suit where the cat has ran in front of the car. Period.

Anyway, given the example on this thread.... even if the driver HAD struck the cat deliberately, how do you sue yourself?

Regards your comment about MOST people having humanity to care for an animal they have hit.....

In my experience the MAJORITY have not even stopped, let alone offer assistance/compensation etc. The world is not as rosy a place as we'd like to believe.

OllyK

Just to take Talizman's point a bit further, if your moggie ran out in to the road and caused and accident, you could find the car drivers suing you for the damage (I have pet insurance to cover for such eventualities with the pooch).

So I doubt your car insurance will be remotely interested in paying out, suggest you get pet insurance when the moggie makes it out od stir.

wrx

Hmmm will definatly get pet insurance now (bit late this time) but will try contacting my insurance and see if they will pay out for me running my cat over.

He is still in the animal hospital (6 days now) this is gonna hurt.

OllyK

Depends on how much treatment etc he is getting. If it is just keep an eye plus maintaining a course of Anti Biotics or such like expect cattery fees plus £20+ per jab.

Izzy

As far as I can see the cat owner (ie, you) have every right to make a claim for any financial losses against the motorist's (err, you) insurance. The only forseeable problem is that apparently you are one & the same person. It might aid the situation if another adult in your houshold (ie spose / partner) acts as the cat's owner, particularly if that person was not either the car policyholder or driver at the time. It's all perfectly legit, assuming the cat is the family owned pet....

Pros to claiming on the car insurance is that there will be no excess charged to you. Con, is that it will effect you bonus & claim history....

Hope your cat's made a full recovery, & good luck with what you decide.