Animals cause £500,000 damage to over-50s' cars

Horses kicking cars and crows pecking roofs were among the causes of £0.5m of damage to vehicles owned by over-50s, a new survey has shown.

Claims made by customers of Saga Car Insurance listed a variety of causes with animals disrupting daily journeys, and often causing expensive repair work to boot.

Among the incidents reported were the Saga customer whose paintwork had been licked off the vehicle by a herd of cows, causing more than £6,000 worth of damage.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Deer are a common hazard especially on country roads, and a policyholder was lucky to avoid one which had galloped into their path. However, when the driver tried to manoeuvre round the animal it charged at the car. Eventually the deer darted off but not before causing almost £1,200 worth of damage.

And another driver driving to Yorkshire had a pheasant which had chosen to fly between two moving vehicle knock off their wing mirror, costing more than £250 to replace.

And even cars parked in residential properties aren’t safe. One policyholder was caught up in the carnage caused by a horse running up and down her street, wrecking a number of properties and vehicles and doing £1,200 worth of damage to the Saga customer’s car.

Sue Green, Head of Saga Car Insurance, said: “It seems animal antics can affect motorists at any time even when we are doing the most routine things. These customers seem to have taken it all in their stride and have been able to see the funny side of how unpredictable the animal kingdom can be.”

Related topics: