Who pays if you drive your car into the wall of your own house or the next door neighbour’s?

Claims are often lodged in which it isn’t another car that’s been damaged, but the wall of a house or other property – whether your own or someone else’s. Is motor insurance of any help in such cases?

Rasmus Parve, the head of Seesam’s Claims Handling Department, says that people drive into walls more often than you might think: only enough to make the news once or twice a year in the worst cases, but damage from contact with walls, gates and garage doors is otherwise incurred all too frequently. “People mostly drive into their own or their neighbour’s house or garden or other vehicle due to tiredness and inattentiveness,” he noted. “They occasionally get the brake and accelerator pedals mixed up. And in winter, the slippery conditions and poor choice of speed are problematic, too.”

But does insurance even cover such cases – and if so, how?

Motor insurance is of no help if you cause yourself damage

If the person driving is also the owner of the house, garage or other car they hit, then the damage is classed as self-inflicted and isn’t covered by motor insurance. In this instance, home insurance is more likely to be of help, as it will ensure that the cost of repairing a damaged wall or garden gate is reimbursed.

“Motor insurance constitutes third-party liability cover, which compensates damage you cause to someone other than yourself,” Parve explained. “So if the damaged car or building isn’t your own, but, say, belongs to your spouse, the damage will be compensated under your motor insurance policy.”

If the vehicle at fault in the incident was also damaged, it will be covered by casco insurance – provided, of course, that you have it. If not, you’ll have to pay for the repairs yourself.

“I can give you an example involving one of our clients, who accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake and plowed through their garage door, damaging the exterior of the house and their spouse’s car as well,” Parve said. “Motor insurance covered the damage to their spouse’s car, while their own car was repaired under casco insurance, and since our client owned the house and garage, the cost of those repairs was compensated under home insurance.”

In another incident, a car skidded into the wall of a neighbour’s garage, damaging a second car belonging to the driver in the process. In this case, the damage to the neighbour’s property was compensated by motor insurance, but the driver had to cover the cost of repairing their second car themselves, since it wasn’t covered by casco insurance.

Parve says that while drivers usually know what to do if they’re involved in an ordinary prang, they can be left scratching their heads in unexpected situations, uncertain what to do next.

So what should you do if you’ve damaged someone else’s property with your car?

• Take photos and make notes about what happened, documenting the incident in situ.
• Let your insurance company know.
• Inform the police, especially if there’s a lot of damage or if the damage was caused to someone else’s property and they’re not at the scene.