Hit My Garage Door With My Car: Which Insurance Pays?

When you hit your own garage door with your car, two separate policies may respond. Your auto policy's collision coverage pays to repair the car, minus your collision deductible. Your homeowners policy covers the garage door, minus your home deductible, under dwelling coverage if the garage is attached or other-structures coverage if it is detached. What generally does not apply is the property damage liability part of your auto policy, because liability pays for damage you cause to other people's property, not your own. The practical question is usually whether either repair is big enough to justify a claim at all.

The car: a collision claim

Driving into a garage door is a collision with a fixed object, and regulators describe collision coverage in exactly those terms. California's insurance department says collision covers damage to your car caused by physical contact with another vehicle or an object, such as a tree, rock, guardrail, or building. North Carolina's regulator says it pays when your car hits an object, and Washington's insurance commissioner says it pays if you collide with another car or object. A garage door is a building component, so the car's damage is a collision loss. It is the same coverage that applies when you hit a wall in a parking garage or scrape a pillar.

Collision coverage is optional, so check your declarations page. If you carry liability only, your car's repair is yours to pay. If you do have collision, the deductible comes off the top. The Texas Department of Insurance gives the standard example: a $1,500 collision claim with a $500 deductible pays $1,000. If the car only has a scraped bumper or a cracked taillight, the repair may cost less than the deductible, in which case there is nothing to claim.

The garage door: a home insurance claim

The door belongs to your house, so it falls under your homeowners policy rather than your auto policy. Which part depends on the garage. California's residential insurance guide explains that Coverage A protects your house and attached structures, while Coverage B, other structures, covers structures on the premises not attached to the dwelling, giving detached garages as the first example. The Texas Department of Insurance and Washington's insurance commissioner both describe other-structures coverage the same way, with detached garages, sheds, and fences as the examples. An attached garage door is part of the dwelling; a detached garage door is an other structure.

Either way, your home deductible applies. The Texas guide notes that if you have a claim you must meet a deductible, and that you might have different deductibles for each type of coverage. Home deductibles are often larger than auto deductibles, so a bent panel or a broken track may cost less than the deductible, which again means there is nothing to claim. Replacing an entire door and opener after a hard hit is more likely to clear it.

Why your auto liability coverage usually will not pay for the door

People often assume the property damage liability on their auto policy covers the door, since the car caused the damage. It generally does not. California's guide says property damage liability pays for damage you cause to someone else's car, or to objects and structures that your car hits, and sums it up as property damage you cause someone else. Washington's regulator describes it as paying for damage you cause to another vehicle or property, and notes it typically will not cover damage to your own car. Liability exists to pay people you are legally responsible to, and you cannot be liable to yourself for your own garage door.

There is an important exception: if you do not own the garage. A renter who backs into the landlord's garage door, or a driver who hits a friend's garage while visiting, has damaged someone else's structure, which is exactly what property damage liability pays for. In that case the owner's claim goes to your auto insurer, and your own homeowners or renters policy is not involved for the door.

Deciding whether to file either claim

Because each policy has its own deductible and each claim goes on a separate claims history, this is a case where getting repair estimates before calling anyone is sensible. Insurers generally allow you to repair small damage yourself without filing, as long as you are not trying to hide damage that becomes part of a later claim.

• Get a written estimate for the door from a garage door company and one for the car from a body shop before deciding anything.
• Compare each estimate to the matching deductible. A repair that is only modestly above the deductible often is not worth a claim once the effect on future premiums is considered.
• Remember the rate effect runs both ways. The Texas Department of Insurance notes that auto insurers charge more if you have had accidents, and a home claim goes into your claims history as well, which insurers consult at renewal.
• If you file both, tell each insurer about the other. They are separate losses and there is no double recovery, but adjusters will ask what the other policy paid.
• If the door hit the car's safety systems, such as deploying an airbag or damaging sensors in the bumper, the car repair can be far more than it looks, and a claim is more likely to make sense.

If the door hit the car, not the other way around

Sometimes the sequence is reversed: the door closes on the car, or a spring fails and the door drops onto the hood. That is not a collision in the usual sense. Regulators describe comprehensive coverage as paying for damage from something other than a collision, and California's list specifically includes falling objects. A door that falls on a parked car is closer to that category, though insurers differ on how they classify it, so describe exactly what happened and let the adjuster assign the coverage. The comprehensive deductible is often lower than the collision deductible, which can change whether the claim is worth filing.

Safety and documentation

• Do not try to operate a door that is off its track or has a damaged spring; a loaded garage door spring can cause serious injury. Unplug the opener and call a door company.
• Photograph the car, the door, the track, and the opener before anything is moved or repaired.
• Check the car for fluid leaks and damage behind the bumper cover, which often hides the expensive parts.
• Keep every estimate and receipt even if you decide not to claim, in case related damage shows up later.

Bottom line

Hitting your own garage door is a collision loss for the car and a dwelling or other-structures loss for the door, each paid by a different policy after its own deductible. Your auto liability coverage does not pay for property you own, though it does if the garage belongs to a landlord or a friend. Get estimates first, weigh each one against its deductible and the effect on future premiums, and file only the claim that is clearly worth it.