Jenny's Blog: Wind Damage; Auto Coverage May Vary

There are thousands of wind farms throughout the country from Washington to Rhode Island. There are a number of products, like umbrellas and lighters, that tout “wind resistance." And there are hundreds of thousands of hair products out on the market which consumers buy, hoping that one will make their hair wind resistant, which I think is a losing battle, but judging from the sheer number of different hairsprays on display at drugstores, this is evidently a battle consumers intend to keep fighting.

It’s no secret it’s windy out there, and May is usually the nation’s busiest month for tornadoes. Funnel clouds have already been reported last month in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. 2011 may turn out to be one of the windiest years on record.

In the event your car is damaged by acts of nature, it often falls under comprehensive coverage. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), comprehensive coverage reimburses you for loss due to theft or damage caused by something other than a collision with another car or object, such as fire, falling objects, missiles, explosion, earthquake, windstorm, hail, flood, vandalism, riot, or contact with animals such as birds or deer.

There have been times when I’ve opened my door slightly because I’m about to get out of my car, but then I lean over to grab something in the passenger seat like my cell phone or my purse, and woosh, a gust of wind blows my car door way open. If my door were to blow open and whack the side of a parked car or another object, these situations would be a little different. As I’ve recently learned, it is my responsibility to secure my own car door. And more often than not, these types of claims cases fall under collision coverage.

As the III defines, collision coverage pays for damage to your car resulting from a collision with another car or object or as a result of flipping over. It also covers damage caused by potholes. Collision coverage is generally sold with a deductible, and the higher your deductible, the lower your premium. Even if you are at fault for the accident, your collision coverage will reimburse you for the costs of repairing your car, minus the deductible.

Remember, a deductible is the amount of loss paid by the policyholder. It’s either a specified dollar amount, a percentage of the claim amount, or a specified amount of time that must elapse before benefits are paid. The bigger the deductible, the lower the premium charged for the same coverage.

When it comes to claims involving the wind, there is no “one size fits all.” Each claim and its circumstances are evaluated to determine what coverage applies. So I caution you to hang onto your car door, as well as your hat.