Pothole Coverage: Does Car Insurance Cover Pothole Damage?

You may or may not have car insurance coverage for potholes. It all depends on whether or not you have collision coverage.

Does Collision Coverage Cover Pothole Damage?

Collision insurance covers pothole damage, as colliding with a pothole is the same as colliding with any object. However, collision coverage doesn’t cover normal wear and tear on a car or its tires due to bad road conditions; there must be a specific instance of pothole damage.

Does Comprehensive Coverage Cover Pothole Damage?

Collision and comprehensive coverage go hand in hand; both are optional auto insurance coverages that are part of full coverage. However, only collision coverage covers pothole damage; comprehensive coverage covers incidents other than collisions, such as auto vandalism and hail damage.

If you have collision coverage, you have pothole damage coverage. If you hold liability-only coverage, you don’t have collision coverage. No state requires collision or comprehensive coverage, but if you financed or leased your car, your lender likely requires you to carry these protections.

Potholes can damage your car, but usually only minor damage to wheels and tires. There’s also a low risk of damage to your car’s alignment, suspension, steering, and rims.

Spotting pothole damage is easy. Look for these signs:

• Visible damage on your wheels or tires
• Your car feeling like it’s pulling one way
• A wobbly feeling when you’re steering

If you hit a pothole, don’t panic. There are a few actions to take.

Immediately After the Incident

You’ll want to collect evidence if you decide to file a claim for pothole damage. Here’s what to do:

1. Pull over to a safe spot near the pothole.
2. Take pictures of the pothole, your car, and the surrounding area.
3. Note the time of day, the weather, and the pothole’s location.
4. File a nonemergency police report for your claim. The more evidence of pothole damage you have, the more likely you are to get covered.

Regular Maintenance

Hitting a pothole can misalign your wheels, and even small bumps will cause misalignment over time. It’s wise to get your wheel alignment checked regularly, especially if you live in a place with a lot of potholes. Regular alignment checks are not only important for safety, they also save you money in the long run.

Benefits of regular wheel alignment

• Improve safety — Very misaligned wheels can reduce handling and control, increasing the likelihood of accidents
• Increase your tire’s lifespan — Regular alignment checks ensure tire wear is evenly distributed, increasing the lifespan of your tires and saving you money
• Better fuel efficiency — Misaligned wheels create resistance, which makes your engine burn more fuel; proper alignment reduces drag and improves fuel efficiency
• Smoother driving — If your car vibrates or the steering wheel shakes, your tires are likely misaligned; proper alignment will make the vehicle more comfortable to drive

An alignment generally costs around $100. Many shops do alignment checks for free, and charge you only if the tires need alignment. Places like AAA offer warranties, meaning you get free alignments for one to three years after the initial purchase.

Whether you should file a pothole damage claim depends on the severity of the damages and the subsequent repair costs. If the repairs cost less than your deductible, it makes sense to pay out of pocket rather than filing a claim. Note that the average collision deductible is $500, and the average repair cost for pothole damage is $406,² so in that case, filing a claim doesn’t make sense.

Still, some pothole damage is more expensive and can exceed $1,000, especially if it involves damage to the suspension, steering, or alignment. We recommend getting repair estimates from two or three licensed mechanics before deciding if it’s worth filing a claim.

How Deep Does a Pothole Have to Be to File a Claim?

There’s no minimum pothole depth required for you to file a claim. The claim is based on your car’s damage, not the pothole’s depth. So it’s OK to put your measuring stick away when you’re at the proverbial scene of the crime.

Will You Have to Pay Your Deductible?

If you file a pothole damage claim, you’ll have to pay your collision deductible. A deductible is the amount you’ll pay toward a covered claim before your insurance provider contributes.

For example, if your deductible is $500 and your pothole damage repairs cost $1,000, you’d pay the first $500, and then your insurance provider would pay the remaining $500. That’s why, if your repairs cost less than your deductible and you’ve yet to meet your deductible, paying out of pocket makes more sense than filing a claim and then paying a portion of your deductible.

How to Make a Pothole Damage Claim

If your repairs cost more than your deductible and you’ve decided to file a claim, here’s what to do:

1. Contact your insurance company. You can submit a claim virtually, by mail, or over the phone through your insurance agent or company.
2. Submit your evidence. Include your notes, photos of the damage, and police report, if any, in the claim you submit. How long insurance claims take varies greatly by company.
3. Meet with an adjuster. An adjuster will assess your car’s damage (either in person or through the photos you took), estimate the repair cost, and determine your coverage.

Whenever you have a covered claim, your auto insurance premiums may increase. Unfortunately, if you hit a pothole, it’s considered your fault (unless another vehicle pushed you into it). So, when you renew your insurance policy, you can expect higher rates. That’s another reason why filing a pothole damage claim isn’t always worth it.

In some cases, the county, city, or state where you hit the pothole may be responsible for your damages.³ But even if your jurisdiction is responsible, the reimbursement process can be lengthy, so you’ll probably want to repair the car on your own and get reimbursed later. For minor damages, dealing with the government probably isn’t worth the effort.⁴

You could file a claim against the government to get compensated, but you’d need to prove that the government was negligent, meaning that:

• It knew or should have known about the poor road conditions.
• It did not repair the poor road conditions in a reasonable amount of time.⁵

If you decide to file a property damage claim, make sure you’re within the statute of limitations. The average statute of limitations is four years, but check your state’s statute of limitations for property damage claims.

Follow these steps to add collision coverage to your policy:

1. Contact your insurance agent and ask them to add the coverage.
2. Choose a deductible.
3. Pay your premium (which will increase).

If you’ve lived in a cold climate during a harsh winter, you may have noticed a lot of potholes as you drive down the streets. The freezing and thawing cycles of winter allow moisture to seep into roads, causing them to crumble. This is why it’s particularly important to look out for potholes in the winter.

With some careful driving, you can avoid pothole damage. Here are some tips:

1. Brake before impact. If you can’t avoid a pothole, brake before the impact, as it’s better to roll than to skid over it.
2. Choose well-lit roads. If you’re driving at night, travel on roads with good lighting so you can see and avoid potholes.
3. Report potholes. To make roads safer for everybody, report any potholes you see to your local government.
4. Slow down. Drive slowly and scan the road for potholes so you can swerve around them.
5. Take the road more traveled. Drive on roads you know so you can avoid potholes.⁶

Potholes can be an even bigger problem for motorcyclists than for our four-wheeled friends, causing crashes, injuries, and even fatalities.⁸ If you see a pothole when you’re driving a motorcycle, slow down and go around it to avoid property damage and injury.

There are thousands of potholes across the U.S., so safe, careful driving is always a good idea. Defensive driving isn’t just about avoiding other drivers; it’s about avoiding road hazards in general, including potholes. If you’re shopping around for car insurance after hitting a pothole, we’ve rounded up our top car insurance picks and made it easy to get a quote.