Car insurance: Wild animals batter drivers for £17m

Collisions with wild animals cause car insurance claims worth £17 million a year and are responsible for over 500 injuries to motorists, according to figures from the Post Office.

Spring brings the peak time for wild animal-related road accidents involving badgers and roe deer – 100,000 of which will be hit over the course of the year.

Overall one million animals – including 500,000 rabbits - and ten million birds, mostly pheasants, die on the roads each year.

Richard Pennant-Jones, Post Office head of motor insurance, said: "We want to encourage UK drivers to watch out for wildlife and help reduce the number of collisions with animals and birds by being extra vigilant at key times of the year when animals are migrating and most likely to venture onto the nation’s roads.

"It's not just country roads where drivers need to beware of wild animals crossing - each year an estimated 20,000 urban foxes are killed on roads in UK towns and cities."

He added car insurance companies did not require drivers to report accidents with animals to make a claim – but he called on them to report collisions particularly involving deer to The Deer Initiative.

Jochen Langbein, at The Deer Initiative, said: "Aside from the resulting car repair and human injury costs, collisions with vehicles form the single greatest welfare issue for wild deer in the UK; around a third of deer hit by vehicles will survive the initial impact but suffer for prolonged periods at the roadside until a qualified person can attend to humanly dispatch or treat them."

Post Office Car Insurance tips for drivers:

• Be extra vigilant at night and during dusk and dawn, when deer, badgers, foxes, hedgehogs and owls are most active
Take extra care where there are wildlife warning signs
• Animals react differently when caught in car headlights and often freeze. If you see an animal, slow down and give it time to move.
• Avoid sudden breaking and don’t over-swerve– this might cause a worse accident
• If you hit an animal and it can be helped call the RSPCA emergency helpline on 0300 123 4999
• Do not handle an injured deer, fox, badger or bird as it could inflict serious injuries to a human in its distressed state

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