Car insurance covers unexpected damage to your car — but not all kinds of damage are covered. Depending on their policies, the celeb car owners in these famous music videos may have a hard time getting a claim accepted. So to help, we decided to break down whether these antics would be covered by car insurance.
Kendrick Lamar ft. Rihanna, “LOYALTY.”
In the music video for “LOYALTY.,” Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna go to great lengths to protect one another from harm — but whether or not they’d be protected by their car insurance is another story.
Moments before the wreck, Kendrick and Rihanna are singing and laughing, doing donuts at an intersection in their BMW i8 before their reckless driving causes an approaching vehicle to slam right into them.
Ken and Rih just laugh and shake it off in the music video, but what we don’t see is the inevitable police report the other driver would’ve filed against them. We also don’t see them taking photos of the damage or working with a claims adjuster and the other drivers to determine what would be covered by whose car insurance.
Since they’re the at-fault party, the liability coverage in their policy would cover any injuries sustained by the other driver as well as damage to the other driver’s car. Damage to their own vehicle would only be covered if they had collision coverage.
Gorillaz, “Stylo”
In the music video for “Stylo,” the Gorillaz speed away from a cop car, and later, from Bruce Willis who, for some unbeknownst reason, is also out to get them.
The cop doesn’t get very far in the chase and eventually veers off the side of the road, but Willis is able to inflict all sorts of damage to the crew’s Chevrolet Camaro by shooting through their windshields, their side mirrors, and crashing into the back of their car.
These are all forms of vandalism, or deliberate acts of destruction to their vehicle, that would only be covered if the Gorillaz have comprehensive coverage. But even though damage from gunshots would be covered by car insurance, their claim would probably be denied since they were involved in an illegal police chase when it happened.
Beyoncé, “Hold Up”
Let’s be honest here — almost everything Queen Bey does is iconic, and that includes smashing through car windows in the “Hold Up” music video. In a fit of rage (and with a smile on her face) Beyoncé vandalizes one parked car after another with a baseball bat, shattering windows and damaging the hood of the last car. But while she may find relief in this destruction, these car owners might not, especially if they don’t have comprehensive coverage to cover the repairs.
Comprehensive coverage covers vandalism, including smashed windows. But in order for that coverage to kick in, Beyoncé's victims may need to pay a deductible, typically either $500 or $1,000, before they’ll be paid out for the damage.
Carrie Underwood, “Before He Cheats”
It’s not every day that someone confesses to vandalizing a car in a hit song. Similar to Bey’s victims, Carrie Underwood’s man would also need comprehensive coverage to cover repairs to his car after she dug her key into the side of his “pretty little souped-up four-wheel drive.” The carved leather seats, smashed headlights, and slashed tires would also all be covered by her now-ex’s comprehensive coverage — but only if he has it, of course.
If she had damaged her own car, however, insurance would not pay for the damage. In general, car insurance won’t pay for any damage that is purposely inflicted on your own vehicle.
Maroon 5, “Payphone”
Comprehensive coverage will also reimburse you if your car is stolen, which is good news for the owner of the car that Adam Levine steals in the music video for “Payphone.”
In an attempt to escape from a bank robbery, Levine hops into the vehicle at a valet parking spot and zips off onto the highway. He eventually makes it past the cop cars and helicopters that are chasing after him, but not without totaling the car at the end.
Performance cars, like the Shelby Cobra in this video, are typically difficult to insure because they require more specialized repairs and may have a higher chance of being stolen, which means the owner might have coverage through a specialty insurer. Hopefully they added comp and collision coverage to their policy to protect their vehicle from the Adam Levines of the world.
