Does home insurance cover car damage in your driveway?

While homeowners insurance doesn’t cover damage to your car — even in your driveway — it may pay to replace personal belongings damaged or stolen from it.

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Rachael BrennanSenior Editor & Licensed Auto Insurance ExpertRachael Brennan is a senior editor and a licensed auto insurance expert at Policygenius. Her work has also been featured in MoneyGeek, Clearsurance, Adweek, Boston Globe, The Ladders, and AutoInsurance.com.&Jennifer GimbelSenior Managing Editor & Home Insurance ExpertJennifer Gimbel is a senior managing editor at Policygenius, where she oversees all of our insurance coverage. Previously, she was the managing editor at Finder.com and a content strategist at Babble.com.

Updated|5 min read

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Key takeaways

  • Homeowners insurance does not cover damage to your car or damage caused by it — that’s what auto insurance is for.

  • That includes if your car is sitting in your driveway and damaged in a fire, tornado, hurricane, or other natural disaster — you’ll have to file a car insurance claim instead.

  • But homeowners insurance does cover damage or theft of belongings in your car — up to the coverage limits in your policy.

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What does homeowners insurance cover?

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Does homeowners insurance cover car damage in your driveway?

Homeowners insurance doesn’t cover damage to your car while it’s in your driveway, including damage caused by a fire, hail, a tree falling on it, flooding, or any other extreme weather event. Instead, you’ll have to rely on the comprehensive coverage portion of your auto insurance policy to pay for repairs.

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Does homeowners insurance cover garage door damage by your car?

Home insurance covers damage to your garage door — even if it’s caused by you accidentally backing into it with your car. 

Here’s what portion of your policy would pay for damages — depending on the type of garage you have:

  • If your garage is attached to your house, then the dwelling coverage in your home insurance policy would cover damages. 

  • If your garage is detached, then the other structures coverage in your home insurance policy would pay for repairs.

However, your home insurance policy won’t cover damage to your car itself. Instead, you’ll have to file a separate claim with your auto insurance company.

Does homeowners insurance cover tree damage to your car?

Your neighbor’s home insurance policy might cover tree damage to your car — like if a tree from their yard fell on your car — if it can be proven that their negligence led to the tree falling. But your own home insurance policy will never cover tree damage to your car. Instead, you would need to file a car insurance claim with your own insurer to have the damage covered by the comprehensive coverage section of your auto insurance policy.

Does homeowners insurance cover damage to your neighbor’s car?

The personal liability portion of your home insurance policy might cover damage to your neighbor’s car if it can be proven that your negligence led to the damage. 

Let’s take a look at an example.

Say a tree from your yard fell on your neighbor’s car during a bad storm. If it can be proven that you knew the tree was dead and didn’t take the proper steps to have it removed, you might be found liable. In this case, the liability portion of your home insurance policy would pay for the damage to your neighbor’s car.

Otherwise, if it’s difficult to prove negligence and is instead considered to be caused by an act of God, then the comprehensive coverage section of your neighbor’s car insurance policy would be responsible for covering the damage to their car. 

Likewise, your comprehensive coverage would pay for damages if your neighbor’s tree falls on your car during a bad storm, but the liability portion of their homeowners insurance might pay for damages if the damage was caused by their negligence.

Does homeowners insurance cover car accidents?

The only type of car accident your home insurance policy will cover is if another person’s car crashes into your home, garage, fence, or other structures on your property. Otherwise, your auto insurance policy would be responsible for covering damage or liability caused by a car accident you’re involved in.

Does homeowners insurance cover theft from my car?

Your home insurance will pay to replace belongings stolen from your car up to the personal property coverage limits in your policy. This means if your laptop, golf clubs, or any other prized possessions are taken during a car break-in, your insurance company will kick in after you pay your deductible to replace these items.

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How can home insurance liability coverage protect my car?

Although home insurance won’t cover damage or injuries caused by your car, it does provide liability protection for high-value assets — including your car — if you’re hit with an expensive lawsuit. 

That means if someone is badly injured in your home, files a lawsuit, and it’s determined that you’re liable, home liability insurance could help cover the settlement. If you don’t have enough liability protection to cover the settlement, the injured party could go after your assets, including your home, car, and retirement savings. That’s why it’s so important that you have enough liability protection to cover the value of all of your assets.

Both home and auto insurance policies typically offer up to $500,000 in liability coverage, however that won’t be enough if your assets exceed that amount. If that’s the case, consider umbrella insurance, which provides additional liability protection beyond the limits in your home or auto insurance policies.

Can I file a claim with two insurance companies if my car and home are damaged in the same event?

Yes, you’ll typically always have to file two separate insurance claims — one for the damage to your car, and one for the damage to your home and personal property. This is the case even if you bundle your home and auto insurance with the same company.

Why? Because your home and auto insurance policies each cover different types of damage.

Home

What your home insurance policy covers

Your home insurance policy covers damage to:

  • Your home and other structures on your property — under the dwelling coverage and other structures coverage portions of your homeowners insurance policy.

  • Your personal belongings in your home AND car — under the personal property section of your homeowners insurance policy, not your auto insurance policy.

Auto

What your car insurance policy covers

Your car insurance policy covers any damage to your car under the comprehensive coverage section of your auto insurance policy. 

Though comprehensive coverage is technically optional, most standard full coverage auto insurance policies include it to cover your damage to your car due to things like theft, fallen trees, and natural disasters. (Basically, any damage to your car that’s not caused by a collision.)

Example of when to file both a home and car insurance claim

Say a windstorm caused a tree to fall through your attached garage — damaging not only your garage's roof, but also your car inside your garage and your laptop and other personal belongings in your car.

You'd file a home insurance claim to cover:

  • Damage to your garage's roof

  • Damage to your personal belongings inside your garage

  • Damage to your laptop and other personal belongings inside your car

You'd file a car insurance claim to cover:

  • Damage to your car itself

Do I have to pay two deductibles if my home and car are damaged in the same event?

Not necessarily. You might not have to pay two deductibles if you bundle your home and auto insurance with a company that offers single-deductible claims.

With single-deductible claims, if your home and car are damaged in the same event — like a hurricane or house fire — you only have to pay one deductible for the two claims.

Why is this important? Because it's saving you money. With most car and home insurance deductibles running anywhere from $500 to $2,000, only having to pay one instead of two could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in the event of a claim.

It is important to know whether your insurer offers a single-deductible claim option for people who suffer damage to both their home and vehicle at the same time. If your insurer doesn’t offer a single-deductible option, you’ll want to keep that in mind when choosing your deductibles.

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What types of events might qualify for single-deductible claims?

Some examples of covered perils that could damage your home and car in the same event and qualify you to pay just one deductible include:

If you crashed your car into a house, which kind of insurance would you use?

If you crashed your car into a house, you would use the property damage liability coverage section of your auto insurance policy to pay for damage. When it comes to car insurance, it is important to have the highest level of liability coverage you can afford because the cost of repairing damage to a house can be significant. For example, if you crash your car into a house and cause $80,000 worth of damage but your property damage liability coverage limit is $25,000, you’ll be required to pay the additional $55,000 out of pocket.

What if I don’t bundle my car and home insurance together?

If you don’t bundle your auto and home insurance policies with the same company, you’ll pay two separate deductibles and receive payout checks from two separate companies that you can use to repair or replace the damaged property.

Bundling your home and auto coverage can also save you money on your insurance. For example, Progressive offers an average discount of 5% for customers who bundle home and auto coverage, while Allstate offers a discount of up to 25% for customers who bundle their insurance coverage.

What insurance companies offer single-deductible claims with bundled policies?

Single-deductible claims aren’t available with every insurance company you bundle your policies with. Some don’t offer the perk at all, while others only offer the option in certain states.

Here are a few that offer single-deductible claims for policyholders who bundle their home and auto insurance together:

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Authors

Rachael Brennan is a senior editor and a licensed auto insurance expert at Policygenius. Her work has also been featured in MoneyGeek, Clearsurance, Adweek, Boston Globe, The Ladders, and AutoInsurance.com.

Jennifer Gimbel is a senior managing editor at Policygenius, where she oversees all of our insurance coverage. Previously, she was the managing editor at Finder.com and a content strategist at Babble.com.

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