Will Insurance Pay If I Hit My Own Car?

Last Updated on December 11, 2025

You scraped your own bumper, tapped another car you own, or backed into your garage door. Fortunately, you have insurance. But will your auto policy actually pay if you hit your own car or your own property, or are you stuck paying out of pocket?

Basic liability car insurance will not cover damage to your own vehicle when you hit it. However, if you have full coverage car insurance, you may be able to make a claim under your collision or comprehensive coverage, depending on how the damage occurred.

Below, we explain when insurance pays if you hit your own car, when it doesn’t, and how to decide whether filing a claim is actually worth it.

Key Takeaways

• Your basic liability insurance will not pay to repair your own vehicle if you hit it; you generally need collision coverage for that.
• If you have full coverage (liability, collision, and comprehensive), your collision coverage can often pay for damage when you hit your own car or your own property, minus your deductible.
• Damage to your home, fence, or other structures you own may be covered by homeowners insurance, while damage to someone else’s property is typically paid through your auto liability coverage.
• It’s usually smart to report incidents to your insurer, but for minor damage below or near your deductible, it may not be worth filing a claim that could raise your future premiums.

Yes, Insurance Can Pay If You Hit Your Own Car (With Collision Coverage)

There are several ways you can damage your own vehicle. For example:

• You tap one of your cars while driving someone else’s car.
• You misjudge your garage and scrape one of your cars against the other.
• You pull out of the driveway and clip your spouse’s or teen’s car, which is also insured in your household.

In most of these scenarios, insurance can still pay—if you have collision coverage on the damaged vehicle(s). Collision coverage is what pays to repair or replace your own vehicle after a crash, regardless of who is at fault, minus your deductible.

You file a claim for hitting your own vehicle just like you would file any claim: you contact your insurance company, provide details and photos, and the insurer evaluates the damage. If the loss is covered, they pay to restore the car to its pre-accident condition, up to the vehicle’s actual cash value.

What If I Don’t Have Collision Coverage?

If you don’t carry collision coverage, you generally cannot make a claim for damage to your own vehicle when you hit it—even if you have liability and comprehensive coverage.

Collision coverage is optional in every state. Along with liability coverage and comprehensive coverage, it’s one of the three main building blocks of an auto policy:

Liability Coverage: Liability pays for damages you cause to other people and their property. If you collide with someone else’s vehicle and the accident is your fault, then the other driver may be able to make a claim through your liability coverage for vehicle repairs, medical bills, and related losses. Liability does not pay to repair your own car.

Collision Coverage: Collision pays for collision-related damage to your vehicle, even when the accident was your fault, minus your deductible. If you collide with another vehicle, a pole, a fence, or even another car you own, collision is typically the coverage that applies to your car.

Comprehensive Coverage: Comprehensive covers non-collision damage, including theft, vandalism, flood damage, hurricanes, tornadoes, hail storms, fallen tree branches, and other non-driving events.

If you have full coverage car insurance, you almost certainly have collision coverage. If you only carry basic liability, which is the minimum legally required in most states, then you have no protection for your own vehicle when you hit it. In that case, repairs are on you.

Whether you can make a claim after colliding with your own vehicle depends on what coverages you purchased and how the accident happened. Let’s look at some common situations.

Hitting Your Own Car at Home (Two Vehicles)

Imagine you’re pulling into your garage after work. Your spouse’s car is already parked inside, and you accidentally strike their car while trying to squeeze in.

Assuming both vehicles are individually insured and carry collision coverage, you may be able to file a separate collision claim under each vehicle’s policy. You’ll normally:

• Pay the collision deductible on each policy, and
• Have the insurer(s) cover the rest of the repair costs for each car, up to its actual cash value.

Because this type of accident typically involves only property damage and no injuries, the claim is usually handled as a straightforward collision loss—though you may still see a surcharge or lose a safe-driver discount depending on the carrier’s rules and your claims history.

Hitting Your Own Property While Driving

You can also damage your own vehicle by hitting your home, fence, mailbox, or another structure you own. For example:

• Backing into your garage door
• Knocking over your mailbox or fence post
• Clipping the corner of your house while pulling into a tight driveway

These situations feel embarrassing—but your insurance may still help:

Your auto collision coverage can pay to repair your vehicle, restoring it to its pre-loss condition, minus your deductible.

Your homeowners insurance can cover damage to your house, garage, fence, or other structures on your property. Your home policy will have its own deductible, and you’d typically file a separate homeowners claim for that part of the damage.

For minor damage—like a broken mailbox or a small dent in the siding—it may not be worth filing a homeowners claim because of your deductible and the potential impact on your home insurance rates. For more significant damage—say, driving through a wall into your living room—filing a home claim is often the only realistic option.

If you don’t own the property, the claim process changes. If you rent your home or apartment, the landlord owns the building. In that case:

• Your auto policy’s property damage liability coverage usually pays for damage you cause to the landlord’s building or to a neighbor’s property.
• The property owner (landlord, neighbor, or friend) would make a claim through your auto liability coverage and be paid for repairs, subject to your policy limits.

Similarly, if you crash into a friend’s house or a neighbor’s fence, they can seek payment from your auto liability coverage for property damage.

Getting Into an Accident With Another Car You Own

What if you’re driving down the street and accidentally collide with your spouse’s car, which is also in your name? Or your teenager is speeding down the block and you hit them while pulling out of the driveway?

Even though both vehicles belong to you (or your household), your policies can still respond, as long as the cars are properly insured:

Collision coverage on each vehicle would typically pay for the damage to that vehicle, subject to the deductible on each policy.

If someone is injured, the insurer will look at which vehicle is at fault. After investigators determine fault:

• The at-fault vehicle’s bodily injury liability coverage may pay for injuries to people in the other car.
• If injuries occur to people inside the at-fault vehicle, then personal injury protection (PIP), medical payments coverage, or the injured person’s health insurance may step in, depending on the state and coverages purchased. You can learn more about which policy pays first here.

Because you’re essentially both the “at-fault” and “not-at-fault” party, these claims can be a bit more complex—but in many cases, the coverages still apply the same way they would in an accident with a stranger.

Should You Always File a Claim When You Hit Your Own Car?

If you hit your own vehicle, you might be tempted to skip insurance and pay for the damage yourself—especially if the damage is minor and you don’t want your premiums to go up.

In general, it’s smart to report the incident to your insurer, even if you ultimately decide not to move forward with a paid claim. Many policies specifically require you to disclose all accidents and losses, and failing to do so can cause issues with future claims or coverage.

That said, it’s not always financially wise to file a collision claim:

• If repairs cost less than or close to your collision deductible (for example, $300 in damage and a $500 deductible), it rarely makes sense to file a claim. You’d be paying most or all of the bill anyway.
• Even if the damage is higher than your deductible, a single collision claim can cause your premium to increase for several years and may cost you your good driver or safe driver discount.

Ultimately, you can still call your insurance company, report what happened, and ask how a claim might affect your rates. Your insurer can walk you through your options so you can decide whether paying out of pocket or filing a claim makes more sense.

FAQs on Insurance Paying When You Hit Your Own Car

Final Word: Will Insurance Pay If You Hit Your Own Car?

If you carry collision coverage, then insurance often will pay when you hit your own vehicle. Collision is designed to cover damage to your car from crashes—including situations like colliding with your garage door, backing into your fence, or bumping another car you own.

However, if you only have liability coverage, your policy will not pay to repair your own vehicle when you hit it. In that case, you’re responsible for your own repair or replacement costs.

Whenever you damage your own car, review your coverages, consider your deductible and potential rate impact, and talk to your insurer about the best way to handle the claim—or whether you’re better off paying for minor damage out of pocket.