Ever wonder why potholes just seem to pop out of nowhere? It seems to happen every year. You’re driving along, then your car either hits a pothole or is hit by loose cement.
Well, you can thank our spring weather for that. During the freeze-thaw cycle, water seeps into the sub-base beneath the top layer of asphalt. This water freezes, widening cracks, and then thaws, leaving behind holes and loose debris.
Drive over enough potholes, and you could find yourself with a busted exhaust pipe, tears in your tires, or worse.
So then, there’s damage to your car — but who’s responsible for fixing it?
Who covers damage from potholes?
If your car is damaged due to a pothole, your auto insurance will cover it if you have collision or all-perils coverage.
Collision insurance helps cover the cost of damage to your vehicle if it’s in an accident due to hitting another car or hitting an object like a streetlight, road sign, a curb or, yes, a pothole.
All-peril insurance is like the name says. It covers most damage or loss except those specified as exclusion in your policy.
However, collision and all-perils insurance isn’t mandatory in most provinces (the exceptions being Manitoba and Saskatchewan). If you don’t have either of these coverages, you’ll be responsible for any repairs to the chassis or any other part of the car.
If you do have collision or all-perils insurance, you’ll have to pay the deductible on your policy first, which could, for some, cost up to $1,000.
Learn more: How to choose your auto insurance deductibles
Who covers damage from loose road debris?
Potholes aren’t the only material risks on the road. Loose debris can damage your car whether it’s gravel, ice, stones or a piece of another car. If your vehicle is damaged, your comprehensive auto policy, which covers most damage that is beyond your control (like auto theft, or falling trees), should cover the repair.
What about landslides, floods or mudslides?
Over the last few years, floods have become more severe across Canada, with notably bad storms washing out streets and highways in West Vancouver, across the Greater Toronto Area, Nova Scotia, and areas in between.
Floods can create short- and long-term damage to cars by causing havoc to the engine and electrical parts, corroding the undercarriage, and spreading unsafe mold and water damage to the interior of the car.
Thankfully, if your vehicle is damaged due to any of these disasters, your comprehensive insurance policy should cover them.
Are you eligible to city compensation?
Can you get some compensation from the city, town or municipality for repair costs to your vehicle as a result of a pothole? The short answer is yes, but the process doesn’t usually favour the claimant.
For example, the City of Toronto says it’s not responsible for damage to your vehicle if it’s met the “Minimum Maintenance Standards for Highways in the City of Toronto” (MMS).
What that means is if a pothole wrecks your car, don’t expect the City to cut you a cheque if the pothole was within the allowed size for the class of road.
For example, in order to claim damage, the pothole measurement size should be more than eight centimetres deep or 1,000 cm² in surface area on roads, and is proven to have been neglected for a long time. (Typically, repair time ranges between four to 30 days depending on the ranking of the road. Highways will get fixed in the shortest period of time and smaller side roads with low traffic will take longer.)
In addition to making sure your claim is actually eligible for compensation, you have to put in your claim within 10 days of the incident. In Nova Scotia, there were 935 pothole claims in 2022 and only 105 were paid. In 2023, there were 374 claims and 64 paid, according to the CBC.
When is it worth having collision and/or comprehensive insurance?
Most people have both so they don’t have to pay for all the damage out of pocket which can get very expensive.
If you make a claim on your policy if you struck an object that is sitting on the road (like an animal, or a big chunk of debris), it will be a collision claim and deemed ‘at-fault’ by your insurance company. That claim stays on your record for at least six years and your rates may increase when it’s time to renew.
However, if you’re driving, and an item flies into your car, that would be a perfectly acceptable comprehensive claim.
| Collision insurance | Comprehensive insurance |
|---|---|
| You hit another car | Theft or attempted theft |
| If you hit a stationary object like a guardrail, pothole, streetlight. | Vandalism |
| Your car rolls over | Weather and natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, hail, |
| Flying objects like rocks and gravel | |
| Fire | |
| Falling objects like tree branches | |
| Earthquakes and tornadoes |
In all cases, if the cost of the damage is less than your deductible, you should consider paying for it out of pocket. This way, you’ll avoid a premium increase on renewal, as well as any other long-term effects of making a claim.
If your car is older and not worth very much, but the damage is significant, you can consider writing off the cost of the car instead of making a claim on your policies. If the cost of your annual premiums exceeds the total value of the car, you might even pare down those additional coverages and opt for just a liability-only policy.
Weather events can severely affect your driving environment. If you must go out in treacherous territory, make sure you’re driving carefully and defensively. Thankfully, however, you have options if your car is damaged.
It comes down to the value of your car and weighing the costs to repair the damages with that of any potential increases to your premium.
Read next: Your car may be worth less after an accident: Learn about diminished value
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