Parking Lot Lurkers in the Wind – Watch out Montana Shoppers

As if the hustle and bustle of the holiday season isn't enough to frazzle a few last remaining nerves, coming out to find that your vehicle has been damaged from a shopping cart might be the final straw.

via GIPHY

As winds have suddenly decided that they should be active in our winter, parking in a lot of a store with carts might mean just that.  A ding to your ride.  It is a pretty common occurrence in Great Falls with our winds, and there really isn't any way to get away from it unfortunately.

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Parking Lot Lurkers in the Wind - Watch out Montana Shoppers

As we fight gusty winds again this week, it reminded me just a couple of weeks ago I was shopping at the grocery store during a windy day.  I came back out to my vehicle and the car opposite me had this lovely item snuggled next to it:

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Ouch!  Not the way you want to return to your car with an armful of grocery bags!  But now that it happened, what's next?  Can you claim the damage on your insurance?  Is the store that it happened at liable for the damage?

Who's Responsible for a Grocery Store Cart Hitting Your Vehicle?  Is it Covered?

You may think the store is responsible for the damage to your car; it isn't.  But you may be able to claim it through your insurance company, depending on the coverage you have.

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According to AutoInsurance.org, to have our vehicle covered when hit by a cart, you should have certain coverage:

Comprehensive coverage and collision coverage are types of property damage coverage that can protect against shopping cart damage. It’s recommended to have both coverages to ensure you’re covered in such incidents.

And depending on the type or extent of damage and vehicle type, costs can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars to repair.  Have you had your vehicle hit and used insurance to cover it?  Did it work?  Let us know in the comments or reach us with our appchat feature.