I hear you on the spreadsheet thing—I’ve got one too, color-coded and all. When you’re driving something that costs more than your house, you get a little paranoid. The exclusions are wild, though. My agent once told me my policy would cover a moose but not a pronghorn... like, how does that make sense? I’ve learned to document every call and email because sometimes what they say on the phone magically disappears when it’s claim time. It’s exhausting but beats getting stuck with a $5k bill for “uncovered livestock.”
My agent once told me my policy would cover a moose but not a pronghorn... like, how does that make sense?
That’s wild. I swear, insurance logic is its own thing. I keep thinking I’ve got it all figured out, then they throw in some random animal exclusion. At this point, I’m half expecting to see “no coverage for jackalopes” in the fine print.
I get what you’re saying, but I wonder if it’s less about “random” exclusions and more about statistics or claims history. Like, maybe moose collisions are more common (or expensive) in Wyoming, so they’re specifically included? Still, it’s weirdly inconsistent. I once had a policy that covered deer but not livestock—try explaining that to a rancher after a cow jumps the fence... Insurance fine print is a whole different language sometimes.
Insurance fine print is a whole different language sometimes.
Ain’t that the truth. I’ve been driving in Wyoming for over 30 years and still get tripped up by the exclusions. The moose vs. livestock thing always cracks me up—like, who decided a moose is “covered” but a runaway steer isn’t? Last winter, my neighbor hit a bison outside Cody and the adjuster acted like it was a rare event. Around here, it’s just another Tuesday.
I do wonder if these oddball exclusions are just the companies playing the odds or if there’s some ancient claims spreadsheet buried in a vault somewhere dictating what’s “normal.” Ever notice how some policies will cover hail damage but not “wind-driven debris”? Makes you wonder if anyone at the insurance company has actually seen Wyoming weather.
Has anyone managed to get an agent to explain why some critters make the cut and others don’t? Or is it just a roll of the dice every renewal?
It’s wild how arbitrary some of those exclusions seem. I’ve seen policies where hitting a deer is covered, but if it’s a neighbor’s escaped cow, suddenly it’s “property damage” and you’re on the hook. Had a client once who hit an elk—covered, no problem. Six months later, his wife hit a horse and the claim turned into a circus. Honestly, most of these rules come down to how the policy was written decades ago and nobody bothered to update them for local reality. It’s not always logical, just old paperwork that keeps getting recycled.
