I understand words can often have their definitions narrowed and agree people should read their contracts. I tend to irk sales people because I do bother to read all the papers they start throwing my way and start asking questions they've never been asked by the hundreds of customers.

The person I was replying to wasn't referencing any particular contract. They were just speaking generally about hitting road debris being a stretch to define as a collision.

> It's a stretch to describe road debris hitting the undercarriage of a car a "collision".

Seeing as how neither I nor he referenced any particular insurance contract, why would we then bother to use your insurance contract to define the term instead of probably the one shared point between us to define the term (the dictionary)? Why not reference a contract I'll sign with a friend where for the purposes of the contract a collision is defined only as a 5 foot person running into a blue colored wall. I guess a car slamming into a wall isn't a collision anymore since this one contract defines it a different arbitrary way!

Whenever I see contract language like

> bird or animal

I want to know the background behind why some lawyer found that necessary. :)

My guess is that it happens so frequently that it wouldn't be profitable to cover damages caused by hitting animals.

I am referring to the fact that birds are animals.