by Kevin O'Connell

Created on: November 22, 2008   Last Updated: December 17, 2008

I have had my share of car insurance experiences...and I have decided car insurance is a good thing.

My first experience was an unanticipated encounter with a Long Island deer: 7:00 in the morning and my cup of coffee untouched in the cup holder. Suddenly and without warning there she was, out of the corner of my eye, up and over the guard rail. No doubt she was taking an unauthorized short cut. By the widening of her eyes just prior to impact, I could tell she was having second thoughts. Too late. When all was said and done, I pulled to the shoulder of the road. The passenger side fender, head light harness, front grill, hood, and sundry other parts were all disfigured and marred by the remnants of what the deer left behind, which sorry to say stood out in stark contrast to the black paint of my 97 Grand Am.

I tried to do the right thing, returning to the point of impact. But the deer had left the scene of the accident. Apparently any connection with the Hartford was by physical semblance only. I was left with over $4000 worth of repairs. Had it not been for an understanding and readily prepared insurance provider to facilitate and expedite the repairs I too would have been reduced to hoofing it.

The second time was with my brand new 2000 Z28. Not wanting to put myself or anyone else in danger, I acceded to a yellow light and refrained from riding along on the tail winds of the driver who slipped through before me.

As the old adage goes no good deed goes unpunished. Waiting at the head of the line for the light to turn green, my attention was drawn by the car making the left across my path. In an attempt to beat the on-coming traffic, she cut her angle too sharp. Unfortunately, in this case, the shortest distance between two points was my front end. She took out the whole driver's side, costing me a grill, a head light harness, a fender, a hood, and other sundry parts. As it turned out she was getting married that afternoon and her thoughts were elsewhere. It also turned out that the only license she had was the marriage license. And she was uninsured.

Ah, but there was a silver lining to her betrothal: the groom to be was the car's actual owner and he happened to be insured by the same company that insured me. Ultimately, the cost of the repairs, more than $3000, was completely assumed by the insurance company and there was no liability on my part. Now that's a union made in Heaven.

Yes, it sure pays to have a reputable insurance company.

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