by Walter Grace

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

Having car insurance is something that few of us think about when we pay the bill, but there are times that we all use it. In 1989, I borrowed my parents car to get parts for mine and made a right turn, right into the driver's side door of another vehicle. As the glass shattered and the other driver winced at the impact, I never gave a second thought to the policy my dad bought that very day. The only issue was that the policy didn't start until the next day. The other driver's insurance company charged me for the repairs to the other vehicle, to the tune of $860.80.

This took me nearly two years at a minimum wage job to pay off. I was really lucky there were no injury claims or further damage to the other driver's car, an economy compact. To top it all off, the damage to my parent's car was barely a scratch on the bumper. Making sure your car insurance is paid is important, but equally so is paying attention to the start and end dates.

Even when we're careful drivers, we still need coverage. My wife never had a ticket or accident in 21 years in 2005 when, in a moment of inattention, hit the back of an SUV, damaging both vehicles slightly. I learned this momentarily when she called me crying. "You're going to kill me" she sniffled. "What did you do?" I replied in a calm, collected voice and then responded to her next answer, "you hit someone, are you okay, how much damage was there?" Staying calm, "Was it your fault?" I asked, knowing the propensity of my wife to tailgate. Judging by her frazzled tone, I already knew the answer.

She went on to explain the hurt to our van, which in hindsight was a miracle that she remained calm enough to assess the damage. It was a hole in the front bumper above the license plate. Before the police officer could finish writing my wife a citation, I had the parts ordered for the wounded van from a local parts supplier. When the parts came in, we spent two hours replacing the bumper. This was because the part was only $100.00 and our deductible was $500.00 at that. At least the other driver was taken care of and we never saw a bill. The damage to the van and the ticket came to $230.00, not bad for a "fender bender." I don't even want to think how much this could have been had we not had insurance.

I guess that the moral of the stories are that auto insurance is one thing we need to pay if we drive. This is the responsible thing to do, even if the rates seem high. When I hit that compact car in 1989, my rates went up and I quit driving for two years. Driving without coverage was not an option. The only monthly bills then were for bus passes.

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