by Jenn Hughes

Created on: June 19, 2009   Last Updated: July 02, 2009

Garage doors are not my friends. As a child, I went running out of the garage with the door half-way down and hit my head. The blow knocked me on my butt unconscious.

As an adult, they haven't been so nice either. As a homeowner, a power surge took out one of my garage doors. Homeowners covered that. Not long after, I found myself divorced and renting. I wish that I had remembered my poor history with garage doors before I made the decision to go without renters insurance.

I loved my little house in an older part of town, and one of the bonus features was a garage with automatic doors. Most homes of the period had manual doors. I could come home through my alley, hit the button in my car and presto, the door would open. Conversely, when leaving the house, I could go out to the garage and push the button and the door would glide merrily to the ceiling.

Now I did mention it was an older home, probably circa the 1930s, and while it had the convenience of automated garage doors, they were still the original doors. Half wood on the bottom, and framed glass on the top.

Here's where the insurance part rears its ugly head. On my way to work one morning, I zip to the garage, and tap the button for the door to go up. From nowhere, a piece of wire flew across the garage, and the door made a grinding noise. Then it started to lift. That part worked. Sort of. The top of the door, with the framed glass lifted. The bottom wooden half, stayed restfully on the concrete.

I watched in rather stupefied horror as the top half of the garage door, dangling precariously off the track, rose not-so-merrily to the ceiling and then sailed along suspended through the air, into the back window of my brand new car.

I did manage to stop the door before it peeled off the roof of the car. Trunk and rear window, not so lucky. Moreover, I can't even get the car out of the garage because the bottom half of the garage door is still in place. I would have had to back through it.

Auto insurance: Not their problem, they said. The car was minding its own business in the garage. Renters insurance: oh, that's right, I DON'T have any renters insurance.

I got some. The next day. I was fortunate in that I didn't have to fix the door. My landlord had to deal with that particular problem. Just the car. Most people need renters insurance for theft, fire, flood, or wind damage. Not me. I have to protect myself from renegade garage doors.

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