It’s been a crazy couple of days here in FFB world. Monday morning while pulling out of the garage we had a little fender bender. Perhaps door bender is more accurate. The driver side door wasn’t completely closed so when we pulled out it snagged the garage wall. Next thing we know the door is open more than 90 degrees. Now it won’t shut and there’s door and fender damage. We had the car towed to a collision place that was recommended. I called our insurance and reported the accident. They seem to be taking care of everything.
Fortunately I have a rental car on my policy so Tuesday morning was spent getting a rental car. My insurance company set up the reservation which was great. The rental place picked me up (20 minutes late) and drove me to their location. Thing is, insurance only covers $25 for a rental. The cheapest car they had was $30. So there’s money out of pocket. Oh, and the car that was reserved was getting an oil change when I arrived. If I wanted to wait 15 minutes it would be ready. They had a “manager’s special” on a minivan which would only be a couple of dollars more. Already late for work which car do you think I chose? Yeah, we have a minivan now. My daughter loves it and the car seat goes in real easy. Honestly I was a little concerned that out car seat wouldn’t be easy to install in a tiny car which swayed me toward the minivan. Thinking back I really should have griped about the car not being ready. I think I’ll complain to the insurance company since they work with the rental company.
We’re still waiting to hear back from the insurance company regarding an estimate and what they will cover. I don’t see why they wouldn’t cover everything but you never know. The insurance company has been great so far so I’ll hold my skepticism in check for now.
Now, in order to save on insurance I have a $1000 deductible. Since I’ve been accident free I get a discount on that so my deductible is $850. And I have to pay the difference on the car rental.
Fortunately our savings is enough to absorb these costs. I don’t regret the deductible since all these years the money I’ve saved on insurance has been in my pocket. Still it sucks to have to dish out around $1000.
In all it was an accident and accidents happen. No one got hurt. A car after all is just metal and plastic. They money we’re going to pay will be earned back and the car will be fixed. And we get to test drive a minivan for the next week or so while the car is getting repaired.
This is a great reminder of how important it is to have emergency savings. You don’t know what may come up but eventually something will happen that will require money.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thankfully it was a “garage” accident & nobody was hurt – you had me worried about the kids for a moment there!
Ouch. I did the exact same thing to a mirror when I was 17. Well the freezer door in the garage was open (we were defrosting it before throwing it away) and it was just open enough to catch on the right mirror.
I thought the door would give more than it did and kept moving. It only went out 90 degrees, so it tore the mirror partially off before I stopped.
*blush*
It’s great that you have the savings to absorb this. That’s what they’re for.
@ Dawn – Thanks for the concern! It was only the car that was damaged. The only pain I feel is a bruised ego.
@ Mrs Micah – When I first drove I had all sorts of little dings. I’m pretty sure I took out one of my Mom’s rear lights on a rainy evening.
The insurance and savings are a great help right now! I can’t imagine having to put this on a credit card! Just goes to show you – “what if” can be anything!
True but it’s sooo convenient.