by david vera CRUISING
WHAT IS A DECENT INSURANCE POLICY?
Well the state-required minimum coverage sure
isn’t, as it only covers a fraction of the costs that an
accident can incur. Plus, when you’re purchasing a
liability-only policy, you’re not purchasing protection
for you and your car; you’re buying it for whomever
you crash into—hence the term liability. This is why
it’s a good idea to purchase additional types of cover-
age. When shopping for auto insurance, you may
recall seeing a three-number sequence, like 15/30/5.
This indicates bodily injury coverage of $15,000 per
individual, $30,000 for total passenger injury costs
per car and $5,000 for property damage. With stays at
the hospital reaching $100,000 and car part replace-
ment services exceeding well beyond $5,000, it is
clear that the state minimum hardly protects anyone
from anything. A more common and useful range of
coverage is 100/300/100. This adjustment costs not
much more per month, but it can save you a fortune
in medical/auto repair fees for which you are liable.
While it’s smart to carry higher coverage limits for
others, it’s an even smarter idea to assume that no
FENDER
one else carries such high limits. “Uninsured Motor-
ist” coverage is an additional plan, not required by
the state but recommended. It activates when your
BENDER101
car is struck by a vehicle whose driver has either no
insurance or insufficient liability coverage to pay for
your injury/repair expenses—making sure you don’t
have to pay for someone else’s penny-pinching.
You’ve been hit! Both physically and emotionally. You’re disoriented, shaken and above all, ready
MY CAR’S BEING FIXED,
to scratch the eyes out of the clumsy fool who defaced your rolling property! Okay, get a hold of
BUT WHAT DO I DRIVE NOW?
yourself. Just breathe and reach into your glove compartment for your insurance information…
Another insurance coverage available is “Rental
not your gun. It’s the only thing you can do to start the process of getting things back to normal.
Reimbursement” which offers the policyholder a
“My car is damaged…damaged. I thought that I should let you know…So how you gonna fix
list of rental car options while his or her car is being
it…fix it…fix it?” We may not always have a first aid kit handy, but as far as making that painful call
repaired. But the rental car experience can be a mess
to our insurance agent, Danity Kane had the right idea. Yes, it can be hard to keep your cool when
within itself if you’re not careful. Make sure to take
you’ve just witnessed your precious chariot being smacked around by two tons of reality. But as
extremely good care of your rental. Any scratches,
long as you have a decent auto insurance policy waiting to kick in, most of the work to get you back
stains or dents can be blamed on you, so inspect the
into a dent-free existence will gladly be done for you. That’s why you pay that overblown insurance
vehicle thoroughly before it’s released to you. And,
premium every month, remember?
for your wallet’s sake, return the rental with the same
amount of gas it had when you got it!
OKAY, WHAT DO I DO NOW? one you’ll recite to someone called the “insurance Few events have the power to ruin our day like
All you need to do at this point is remain calm, adjuster” when you start your “claim process.” This getting “rear-ended”—which is when your car gets
determine whether or not you’re physically hurt, person is reachable through your insurance agent’s hit by another car from behind, for those of you who
politely approach all other parties involved in the office and is put in charge of assessing repair costs had a different definition. On bustling urban bou-
collision and trade insurance cards with them while and fault—in simple terms, the claim. You may have levards like ours, things like this can happen at any
surveying the damage at hand. But be careful, the to recite your explanation of the accident more than time, and yet we never see them coming—especially
sight of your wounded car after an on-road scuffle once, so make sure to keep the facts straight every when we’re occupied with real important tasks like
can send anyone into overreaction mode. You may time. Regardless of who’s at fault, your statement forwarding chain text messages. So for the least
feel the impulse to summon a police officer to file a will be recorded and that will determine whose amount of worrying and waiting, keep in mind that
report. But unless anyone in the accident was injured, policy will pay for the damages. It’s a good idea to there’s always a helping hand available to us…as
there’s really no need for one. contact your adjuster within the first 24 hours of the long as we’re willing to fork over some dough for it.
The only report you need to worry about is the accident.
June 2009 | RAGE monthly 67
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