1. Get into an accident.
Well, okay that’s probably not number one. Number one is probably “Wear flannel” or “Cover yourself in tin foil” or something. But as of Sunday, our number one was “Get into an accident.”
We were pulling out of a parking space and weren’t able to stop in time as a Ford F150 came by. The other guy came away with some dents in his passenger side — empty, thank goodness — a blown tire and some slight damage to the rim. Our bumper/fender nearly ripped off, and according to the guy who towed us, the steering felt a little off.
The guy we hit was very reasonable and even let us use his cell phone. Other than the fact that he was going above the 10 mph limit of parking lots (and who doesn’t?), you really can’t blame him. Or ask for a better person to be in an accident with.
We were all the way out in Tempe, which is about 25 miles from home. Thankfully, I checked to be sure we didn’t have towing coverage. I was absolutely, 100% sure we didn’t, but I thought it was worth a shot. Turns out, we do. So the moral is to always check I guess.
Unfortunately, there was a backlog on towing. We ended up waiting over an hour. Thankfully, the people in the Verizon store were kind enough to let us wait there. They even let us use their phone to finish settling the details of the tow. No matter how nice the guy was, he didn’t want to wait around forever while we used his cell.
So we eventually got a ride to the garage. Since our place is only a mile from the garage, the tow guy took us home. Then it was just a matter of being carless the rest of Sunday and up through Labor Day.
We definitely don’t have rental car insurance, so I poked around the web for a good deal. Thanks to some coupons, I finagled $113 for a week’s rental at Budget. Not bad at all. I went through Mr. Rebates just in case, but the coupons were found elsewhere and means I probably won’t get a rebate.
My worry is whether a week will be long enough. Insurance won’t be able to visit the garage until Friday, so the mechanic can’t even tell us how much damage there is until then. And if they if they have special order any parts… I’m just praying it’s done by the 17th. That’s when I leave for FinCon.
Our deductible is $500. (Thank goodness I followed my gut in August and didn’t raise it to get a cheaper premium.) Even if we have to use a rental car right up until the day we leave, that means we’ll pay less than $250. So this accident won’t be too hard on our finances.
Not that $750 is anything to sneeze at. But we have an emergency fund for just this kind of thing. Also, we already paid our yearly premium. I think this means that they won’t raise rates for another 11 months, which would help matters. And even if they do, well…. These things happen, and freaking out about it will do absolutely nothing but tire me out.
So let’s just focus on the main thing: No one was hurt, and neither of us died of heat stroke. (I checked.)
Linda says
Seems towing is always backed up. Glad you found a cool place to wait.
Left my door ajar in -20 weather last winter, so it wouldn't start after work. Sat in car over an hour freezing. Not fun.
Abigail says
Yeah, that's not an idea situation. I think in general tow trucks are just in too high of demand. Everyone (else) should get their act together!
TLC says
Glad you're OK. Reading this post brings back memories of my claims days – first job outta college was as an auto coverage/casualty adjuster, meaning I determined fault & whether someone had coverage.