Life comes at you fast. . . so do deer.

Unfortunately, a small buck ran out in front of us tonight.  We were in the south-bound middle lane of a six-lane highway, on our way to meet a former colleague of Tracy’s for dinner. The deer darted out of the woods, made it across all three north-bound lanes, the median, and the left lane on the south-bound side. I managed to quickly hit the breaks without slamming on the pedal. . . the little guy could have made it, but for some reason he turned right into to us.

I’m extremely grateful that all three of us were fine. We were very fortunate that no one rear-ended us, that I didn’t swerve, that the deer didn’t hit the windshield, and that the airbags didn’t deploy. A miracle really. I know God had his hand on the situation, so many things could have gone much worse.

Wrecks happen all the time. I know there’s not a day that goes by that traffic isn’t all jammed up from a wreck in the Triangle. I’ve heard that the average person has a vehicle collision once every ten years. That’s why I want to give you a little insight into car insurance.

Let me share with you a few key points from my three years in the rental car business. First of all, I highly recommend using a large, national insurance company for your car insurance. They typically have 24 hour help lines, more services, and better deals with rental car companies. Oh, you didn’t know insurance companies had deals with rental car companies? Of course they do. Companies like Enterprise negotiate directly with companies like Allstate, Nationwide, or State Farm. Insurance companies agree to send their insured to the rental company and in turn, the rental company provides a lower rate on the rental.

It’s also good to have all you insurance through one agency, you’ll get discounts.  For example, have your homeowners (or rental) insurance, car insurance, and personal property insurance all at the same company. It’s also good to know what’s on your policy. Do you have towing? Do you have rental car coverage? Both of those are fairly cheap, but pay off big time. Beware, there are different types of rental car coverage – some pay a flat daily fee (often less than what the rental costs), some limit the days you can have the car, and some will only cover the smallest possible car (not ideal if you need to put in a couple of car seats. You have control over this, check it out.

Pay attention, this next suggestion is critical . . . make sure you have more than the state minimums for liability. In NC, the minimum coverage you can have for liability (which protects you if you hit someone or something else) is 25/50/25. This means your insurance company will cover personal injury up to $25,000 per person up to $50,000, and will cover $25,000 of property damage. Think about that! How quickly will that $50,000 be gone if you hit a car full of people? How many cars on the road are worth more than the $25,000 you have for property damage? You’ll be on the hook for any amount of damage over these totals. I recommend at least having 100/300/100.

Honestly, most people have no idea what all their insurance coverage is. Don’t feel bad if you’re one of those people. But if you are, please don’t put it off – find out what you’ve got, and if it’s not sufficient, make the necessary changes. After all, no one plans to hit a deer.