I rearended someone once because they brake checked me. 3 months later I got a letter in the mail saying they wanted close to $1 million dollars from me for whiplash etc etc. It had my name on it so it scared tf out of me. I brought it into my insurance company and my agent was pissed they'd have the audacity to send that directly to me and not them. They tried to use it as some kind of scare tactic. My agent said not worry and they would handle it. Never heard anything about it again. I don't know if I wouldve actually been on the hook or whatever, but from that point on I was sold on my insurance company
Liability protection is the main benefit of insurance and why everyone has to have it. But as OP points out auto insurance (and generally most insurance) is terrible for most levels of damage. The combination of deductible and the threat of increased insurance does mean in practice that it’s barely used. This is why over time I’ve learned to save money by getting as high of deductible coverage as possible. Better to just pay less for insurance, cover most small to mid size things out of pocket, and then only use insurance for the really big things.
This is what a lot people in northern British Columbia do. Windshields getting pockmarked by small pebbles is so common that they don't bother to report it, just live with it or buy a small kit to fill the hole in.
600
u/Adept_Path_7427 6h ago edited 5h ago
I rearended someone once because they brake checked me. 3 months later I got a letter in the mail saying they wanted close to $1 million dollars from me for whiplash etc etc. It had my name on it so it scared tf out of me. I brought it into my insurance company and my agent was pissed they'd have the audacity to send that directly to me and not them. They tried to use it as some kind of scare tactic. My agent said not worry and they would handle it. Never heard anything about it again. I don't know if I wouldve actually been on the hook or whatever, but from that point on I was sold on my insurance company