All three of us ran to the window.  We had never heard a sound like that before.  But that’s because we had never seen hail like that before.  It wasn’t that the hailstones were large, it was that they were coming down in sheets.  Within several minutes the entire backyard looked like it had been snowing for days.

It was sort of fun to watch.  Until the phone rang.  It was Nathan.  I had forgotten about him.  He had left for work just a few minutes before the hail storm.  I automatically knew what the phone call was about.

“I’m okay,” were the first words out of Nathan’s mouth but I could feel the tenseness in his voice.

“What happened?” I asked.

The hail had come down so fast it created a sheet of ice on the road.  He lost control of the car (we were later to find out that insurance companies expect us to maintain control of the vehicle under all conditions.  Of course they do.) and, like most of us would instinctively do, he tried to make a correction which resulted in over correcting.  He hit the curb at about 45 mph.

“As I was sliding to the curb my first thought was, well there goes my sub woofer.”

Part of me was glad he wasn’t thinking something like I’m too young to die. That told me he knew he would be okay.  It also confirmed his priorities!

Thankfully, no-one else was involved.  But hitting he curb resulted in having to replace steering knuckles and wheel bearings, or something along those lines.  In any case, the quote came to $745.

This is when Nathan got his first hands-on intro into insurance companies.

“Won’t insurance cover most of this?” he asked knowing that, although we pay his insurance, he is responsible for repairs on his car.

Let me think for a moment.  He’s male.  18 years old.  Driving a 6-cylinder car.  We have a $500 deductible on his car.

“Here’s the thing about insurance companies,” I began.  “The main reason for car insurance, besides the fact that legally we need to carry it, is in case something really big and bad happens.”

I remember when I got into a fender-bender when I was in my teens my dad said to me, “Insurance is for the big one.”  I now found myself saying the same thing to my teenager.

“That makes no sense,” he said.  “What’s the point of insurance then?”

What’s the point, indeed!  Ah, yes, the big one.

“Regardless, we need to carry insurance on the cars.  But I’m worried that if I file a claim our premiums will go up.”

I called the insurance company anyway and prefaced my conversation with I’m not filing a claim.  Of course, the agent saw right through that and made it clear that she had to record everything I told her.  Fine.  I needed the information.  That’s when I found out about the driver being in control of the car at all times.  Uh, huh.  I also learned that the premiums may go up…but then again, they may not.  It depended on a lot of things like our history (John and I have a stellar record…but it’s not about us) and how long we had been with them (22 years).  She was not able to give me any indication which way it would go.

After consulting with John, we decided it wasn’t worth the $245 risk.  We also decided that there was no way Nathan could have maintained control of the car so we chipped in $250 towards the repair.  Besides, it seemed only fair since we decided not to go the insurance route.

Nathan handled the whole thing very well.  He made all the calls to the repair shop and even had the quote reduced by $50 when he researched a second opinion.  Never once did he complain about the cost.  Sure, he wasn’t thrilled to be paying $450 but “I always wanted to know what it would be like to lose control of the car,” he said.  “In a safe way,” he added when he saw how big my eyes could get.

Not only did Nathan learn about how insurance companies work, but he also got to see first hand the importance of an emergency fund.  He picked up his car yesterday.  It’s just going to be a little longer before he can pick up his sub woofer.