| DNA Life Stories - Property Damage Carl, 62 Married grandfather near retirement My last summer vacation ended in a patch of dense fog. I plowed into an oncoming pickup and we both slid off the road. The fence we skidded into was destroyed. Thankfully, my Property Damage Liability coverage paid for both the truck repairs and a replacement fence. Without that, I might have had to dip into my savings. Tim, 35 Married rookie dad After our daughter was born, losing so much sleep made it easy to forget things—like taking the car in for repairs when the warning lights came on. It would have been nice to know that the brakes were going bad. As it happened, I found out the hard way when I ran smack into the side of a building. Amazingly, no one was hurt, but the building suffered quite a bit of damage. But that’s exactly what Property Damage Liability insurance covers. And since my wife and I increased all our coverages while getting ready for the baby, the damages from the accident were totally covered. I guess in that sense, the timing was pretty good. Eric, 43 Single dad of two, going back to school Me, eat behind the wheel? Never. Except once during midterms. I spilled my drink at the same time this student crossed in front of me. I swerved as fast as I could—right into a parked car. Adding an accident to my list of worries was bad enough. But the repair bills? Luckily my Property Damage Liability insurance covered all the related repair costs for the car I hit. Alice, 45 Single mother of two I drive my kids home from school every day. Usually they’re pretty well behaved. But there was just something about this one afternoon—they wouldn’t stop fighting! I looked in the mirror for a split second and I slammed right into the driver in front of me. He had a pretty nice car. One of those giant, off-road SUVs. I found out just how expensive it was when they told me I was responsible for the damage. I didn’t have that kind of cash just lying around. But since I had a lot of Property Damage Liability coverage, I didn’t have to reach into my own wallet to pay the bill. Heather, 64 Widowed and retired You know, those construction zones can be really confusing. I realize that all the temporary lanes and stuff that they do is better than closing down the road completely. But it’s still really confusing sometimes. That was how my accident happened. One week the lanes were drawn one way, and the next week they were all different. I crossed the center line and crashed into an oncoming car. Neither of us was going too fast, but there was still a lot of damage. But I’ve always carried extra Property Damage Liability coverage just for times like this. Thanks to my high limit, the other driver’s repair bills were paid for without me losing a lot of money. Amy, 32 Married, no kids, buying her first home When we were buying our house, we put every extra penny toward the down payment. Then I went and crashed into a guy on his bike. (He’s okay now, thankfully.) Of course it could have been worse—the average bike is way cheaper than the average car. But it was still very bad timing. Everything turned out alright, though. My Property Damage Liability coverage came through with a check to pay for the guy's bike. That was a huge weight off my mind. Mike, 23 Recent grad starting first job Going to school up north was a big deal for me. The lifestyle is really different, especially during winter. We got a lot of snow last year. I didn’t know how to drive in snow, and my first time out I skidded right into a row of parked cars. Not the coolest thing ever. In the end, my Property Damage Liability coverage took care of all the damage. Which is great because I never could have paid for it all myself. Jenny, 24 Young professional, just married and getting ready to move in with husband I’m a pretty safe driver, except for when I’m really tired. And when I was planning my wedding, I was tired a lot. One morning I drove to work half asleep and crashed into another car on the way there. We were going pretty fast, and let’s just say there was a lot of twisted metal. And then? There were a lot of repair bills. I was already broke because of all the wedding costs. But since I had a lot of Property Damage Liability coverage, all the other driver’s damages were taken care of! I don’t know what I would have done without it. Greg, 22 About to graduate and buying his first car Okay, so there are these train tracks that run right next to my college campus. Most people drive over them slow, but last year my roommate didn't remember they were there and zoomed right over them. His truck ended up getting air (which might sound cool) but he busted his tires and skidded into a fence. His Property Damage Liability insurance covered the damage to the fence, so he was all taken care of. (Not that that made a difference to his mom.) |