Car insurance that works the way it's supposed to

Remember that tiny dent that I mentioned Alex put into the car parked next to us a few weeks ago because I wasn't watching closely enough? Well, the other car's owner went ahead and called his insurance company, and our insurance agent called us.

And although I wasn't looking forward to the call, it wasn't so bad.

First of all, I want to say that I love our insurance agent. He's nice, professional and competent, and he's also straight forward and helpful.

With that in mind, he gave me the option of deciding whether to claim the incident on our insurance or handle it ourselves. And he helped me make the decision by giving me all of the information I needed.

The damage to the other car is $300. Our deductible applies only to damage to our own vehicle, so the insurance company will cover the entire cost. Because the claim is a low amount, it won't impact our premiums.

The only thing to be concerned about is the possibility of losing our good driver discount if there's another incident in the next three years. (The discount is $80 per year.) Hopefully, that won't be something we have to think about again, though!

One thing I wish I could find out is what the other car's owner thought about before he filed his claim with his insurance company. He did absolutely nothing wrong (both our cars were parked within the lines) so it seems like the claim shouldn't impact his policy at all. And since we'll pay for the damage, his insurance company isn't out any money either. But I've read that multiple small claims can result in higher premiums - although this could apply only to home insurance policies, since there will rarely be a responsible third-party to absorb the cost of those claims. Hm, does anybody know?

All in all, I'm really pleased that our car insurance policy seems to be doing exactly what it's supposed to do, even in a very minor incident!