Danica Patrick Meets Insurance Agent
We have another crisis at work, so don't expect profound posts from me in the next two weeks or so. I am still, however, capable of blabbering and spilling random stories from my old days.
This post was inspired by Ms. Cornelius, so props to her. It is about how speeding tickets saved me a lot of money and headache once. See, when I was younger, I used to drive fast. Really fast. And get speeding tickets. A lot. I had to go to court once because I got too many over too short a period. By the time I'm going to tell you about, I was comfortably sitting on eight or ten points, I don't remember exactly. That was when my Dad bought a car for himself in my name (don't ask). He happily went to insure his purchase at his Mom&Pop Insurance Company. Fifteen minutes later, Dad's insurance agent called me at work.
Thing is, the agent had somehow convinced Dad that, since the car was in my name, I had to transfer my insurance to Mom&Pop's also. I really liked my insurance company at the time, partly because they overlooked all the traffic violations I'd racked up after I got insurance with them. Not only did they never increase my premium, they also gave me a superior driver discount. In hindsight, this policy was probably the reason why the company went bankrupt a few years later. Anyway, I didn't want to go to Mom&Pop, but the agent pushed, Dad pleaded, and I didn't have enough information to call the agent's bluff. (We found out later I didn't need to be on the same insurance with Dad after all.) My coworkers were starting to stare, and I finally caved in.
"All right," I said. "Give me a quote and we'll see."
"Excellent! I will call you right back," said Dad's agent and never did.
Later that evening, Dad told me how the agent pulled up my driving record and almost fell out of his chair when all my points came up. He told Dad that Mom&Pop did not insure drivers like me. Sorry, he said, company policy.
Since then, I have learned to drive slower and to say no to my own parents. But it was sure nice having those points around back then.
This post was inspired by Ms. Cornelius, so props to her. It is about how speeding tickets saved me a lot of money and headache once. See, when I was younger, I used to drive fast. Really fast. And get speeding tickets. A lot. I had to go to court once because I got too many over too short a period. By the time I'm going to tell you about, I was comfortably sitting on eight or ten points, I don't remember exactly. That was when my Dad bought a car for himself in my name (don't ask). He happily went to insure his purchase at his Mom&Pop Insurance Company. Fifteen minutes later, Dad's insurance agent called me at work.
Thing is, the agent had somehow convinced Dad that, since the car was in my name, I had to transfer my insurance to Mom&Pop's also. I really liked my insurance company at the time, partly because they overlooked all the traffic violations I'd racked up after I got insurance with them. Not only did they never increase my premium, they also gave me a superior driver discount. In hindsight, this policy was probably the reason why the company went bankrupt a few years later. Anyway, I didn't want to go to Mom&Pop, but the agent pushed, Dad pleaded, and I didn't have enough information to call the agent's bluff. (We found out later I didn't need to be on the same insurance with Dad after all.) My coworkers were starting to stare, and I finally caved in.
"All right," I said. "Give me a quote and we'll see."
"Excellent! I will call you right back," said Dad's agent and never did.
Later that evening, Dad told me how the agent pulled up my driving record and almost fell out of his chair when all my points came up. He told Dad that Mom&Pop did not insure drivers like me. Sorry, he said, company policy.
Since then, I have learned to drive slower and to say no to my own parents. But it was sure nice having those points around back then.
