09/15/2026
It was dusk on the back road heading home from the plant, right when the light turns gray and the tree line blurs. Two guys who work the exact same shift left the parking lot at 5:00 PM.
They drive similar trucks, live in the same town, and both have my State Farm agency listed on the insurance card in their wallet.
But two weeks later?
One was driving a clean loaner car to work without a care in the world. The other was scrambling to figure out how to cover well over $1,000 in unexpected out-of-pocket expenses.
Here is how a ten-minute difference changed their entire month:
Mark's Story
Mark set up his policy years ago online. He picked a standard deductible, unchecked a few boxes to keep his bill as lean as possible, and put it on auto-pay.
When a deer jumped straight into the middle of his lane, his brakes couldn't stop him in time.
His truck pulled over, but the radiator was cracked and leaking fast. When he went to call for help, he realized he’d skipped Roadside Assistance, so he had to pay hundreds out of pocket just to get his truck towed to the shop.
Worse, when the body shop informed him that replacement parts were backordered for weeks, he discovered he had no Rental Coverage. Paying out of pocket for a rental vehicle for almost a month ran him over a thousand dollars (all before even touching his actual repair deductible).
Chris's Story
Chris was driving a few miles behind him and hit a deer on the exact same stretch of road two nights later.
Six months ago, Chris got an annual review reminder from our office. Instead of tossing it, he dropped by for ten minutes on his lunch break, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down with us. We looked at his daily commute on rural roads and noticed he had zero coverage for rentals or towing, so we added both to his policy on the spot for less than the cost of a single cup of coffee a month.
When Chris hit his deer, a tow truck was dispatched with zero out-of-pocket cost to him. By the next morning, he picked up a temporary vehicle at the rental lot, fully covered while his truck was being repaired.
Both men had the exact same insurance company, and both had my name printed on their cards. The difference wasn't the claim process, the baseline cost of the policy, or the insurance company itself.
The difference was a 10-minute conversation.
Insurance isn't just something you set up once and forget about. It's meant to protect your day-to-day life when bad luck happens on the road.
If it's been a while since we’ve looked over your policy together, stop by the office or give us a quick call. Let’s make sure your coverage actually matches your commute.
