One thing leads to another.  This is a cliched phrase that is also very true in life, as Tom and I are frequently reminded.  You make a decision, and before you know it, you are down a rabbit hole.  You choose one thing, which leads to another necessary choice, which leads to a third choice, and fourth.  I’m sure you have been there and know just what I’m talking about.

Tom and I have a lot of “one thing leads to another” experiences.  For the last couple of weeks we have been dealing with the fallout from one of those.  We were running some errands and our last errand was dropping off a return for Amazon at our local UPS.  While sitting in the Prius, waiting for a car to pull into a parking spot ahead of us, a truck backed into us.  It was the world’s slowest moving accident, and Tom almost managed to pull up out of the way.

The person who backed into us was very apologetic.  In her defense, she couldn’t even see the Prius because the truck was so large.  I don’t know if she had backup cameras, but those of us trained with side mirrors have a hard time looking at the backup camera.  We may have even been too close for her backup camera to work.  Anyway, she took full responsibility for the accident and quickly gave us her insurance information.

I had never heard of Erie Insurance before this accident, but I have been very impressed with them as one thing has led to another.  Once I contacted them, they quickly got me started on processing a claim.  They took my information, checked it with the owner of the truck, and then told me how to get the damage evaluated.

I downloaded their app and followed the very clear instructions to take pictures of the damage.  We had a dent and some scratches in the rear of the passenger side.  It looked very minor and I’m not sure we would have done anything if the accident had been our fault.  No lights or sensors broken and no structural damage.  Like I said, the accident was the slowest-moving collision possible.

The estimate came back within a day – so fast!  We had our choice of body shops for the repairs which they estimated to be $2,700.  This seemed really high for the little bit of damage to the car.  So we called Tansky Toyota for them to do the work.  They said our car would have to be in the shop for three to four WEEKS.  What?!  It was just a dent and a few scratches!

I called Erie Insurance back (they are very good about a real person answering the phone right away).  They gave me the name of some other collision repair places near us.  The second place I called is only three miles away, Gerber Collision.  They were a lot more accommodating than Tansky.  We were able to take the car down for them to look at the same afternoon.  When we took it in, Don looked at the car and looked at the estimate and said he could get it down before we leave for Cumberland Gap.  IF we brought it in the next morning.

Ok.  No sense in putting it off.  If it was really going to take a week to fix a dent and some scratches, it was time to get going.  I called Erie Insurance again and they arranged for a rental car from Enterprise.  The next morning, Tom and I drove the Prius to Gerber Collision.  We checked in with them and very soon our rental car from Enterprise arrived.  Now we are driving a Chevy Malibu while the Prius is repaired.  Hopefully everything will be done this week.

When Tom and I pulled into the parking lot to drop off the Amazon package, we had no idea we would be going down this rabbit hole.  But, one thing often leads to another.  I am thankful for the ease of dealing with Erie Insurance and Gerber Collision.  I am also thankful that the accident wasn’t any worse.