January 2013: The Month Without A Journey

Yes, this is another one of those posts that is going to start with the following sentence:  “Well, I haven’t written in a while…” 

Why? Well, I’ve had no journeys since my last post – the post about my accident which totaled my car. When I last wrote, I ended the post with my arrival back home on the day of the accident:  Friday December 21, 2012, at 11:30PM. So, what has happened since then?

Sat 12/22/12, 1AM:  I finally felt calmed-down enough to attempt to fall asleep. Attempt. I may have gotten three hours of sleep that night. People say that when something like that happens, adrenaline takes over and takes a while to wear off. 1AM was about the time where I felt my heart rate was slow enough to call it a night. But, people also say that when something like that happens, your brain replays the scene in your mind repeatedly. That was definitely happening, even when I was still awake and watching TV. I could literally picture the 18-wheeler tipping over, over and over again in a mad loop reel. And as I was lying there attempting to fall asleep, that scene kept replaying. I would say that it wasn’t until mid-Saturday afternoon that I consciously realized that the loop reel had stopped. 

Sat 12/22/12, 11AM:  I called the 1-800 number of my insurance company, Progressive, with Flo’s voice echoing in my mind (while, mind you, the movie scene above was also playing in my mind.) I did reach a nice woman on the other end, who took my info, and it was during this phone call that I think I felt my first sense of some ominous foreshadowing. When the State Trooper visited me in the ER that night, he did give me the accident report number, to use when requesting the copy of said accident report. So, I felt armed.  He also said they would mail some information, including a form to fill out to request a copy of the accident report.

The woman starts to ask what are probably the standard questions. What happened? It was…tipping over? You didn’t? Wow, you are lucky (more on this someday). Then…here comes the key questions:

“Did you get the other driver’s information?
“No. He was trapped in the truck.”
“Was he injured?”
“I don’t know. The truck was lying on the drivers’ side.”
“So, you didn’t get the information?”
“No. I didn’t know how to climb up on the truck to shout into the passenger window while he was suspended in mid-air. That’s supposed to be on the accident report.”
“Did the truck have damage?”
“I’m assuming so.”
“Where on the truck?”
“At least the entire left side. Though I didn’t see it. It was on its side.”
“Do you know the company that owned the truck?”
(Thinking, thinking, thinking, coming up blank) “No, I didn’t notice. I think I was ducking.”
“Do you remember the color of the truck?”
“Um, no, I didn’t notice. I think I was ducking.”
“Do you remember the license plate?”
“No.”
(... and so on, and so on.)

In the end, she took my phone numbers and gave me a claim number. I told her to use my cell number as I was out of town. She said that a claim rep would be assigned and give me a call the next business day before 12N, which would be Monday, happened to be Christmas Eve.

So, two hours later, I go online, and in fact, I have a claim rep assigned. Her name and phone number were listed.  But, I realized two discrepancies:  first, all of those lovely Progressive commercials brag about immediate responses, but those commercials don’t mention the words “next business day”. Second, the website stated that their policy is to contact me by the close of the next business day, not 12N. OK, well, that’s a slight difference, but…if a company can’t abide by its own policies… 

Sun 12/23/12: day of rest and day with Daniel.

Mon 12/24/12:  Q - Is Christmas Eve considered a business day? A - I still don’t know, but I received no contact. 

Tue 12/25/12: Christmas Day. But I spent of the day trying to arrange how to drive back from PA to NY, which was originally scheduled for that next day.  With the end of the year approaching, I, along with my co-workers, were not allowed to take time off between the holidays. Because my travel situation (the PA-NY part) is well established, I was given permission to take that next day off to drive back. BUT, a pretty major winter storm was headed towards the East Coast. The storm was projected to begin in the afternoon, from west to east, so I figured out I had time, if I left no later than 10AM, to get back to NY before any winter precip started. With that, I booked an online car rental reservation, for a one-way five-day rental, unsure of my insurance policy covered it, with a pickup time of 8AM.

Wed 12/26/12, 7AM:  I woke up and checked the weather, and surprise! The storm was arriving from south to north, was supposed to start in PA as freezing rain by 9AM, according to the fear-mongering weather.com “NOW!” forecast. So, I woke up my poor retired parents, who drove me to the next town to pick up my one-way car rental. $450 later, I was on the road. I did not run into any weather issues…the freezing rain never occurred in PA, and I arrived in NY ahead of the snow – snow that ended up measuring 14 inches overnight Wed night.  And oh, by the way, no phone calls from Flo and her crew. 

Thu 12/27/12:  I dug my rental car out of the snow, and drove my rental car to work. This is a minor point, but…when I bought my car, I bought a Subaru, since their cars are all All-Wheel Drive, specifically for the Upstate NY/Lake-Effect Snow winters. Last winter, we had a record-least amount of snow. So, in the biggest snow in NY in two winters, I had a front-wheel drive Ford Fusion; which ended up being OK but not great in the snow.  Upon arriving at work, I realized that in fact, Flo and her crew did call me AND e-mail me on Sat 12/22. On my WORK number and my WORK e-mail. Humph. I left two messages with my claim rep, and an e-mail. 

Fri 12/28/12:  a back-up claim rep finally called me. He didn’t have specifics about my case, but was calling to make contact to see if I had questions. What I did find out:  first, my policy didn’t have car rental reimbursement. That was something that needed to be elected at the time of getting my policy.  (NOTE:  don’t assume your car insurance automatically covers rentals. I didn’t assume that mine did, but I never actually thought about it.)  He said that from my description of the accident, I could submit my car rental bills, my deductible, and other expenses, to them and they would attempt to get that from the other company. In the meantime, they basically wanted permission to have my car moved from the towing garage where I left it that Friday, to move it to their salvage yard, so they would determine if the car was repairable, and if not, then value the car and work on cutting a check to pay off the car loan. Their process was to cut a check for the value of the car so I could be on my merry way, and then they try to get recouped from the other insurance company.  So, I ask, what if the loan buyout is more than the value of the car? (And really, when isn’t it, with interest and all of that, unless you put a significant amount down up front?) Did I have separate “gap insurance”?  No, I didn’t think I did. He says that he would be surprised if that ended up being a significant amount, but to ask the regular claim rep that question. In the meantime, they would send my info to the Total Loss Adjuster to get that process up and running.  Also, in the meantime, I would be getting a call from the “No-Fault Department”, which deals with medical claim. Since I was talked into taking a trip to the ER for a slightly-nicked ear, I had medical bills that needed to be covered, and NY State deals with that through a “No-Fault” claim process. So, I should be getting three calls:  one from a Total Loss Adjuster, one from a No-Fault Rep, and one from my assigned Claim Rep.

Later that day, I did receive a call from the No-Fault Claim Rep. They were going to mail out a form that I needed to fill out and send back, so they could pay my medical bills. They’d be able to handle everything. Did I have any questions? No, I didn’t. I hadn’t seen a bill yet and I’d wait to see what they were going to send.

Fri 12/28/12, 8PM:  Watched “Spaceballs” on the big screen, in a local historic theater that decided to marquee my favorite movie. The laughs were needed. And yes, I made a verb out of the word “marquee.”

Sat 12/29/12 thru Tue 1/1/13:  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thurs 1/3/13, 11:45AM:  the difference was a significant amount. Including deductible, $4,400 was/is still owed on my car loan. And no, I didn't have separate "gap insurance".

But let me work backwards:

Wed 1/2/13, 7:30AM:  I turned in my one-way rental, and swapped it for a $350 local rental, good for the next five days

Wed 1/2/13, 9:00AM:  I left a message for my Claim Rep. Then I did get a call from the Total Loss Adjuster, stating that they were considering my car a total loss, and that I needed to provide them with a loan buyout amount, which I did later that day.

Thu 1/2/13, 8:45AM:  my Claim Rep calls me back. It seems as if they are having a hard time getting a copy of the accident report. I realized I never got the “package” that the State Trooper had referred to, either. She said that they checked local news reports, plus did searches on other insurance claims opened that may have matched the details of my accident, but all of their searches came up with nothing. Squatola. In the meantime, they would keep me posted.

Back to chronological order…back to…

Thu 1/3/13, 11:50AM:  the Total Loss Adjuster, after telling me of my shortfall, told me that the next step was to get my copy of the car title, to find the local Progressive office, and sign over my title. They were going to cut a check to the bank for the smaller value of the car, so that the lien could be released on my car, so I could go on my merry way in getting a replacement car!

Thu 1/3/13, 2PM: I leave a message for my Claim Rep.

Fri 1/4/13, 11AM: I leave a message for my Claim Rep. I then talk to the Total Loss Adjuster to inform her that I was on my way to drop off my car title, which I did at their office out in one of the Rochester suburbs.

Sat 1/5/13 thru Sun 1/6/13:  not business days.

Mon 1/7/13, 7AM:  I turned in my car rental. For the sake of managing my cash flow, I decided to not rent another car until it’s absolutely needed. Instead, I have to go out of my comfort zone and ask for help; ask for favors from friends, which I have a hard time doing.

Tue 1/7/13, 9AM thru Wed 1/9/13:  business days, but barely at my desk, since this week is the busiest week of my year at work.

Thu 1/10/13, 1PM:  I leave a message for my Claim Rep.

Fri 1/11/13, 9AM:  I leave a message for my Claim Rep.

Mon 1/14/13:  here I sit.

Now, here’s the interesting thing about all of this, if I choose to ignore for the moment that my insurance company and the PA State Police aren’t doing me any favors by responding in a reasonable time:  where I am is by choice. My title post of “No Journeys” is reflective of that fact that I have not had a car for seven days, but that is really by choice. I could easily continue to add credit card debt by renting cars at $300/week, assuming that when this all gets settled, I will be reimbursed not only for the rental cost, but the potential credit card interest that would be sue.  I could easily take my leftover loan balance and roll that into a new car loan, and include that into my new monthly payment, with additional interest calculated on it. I could then attempt to get the present value (remember High School Math, and Present Value Tables?) of the loan amount reimbursed, and then attempt to have my car loan refinanced with a partial buyout at that time. But to me, there is principle involved here. This was something that was not of my doing, and in theory, I should not have to be out anything, right? At least that is what I keep being told. And I have thought about calling a law firm, also, and haven’t ruled it out yet. But, in the end, if they do expedite things, wouldn’t they just increase the amount paid to me, so they could then get their cut? And in turn, the trucking company’s rates would increase, which would then be passed on and trickled down to me, the end consumer, in terms of higher prices of goods?

But I’m not really doing this to protect the end consumer. I’m doing this in an attempt to protect myself financially. And within me there is a little conspiracy theorist voice that says that this is all part of the plan, which will end up in higher insurance premiums/revenue, higher interest revenue, and higher prices all in the end? I normally take my conspiracy theorist voice at face value, then discount it and then set it aside, but it makes me wonder.

And I’ll be realistic:  this little attempt at financial protection/standing up for principles isn’t going to last much longer. In fact, I give it the balance of this week before I just suck it up and submit to the will of the bank and refinance the remaining loan balance. All while attempting to get a steal on a new car by low-balling the car company and dealer all in the process.

In the end:  all I want to do is just continue on my journeys…whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?  (That phrase seems to have more meaning these days after all of this...) 

(PS – this seems to be a nice transcript to send to a lawyer, right?)