Yesterday morning I received a text from my insurance company. They were affirming that they had scheduled an appraiser to prepare an estimate for my truck. They were what? Did I mention that my truck has been in the body shop for two weeks and five days? My first reaction was to allow frustration to define my countenance. It then occurred to me that I need to remember to breath.
I know that I sound like a broken record. Four days ago, my blog related to the same issue. I had concluded that it was time to play hard ball because my patience has worn thin. I guess I really do need to figuratively take a chill pill, but I don't know how to do that.
This morning the memory of damage to a vehicle belonging to my work car from long ago came to mind. I was in Dallas on business and had a very affordable room at the Hyatt Reunion Tower through Priceline. It is a great hotel and I routinely stayed there when I was in Dallas. I always requested a room near the top of the hotel because the view was incredible. The exterior wall was floor to ceiling glass. I'm a top floor kind of guy if I have that option. I generally did.
I also routinely parked on the street after hours and took the tunnel from the train station to the hotel. That way, I saved the agency money by not having to pay for overnight parking. Of course, I had to move the car before 7:00 a.m., but getting up early is not generally a problem for me.
I remember the details like it was yesterday. I had forgotten something I needed in the car and had walked back through the tunnel to go to my car. Walking from the train station to the car, I saw the damage before I got there.
The front driver's side of my car looked like it had been hit by a bus. As it turned out, my assessment was correct. The lady driving the city bus had left a note under the windshield wiper indicating how to contact the city to file an insurance claim. I don't recall that she apologized for the damage she caused.
Fortunately, my car was still drivable, but I'm the guy who goes nuts over a door ding. Trust me, this was 100,000 times worse. Following agency protocol, I had taken pictures of the damage and notified my place of work by telephone the next morning.
When I returned to the office, I was told I needed to file a crash report to send to the DPS. Of course, I would have been identified as the driver of the vehicle. I refused to do that. I wasn't anywhere near the vehicle when the accident occurred. Seriously, my filing a crash report was an unreasonable request. Fortunately, my boss agreed with me. At least, I think he did. I do know that I did not file a crash report for DPS.
Arrangements were made to put my car in the body shop and rent a car. Before work on the car began, an estimate covering the damage was sent to the person handling the claim for the city of Dallas. They balked at the price and would not approve the work being done.
I was in a rental car for about three or four weeks before the back and forth negotiations were finally settled.
When I telephoned my insurance company yesterday to ask about the message on my phone, they told me it could take a week to get an answer. Are you kidding me?
Okay, I need to take a chill pill. Rome wasn't built in a day and there are thousands of people filing insurance claims related to damage. Okay the voice of reason has set in, but it may not last long.
All My Best!
Don
No comments:
Post a Comment