All the latest from here on me and "Fritz"....(long)
07-23-2000, 11:01 AM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 999
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
All the latest from here on me and "Fritz"....(long)
Here's all the latest on me and Fritz...
1> I'm feeling better...was actually able to muster a decent sneeze this morning for the first time since the accident! Now, that may not sound like much, but my body has been stopping itself before allowing a full-fledged sneeze, no doubt because of the rib-area injuries, ever since the accident. Although it hurt like crazy, at least I *was* able to sneeze this morning! A good sign, I think.
Emotionally, I'm up & down like a rollercoaster. After talking to State Farm and an attorney last week (more about that later...), I had a horrendously "down" night Thursday night and just couldn't stop crying. Guess I needed a serious "self-pity night". I've been more sane ever since, so I guess it did me some good.
I still can't sleep very well, though, and I'm sure it will take a LONG time to get over the trauma I went through. When I close my eyes, I just keeping seeing that Camry grill headed toward me...
2> I don't know anything new regarding Fritz...but since everyone in our office will be back from their vacations this week, giving me more flexibility, I plan to drive out to Don McGill at lunchtime one day to see what's new. They are encouraging me to do so...and to bring the digi-camera along. Needless to say, I might try to post a few shots IF I get anything interesting to everybody here.
3> Now here's all the bad news. Please recall that because we weren't sure that Mr. "black Camry" had insurance, my own State Farm policy filed a claim, seeking eventual reimbursement from his insurance company IF he had one. He does...it's Allstate...and apparently after their initial investigation of the accident, they have decided that I'm the victim but that I was partially at fault!!! They therefore don't want to pay all the costs to fix Fritz, and I'm just furious! Now, to be fair here, apparently they don't yet have the police report (it's never been filed...after over a month???), have never interviewed me OR my witness, and are ONLY going on the word of the guy who hit me. They also don't want to cover ANY of the cost of a rental car while Fritz is being repaired, and they don't want to hear about reimbursing me for any "diminished value" for Fritz because of the fact that he's been in a major accident! I contacted an attorney recommended by one of my colleagues. Apparently, in this guy's opinion, I'm not injured badly enough for him to want to take the case on contingency. And if he helped me recover the "property losses" (including rental car reimbursement), he'd have to charge me so much (NOT recoverable by charging Allstate, either, under Texas law!) that I'd be better off just eating any loss! I'm SO frustrated at this stage!
But what he recommended (as did State Farm, by the way) is that I call the Allstate adjuster and volunteer for a taped telephone interview, so that they can hear my side of the story. I'm getting well-prepared for this interview, too...making sure that at the end I add my comments about my witness, about the fact that Fritz is my only car so that I will need a rental car until he's fixed, about the reason it will take so long to fix him, about my claim for "diminished value", etc. The attorney suspects that I might get them to eventually pay 100% of Fritz's restoration cost + the medical bills + $20 to $25/day for maybe 2 months for the rental car --- but he's doubtful that I'll get anything out of Allstate for "diminished value".
I've already talked to my witness again, and he's ready to do whatever he can to assist. Whew!! When I explained that I was having trouble with Allstate, it made *him* angry along with me...and he's even MORE ready to help.
And of course I've got to figure out why the officer never filed the police report...which clearly indicates that the guy who hit me is 100% at fault and was ticketed for failure to yield. I don't exactly know where to begin but will just start making calls to the Houston Police Dept until I find out what's wrong here.
Meanwhile, Enterprise found me a 2000 Saab 9-5 sedan with only 1600 miles on it. VERY safe car, of course...WITH side airbags...and a pleasure to drive compared to the American cars I've had so far. But even with State Farm's maximum discount, it's costing me $39/day. At least getting a better temporary car has cheered me up a bit.
So, folks, in the event I come out on the money-losing end here...primarily because it's going to take so long to fix Fritz...I guess I need to just focus on the fact that if I had been driving an "ordinary car" (i.e., one which COULD be fixed in a month or so), I ALSO might have been killed or VERY seriously-injured in the accident. I guess any possible financial loss can be considered a sort of cost of surviving the accident with such relatively-minor injuries.
After a restful weekend, I'm ready to begin the battle anew this week. Once I've tracked down the missing accident report and had my Allstate interview, I'm going to REALLY begin pushing State Farm to push Allstate...although the attorney with whom I spoke told me that Allstate are, in his words, "the biggest jerks in the car insurance business". Not very encouraging, huh?
Any ideas from any of you are quite welcome. Thanks for letting me "vent" a bit here, and thanks again SO much for your friendship, support & compassion! All of you have helped me SO much through all this!
And hopefully I'll have a good "Fritz update" in a day or so!
Janet
Wounded '00 180QC
1> I'm feeling better...was actually able to muster a decent sneeze this morning for the first time since the accident! Now, that may not sound like much, but my body has been stopping itself before allowing a full-fledged sneeze, no doubt because of the rib-area injuries, ever since the accident. Although it hurt like crazy, at least I *was* able to sneeze this morning! A good sign, I think.
Emotionally, I'm up & down like a rollercoaster. After talking to State Farm and an attorney last week (more about that later...), I had a horrendously "down" night Thursday night and just couldn't stop crying. Guess I needed a serious "self-pity night". I've been more sane ever since, so I guess it did me some good.
I still can't sleep very well, though, and I'm sure it will take a LONG time to get over the trauma I went through. When I close my eyes, I just keeping seeing that Camry grill headed toward me...
2> I don't know anything new regarding Fritz...but since everyone in our office will be back from their vacations this week, giving me more flexibility, I plan to drive out to Don McGill at lunchtime one day to see what's new. They are encouraging me to do so...and to bring the digi-camera along. Needless to say, I might try to post a few shots IF I get anything interesting to everybody here.
3> Now here's all the bad news. Please recall that because we weren't sure that Mr. "black Camry" had insurance, my own State Farm policy filed a claim, seeking eventual reimbursement from his insurance company IF he had one. He does...it's Allstate...and apparently after their initial investigation of the accident, they have decided that I'm the victim but that I was partially at fault!!! They therefore don't want to pay all the costs to fix Fritz, and I'm just furious! Now, to be fair here, apparently they don't yet have the police report (it's never been filed...after over a month???), have never interviewed me OR my witness, and are ONLY going on the word of the guy who hit me. They also don't want to cover ANY of the cost of a rental car while Fritz is being repaired, and they don't want to hear about reimbursing me for any "diminished value" for Fritz because of the fact that he's been in a major accident! I contacted an attorney recommended by one of my colleagues. Apparently, in this guy's opinion, I'm not injured badly enough for him to want to take the case on contingency. And if he helped me recover the "property losses" (including rental car reimbursement), he'd have to charge me so much (NOT recoverable by charging Allstate, either, under Texas law!) that I'd be better off just eating any loss! I'm SO frustrated at this stage!
But what he recommended (as did State Farm, by the way) is that I call the Allstate adjuster and volunteer for a taped telephone interview, so that they can hear my side of the story. I'm getting well-prepared for this interview, too...making sure that at the end I add my comments about my witness, about the fact that Fritz is my only car so that I will need a rental car until he's fixed, about the reason it will take so long to fix him, about my claim for "diminished value", etc. The attorney suspects that I might get them to eventually pay 100% of Fritz's restoration cost + the medical bills + $20 to $25/day for maybe 2 months for the rental car --- but he's doubtful that I'll get anything out of Allstate for "diminished value".
I've already talked to my witness again, and he's ready to do whatever he can to assist. Whew!! When I explained that I was having trouble with Allstate, it made *him* angry along with me...and he's even MORE ready to help.
And of course I've got to figure out why the officer never filed the police report...which clearly indicates that the guy who hit me is 100% at fault and was ticketed for failure to yield. I don't exactly know where to begin but will just start making calls to the Houston Police Dept until I find out what's wrong here.
Meanwhile, Enterprise found me a 2000 Saab 9-5 sedan with only 1600 miles on it. VERY safe car, of course...WITH side airbags...and a pleasure to drive compared to the American cars I've had so far. But even with State Farm's maximum discount, it's costing me $39/day. At least getting a better temporary car has cheered me up a bit.
So, folks, in the event I come out on the money-losing end here...primarily because it's going to take so long to fix Fritz...I guess I need to just focus on the fact that if I had been driving an "ordinary car" (i.e., one which COULD be fixed in a month or so), I ALSO might have been killed or VERY seriously-injured in the accident. I guess any possible financial loss can be considered a sort of cost of surviving the accident with such relatively-minor injuries.
After a restful weekend, I'm ready to begin the battle anew this week. Once I've tracked down the missing accident report and had my Allstate interview, I'm going to REALLY begin pushing State Farm to push Allstate...although the attorney with whom I spoke told me that Allstate are, in his words, "the biggest jerks in the car insurance business". Not very encouraging, huh?
Any ideas from any of you are quite welcome. Thanks for letting me "vent" a bit here, and thanks again SO much for your friendship, support & compassion! All of you have helped me SO much through all this!
And hopefully I'll have a good "Fritz update" in a day or so!
Janet
Wounded '00 180QC
07-23-2000, 11:29 AM
#2
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 790
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Typical insurance company behaviour!
Glad to hear you're feeling better Janet.
Just remember , it's all a game to these people and I really believe that "What goes round, comes round"
I'm sure it will all work out fine.
Just remember , it's all a game to these people and I really believe that "What goes round, comes round"
I'm sure it will all work out fine.
07-23-2000, 11:43 AM
#4
Eighth Member of AudiWorld. God-like, glorious and all-knowing.
Re: All the latest from here on me and "Fritz"....(long)
Janet, when a police officer investigates an automobile accident, they do not assign fault in terms of percentages. They list P-1, P-2, P-3 and so on depending on the number of vehicles involved.
P-1 is generally the party that the officer considers to be primarily at fault. The report will generally list the State Vehicle Code section which P-1 is likely to have violated, as well as another box for associated factors.
As a side note, in the associated factors box, we used to sometimes write, "HUA", "LAA", "DWA". HUA stood for "head up ***", LAA stood for "looking at ***", DWA was "driving while Asian". Some Commander got word of it, and we had to stop.
Anyhow, the insurance companies' respective investigators determine faults as a percentage. Often, the insurance folks will assign a certain percentage fault to P-2 for one reason or other. Your insurance company may still cover you for the difference, just keep in close contact with your adjuster.
I would never have my car insurance through Allstate. Not only are their rates high, but when my ex-girlfriend was in a wreck years ago, they pretty much coerced her to take her car to a ****ty repair facility that I'm sure they had an arrangement with.
The car took a couple of months to repair the front-end damage. She finally picked it up, but it wouldn't start due to "electrical problems". A week or so later, it was finally ready.
So she took the car home, and the very next morning, drove it to the supermarket. When she returned to the car and tried to start it, it burst into flames. Initially, she was trapped in the car, because the power locks would not open.
Finally, she got out, and the car was burned to the ground.
Allstate investigated this and said that the electrical failure was unrelated to the original accident. Normally, she would be covered, but because her mother (who paid her bills) accidentally applied the premium to her dad's policy (the premium came due while the car was in the shop).
Even though it was an accident, payment was not credited to her policy on time, so her insurance was null and void, and Allstate was therefore denying her claim.
She had a lawyer, who was a friend of her family, try to get Allstate to pay for the car, but after a year of no luck he finally bowed out.
So I "took on the case". I went up the chain of command, speaking to one idiot after another. After considerable time, and over a year from the incident, I found the one guy with a brain.
I was able to get her high retail blue book, the deductible waived, and interest accrued at a rate of 9% from the date of the fire, to the date that the check was cut.
So while it worked out eventually, the whole experience was a nightmare, and really soured me toward Allstate aka, "The Good Hands People".
P-1 is generally the party that the officer considers to be primarily at fault. The report will generally list the State Vehicle Code section which P-1 is likely to have violated, as well as another box for associated factors.
As a side note, in the associated factors box, we used to sometimes write, "HUA", "LAA", "DWA". HUA stood for "head up ***", LAA stood for "looking at ***", DWA was "driving while Asian". Some Commander got word of it, and we had to stop.
Anyhow, the insurance companies' respective investigators determine faults as a percentage. Often, the insurance folks will assign a certain percentage fault to P-2 for one reason or other. Your insurance company may still cover you for the difference, just keep in close contact with your adjuster.
I would never have my car insurance through Allstate. Not only are their rates high, but when my ex-girlfriend was in a wreck years ago, they pretty much coerced her to take her car to a ****ty repair facility that I'm sure they had an arrangement with.
The car took a couple of months to repair the front-end damage. She finally picked it up, but it wouldn't start due to "electrical problems". A week or so later, it was finally ready.
So she took the car home, and the very next morning, drove it to the supermarket. When she returned to the car and tried to start it, it burst into flames. Initially, she was trapped in the car, because the power locks would not open.
Finally, she got out, and the car was burned to the ground.
Allstate investigated this and said that the electrical failure was unrelated to the original accident. Normally, she would be covered, but because her mother (who paid her bills) accidentally applied the premium to her dad's policy (the premium came due while the car was in the shop).
Even though it was an accident, payment was not credited to her policy on time, so her insurance was null and void, and Allstate was therefore denying her claim.
She had a lawyer, who was a friend of her family, try to get Allstate to pay for the car, but after a year of no luck he finally bowed out.
So I "took on the case". I went up the chain of command, speaking to one idiot after another. After considerable time, and over a year from the incident, I found the one guy with a brain.
I was able to get her high retail blue book, the deductible waived, and interest accrued at a rate of 9% from the date of the fire, to the date that the check was cut.
So while it worked out eventually, the whole experience was a nightmare, and really soured me toward Allstate aka, "The Good Hands People".
07-23-2000, 12:09 PM
#5
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 999
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks, Brad....(more)
...and do you have any tips on how I should proceed with the Houston Police Department to find out why the accident report was never filed?
My plan is to first contact the "Records Division" to make sure that the report truly *isn't* available. If they have no record of its having been filed, I am hopeful that the clerk can give me another number to call to follow up.
I noticed on the HPD web site that there is a phone number for the "Accidents Division". I figured that I'd give *it* a try should the report really not be available yet. The officer didn't write his name & badge # on the form he gave me, but he *did* give me the "Case Number".
By the way, I'm sure his report will be in my favor. He made it a point to tell me that I clearly had the right-of-way...but he cautioned me to stay in touch with my witness, in case the guy who hit me decided to plead innocent once the report was filed. He took a LOT of time to get my statement down accurately. He pointed out to me that on the *other* side of his form, where the other guy's statement would be noted, the ONLY sentence written was "I didn't see her".
Any thoughts from you will be greatly appreciated, Brad. Luckily for me, I've never been through anything like this before.
And by the way, State Farm have already told me that they *will* cover the balance of the cost of repairs to Fritz should Allstate not come through, and you can bet that I'm going to work CLOSELY with the folks out at Don McGill to make sure that EVERY LITTLE DETAIL is taken into account!
Thanks...
Janet
Wounded '00 180QC
My plan is to first contact the "Records Division" to make sure that the report truly *isn't* available. If they have no record of its having been filed, I am hopeful that the clerk can give me another number to call to follow up.
I noticed on the HPD web site that there is a phone number for the "Accidents Division". I figured that I'd give *it* a try should the report really not be available yet. The officer didn't write his name & badge # on the form he gave me, but he *did* give me the "Case Number".
By the way, I'm sure his report will be in my favor. He made it a point to tell me that I clearly had the right-of-way...but he cautioned me to stay in touch with my witness, in case the guy who hit me decided to plead innocent once the report was filed. He took a LOT of time to get my statement down accurately. He pointed out to me that on the *other* side of his form, where the other guy's statement would be noted, the ONLY sentence written was "I didn't see her".
Any thoughts from you will be greatly appreciated, Brad. Luckily for me, I've never been through anything like this before.
And by the way, State Farm have already told me that they *will* cover the balance of the cost of repairs to Fritz should Allstate not come through, and you can bet that I'm going to work CLOSELY with the folks out at Don McGill to make sure that EVERY LITTLE DETAIL is taken into account!
Thanks...
Janet
Wounded '00 180QC
07-23-2000, 01:17 PM
#6
Elder Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 19,795
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I can offer empathy on dealing with recouping court costs...
When Ali and I bought this house 2.5 years ago, we discovered a bunch of obviously hidden wood rot. Some of it was structural. We have spent $10,000 so far over 2.5 years fixing these problems. (The good news is I think we found them all and fixed them now!)
When we discovered the first set of problems, essentially a rotten wall, we spoke to an attorney about our rights under the Florida laws that apply to disclosure while selling a home. It turned out, we could sue the sellers, and I had some pretty good photogrpahic evidence showing cover-ups. However, there is no provision in that law to recover legal costs. So, we could have spent $7,000 in legal fees to get (at that time) $5,000 back.
We did get a settlement from one of the inspector's insurance companies that covered %80 of the initial expense of replacing the rotted wall.
In the last few weeks we have spent another $5,000 to have the rest of it fixed and painted.
My point is this: There were periods of time during that initial nightmare and even reccently when the house seemed to be settling again (25 year old house settling!) when we were as emotionally distraught as you are. At least, let me say we were very distraught. Very heavy strain on our new marriage. But now, with it all fixed (I believe) we are happy again, and a huge stressor has been removed from our lives.
Fritz will get fixed, you will heal and you will be happy again. I hope I helped you get in touch with those future feelings, because you will be happy again. Cars can be fixed, wounds heal, and the psyche heals.
All my best,
Ivan<p>Ivan
<i>Jacksonville, Florida<i>
<img SRC="http://www.geocities.com/y2ktturbo/tinytt.jpg" BORDER=0>
"Zorro" 2000MY, 180hp, Fronttrak, Silver/Ebony, MKII suspension, spoilTT,
K&N, Garmin EMap GPS, Colgan "mask", Audi roof rack, Cobra R/D
When we discovered the first set of problems, essentially a rotten wall, we spoke to an attorney about our rights under the Florida laws that apply to disclosure while selling a home. It turned out, we could sue the sellers, and I had some pretty good photogrpahic evidence showing cover-ups. However, there is no provision in that law to recover legal costs. So, we could have spent $7,000 in legal fees to get (at that time) $5,000 back.
We did get a settlement from one of the inspector's insurance companies that covered %80 of the initial expense of replacing the rotted wall.
In the last few weeks we have spent another $5,000 to have the rest of it fixed and painted.
My point is this: There were periods of time during that initial nightmare and even reccently when the house seemed to be settling again (25 year old house settling!) when we were as emotionally distraught as you are. At least, let me say we were very distraught. Very heavy strain on our new marriage. But now, with it all fixed (I believe) we are happy again, and a huge stressor has been removed from our lives.
Fritz will get fixed, you will heal and you will be happy again. I hope I helped you get in touch with those future feelings, because you will be happy again. Cars can be fixed, wounds heal, and the psyche heals.
All my best,
Ivan<p>Ivan
<i>Jacksonville, Florida<i>
<img SRC="http://www.geocities.com/y2ktturbo/tinytt.jpg" BORDER=0>
"Zorro" 2000MY, 180hp, Fronttrak, Silver/Ebony, MKII suspension, spoilTT,
K&N, Garmin EMap GPS, Colgan "mask", Audi roof rack, Cobra R/D
07-23-2000, 02:26 PM
#7
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 792
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Glad to hear you are feeling noticeably better. don't give up - you and fritz are worth the fight...
come here when you need to cheering up or support. There are a lot of people with a lot of knowledge and experiences.
Dan
Dan
Trending Topics
07-23-2000, 03:05 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 9,105
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How can you be to blame at all? It wasn't YOU who ran the STOP sign! It was Mr. Black Camry!
Same old insurance garbage! Keep the faith, Kiddo!
All will be well and remember to "splint" while
sneezing! Here's a tissue for you!
All will be well and remember to "splint" while
sneezing! Here's a tissue for you!
07-23-2000, 04:25 PM
#9
Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 2,536
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I've been wondering about you and Fritz! Glad to hear you...
...are doing better. I'm sure that once everything is together you won't have any problem proving the total fault of the other driver. Insurance companies can be a pain to deal with, but if you keep at them they'll get sick of you and pay up. Take care and say hi to Fritz for us. Good luck! :-)<p><img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/A4xtsg5.jpg" BORDER=0></a>
2000 Nissan Xterra SE V6 4x4 (personal)
'98 A4 2.8 Q-Tip (business)
2000 Nissan Xterra SE V6 4x4 (personal)
'98 A4 2.8 Q-Tip (business)
07-23-2000, 04:46 PM
#10
Eighth Member of AudiWorld. God-like, glorious and all-knowing.
Re: Thanks, Brad....(more)
Sure sounds to me like a report was filed. There wouldn't be a case number without a report (at least here in San Diego). If records division doesn't have it, you could try the accident division or traffic division, if they have one. Sounds like it shouldn't be too tough to find it.