The other insurance company
Last week, I was surprised by a call I made to the insurance company of the driver who struck my son and destroyed my Saturn SL at the beginning of the month. I tend to make fun of gadget-laden phones, but fortunately (in this case) my son is into such junk and took heaps of detailed photos at the scene. My initial e-mail to the team leader on the claim:
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:46:29 -0500
To: XXXX@[some-insurance-company].com
From: "Eugene C. Braig IV"
Subject: XXXX claim no. XXXX
Greetings XXXX,
I have been unable to reach you by phone. I know our claim was passed to your attention either the day of or the day after the accident. I left voice mail for you personally on 8 January.
One of your insured struck one of my cars being driven by my son in a parking lot in Dublin, OH the afternoon of 3 January 2008. I did manage to reach somebody in your office today when I was quite surprised to hear that your insured may be disputing liability on the grounds that my son ran a stop sign. Hopefully, the attached will help clarify the day's event. The white Saturn SL is mine, and the Hummer H3 is that of your insured. In particular, note 0103081425 and 0103081425a. The former shows the island that lies parallel to and separates the lane along my son's course from the main lane of traffic. You can see your insured clearly turned right into my son's lane and struck him before he had left the lane contained by that island. In the latter, 0103081425a, you can see the islands that lie perpendicular to my son's lane and that separate the cross-lane along which your insured was driving; these islands also hold a stop sign for and to the left of my son's course, not visible in these images. You can clearly see my son had not yet passed the islands parallel to that stop sign nor entered the cross-lane when your insured entered his lane, crossed the center line, and struck my car.
My son is not a minor. Assuming you will want his statement, his cell phone is XXXX.
The parking lot where this occurred (6335 Perimeter Dr., Dublin, OH 43017) is private property, so no citation was issued. However, there is a police report written by the City of Dublin PD (phone: XXXX) that places your insured at fault. The attending officer was XXXX and the incident number, XXXX.
My car that was involved is not drive-able. It has been towed to a shop I know to be a certified repairer for your company: Dan Tobin, Inc., 2539 Billingsley Rd., Columbus, OH 43235. I believe the body shop manager there, XXXX, already has a formal repair estimate completed for my car. You can reach her at XXXX.
My three-driver household has been without this car for a week now: as you might imagine, a very serious inconvenience. My other car is scheduled for repairs on 14-17 January. We cannot follow through with that appointment unless we have another car in place. As part of our claim, we will need a rental car while the car involved in the accident with your insured is repaired. Obviously, we will need it very soon, before business hours Monday, 14 January. The delay has entirely come of waiting for response from [your company]. Conveniently, the body shop that is holding my car also has a rental facility. Please let me know at your earliest convenience when I can proceed, procure a rental car as part of my claim with [your company], and have my own vehicle repaired.
My cell phone is XXXX. My office contact info is copied below.
Sincerely,
Eugene
A subsequent call and the investigator told me they did not have the police report, and it would take them "several weeks" to get a copy. I pointed out that it is download-able from the police department's site! She stuck to her story of "several weeks", so I FAX-ed the report to her at her office, then booked a rental car to start Monday, 14 January. She called back Friday evening, 11 January, to tell me she was approving the claim at "100% liability." She was very pleasant and thanked me for being so helpful and polite. She also told me the photos were "very useful" (i.e., irrefutable). With both cars in the shop, we are now reduced to a singular rental. The money from our claim has not yet arrived, and there is still a chance some higher-up will nix it, but that would be foolish...'cause I ain't in no mood.
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:46:29 -0500
To: XXXX@[some-insurance-company].com
From: "Eugene C. Braig IV"
Subject: XXXX claim no. XXXX
Greetings XXXX,
I have been unable to reach you by phone. I know our claim was passed to your attention either the day of or the day after the accident. I left voice mail for you personally on 8 January.
One of your insured struck one of my cars being driven by my son in a parking lot in Dublin, OH the afternoon of 3 January 2008. I did manage to reach somebody in your office today when I was quite surprised to hear that your insured may be disputing liability on the grounds that my son ran a stop sign. Hopefully, the attached will help clarify the day's event. The white Saturn SL is mine, and the Hummer H3 is that of your insured. In particular, note 0103081425 and 0103081425a. The former shows the island that lies parallel to and separates the lane along my son's course from the main lane of traffic. You can see your insured clearly turned right into my son's lane and struck him before he had left the lane contained by that island. In the latter, 0103081425a, you can see the islands that lie perpendicular to my son's lane and that separate the cross-lane along which your insured was driving; these islands also hold a stop sign for and to the left of my son's course, not visible in these images. You can clearly see my son had not yet passed the islands parallel to that stop sign nor entered the cross-lane when your insured entered his lane, crossed the center line, and struck my car.
My son is not a minor. Assuming you will want his statement, his cell phone is XXXX.
The parking lot where this occurred (6335 Perimeter Dr., Dublin, OH 43017) is private property, so no citation was issued. However, there is a police report written by the City of Dublin PD (phone: XXXX) that places your insured at fault. The attending officer was XXXX and the incident number, XXXX.
My car that was involved is not drive-able. It has been towed to a shop I know to be a certified repairer for your company: Dan Tobin, Inc., 2539 Billingsley Rd., Columbus, OH 43235. I believe the body shop manager there, XXXX, already has a formal repair estimate completed for my car. You can reach her at XXXX.
My three-driver household has been without this car for a week now: as you might imagine, a very serious inconvenience. My other car is scheduled for repairs on 14-17 January. We cannot follow through with that appointment unless we have another car in place. As part of our claim, we will need a rental car while the car involved in the accident with your insured is repaired. Obviously, we will need it very soon, before business hours Monday, 14 January. The delay has entirely come of waiting for response from [your company]. Conveniently, the body shop that is holding my car also has a rental facility. Please let me know at your earliest convenience when I can proceed, procure a rental car as part of my claim with [your company], and have my own vehicle repaired.
My cell phone is XXXX. My office contact info is copied below.
Sincerely,
Eugene
A subsequent call and the investigator told me they did not have the police report, and it would take them "several weeks" to get a copy. I pointed out that it is download-able from the police department's site! She stuck to her story of "several weeks", so I FAX-ed the report to her at her office, then booked a rental car to start Monday, 14 January. She called back Friday evening, 11 January, to tell me she was approving the claim at "100% liability." She was very pleasant and thanked me for being so helpful and polite. She also told me the photos were "very useful" (i.e., irrefutable). With both cars in the shop, we are now reduced to a singular rental. The money from our claim has not yet arrived, and there is still a chance some higher-up will nix it, but that would be foolish...'cause I ain't in no mood.