Rant #3,837: To Cut a Long Story Short

Well, I received the damage estimate on my car, and a timeframe for getting the car back from the shop.

And of course, weirdness entered the fray again, and it seems I can't escape this pall no matter what I do.

I was in the middle of doing some work early yesterday afternoon after attending a work meeting just slightly before.

I received a call on my phone, but it was under "Spam," so although I don't usually answer these calls listed as spam, I did this time.

In a recorded message, the insurance company introduced itself to me right at the get go--

But then, went into Spanish, all Spanish, and nothing but Spanish!

I hung up the phone, and then called them myself.

This time, it was in English, all English, and nothing but English, and I eventually spoke to someone, in English.

To make a long story short, she believed that the call was directed mistakenly to me, rather than to the woman who hit me, who, as I mentioned earlier, didn't seem to speak any English and had to call someone to help her understand the language.

Anyway--and yesterday was three days after the accident--her insurance company had not yet contacted my insurance company--

Leading me to wonder if the woman actually contacted her insurance company after the accident, like I did and like you should when you have an accident like this.

The police even told me to do it right when I got home; I knew that already, but I assume they told her the same thing.

Which brings out the worry wart in me, and makes me wonder what is going on on her side--

Does she even have insurance, or even a license?

On the report the police gave me, it says she has insurance--or at least the car does--but the driver and the car owner are different.

Hmmmm ...

The police took care of me first, and told me to go home, so I was not there afterward, not even there when her car was towed because she hit me so hard that she blew out at least one tire on her car.

Thus, therefore, ergo, I have no idea what transpired afterward, which is probably why the police told me to leave when they saw my car was drivable.

My insurance company has all the information they need, so I did the right thing, but the woman who hit me ...

Who knows?

And then right after I hung up with my insurance company, I received an email saying that my damage estimate was ready to be viewed.

I received the same email yesterday, but even though I clicked what they said and did what they said on the app, it was not working, and I could not get this information.

Today, it took a while, but I actually found where they had this information stored on the app, and I found out that my worst fears were true, that there is plenty of damage and that I won't have my car for about two weeks.

And I am responsible, at least right now, for the deductible, which I reiterated with my insurance company that they were going to try to get that from the woman's insurance company because she was fully at fault, but--

Why has she not reported this to her insurance company?

Who knows what I am dealing with here, and more importantly, who I am dealing with here.

I thought that by law, both sides of an auto accident have to report the incident within 24 hours. I reported mine like 24 minutes after it happened, but she has yet to report it?

Something fishy here, wouldn't you agree?

Is the cup half full or half empty, and am I worrying for nothing?

Well, not for nothing, as I have a pricey deductible that I am going to have to pay, so there is something tangible for worry about on my end.

I do have all of her information on the aforementioned report, and she should have all of my information on the report they gave her.

But what happened after I was told to leave is another story--

At this point, another story for another time.

Then, later on in the day, I spoke to my insurance company again, and she finally did contact them, or at least her lawyer did.

Yes, she retained a lawyer, because she claims she was hurt in the crash, so now I am in a real pickle, and I really don't know what to do.

I do know that I need a copy of the actual police report, which is not easy to get, but I have a number to call to try and get it.

I better start taking pictures of where this all happened, to prove my case.

I contacted a lawyer friend, so I will speak to her about what else I should do.

What a kerfuffle!

I just want to put all of this behind me, and drive away with my repaired car.

But the way it is going, that seems to be a long time off.