Ugh. Accident.
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Who was it recently talking about driving getting worse lately. ... Oh... it was me.
So I was hit this morning while driving down an Union Avenue in Laconia. In town so we were only going around 30mph. But as soon as I got to high street, a very steep hill that ends with a stop sign at Union Avenue, I could see out the corner of my eye, a car flying down the hill and swerving to avoid the car that was stopped at the sign. I was in the intersection and he was headed right for me. He tried to turn left but there was no way at that speed and he hit me in the driver side door and front fender area.
I could see an impact coming, wham! But then there was a panic moment when my car went out of control sideways across a 3 or 4' curb and into the parking lot on the other side. I just remember see lamp posts and a tree or two, and those few unknown moments were scary, but the car stopped. It had snuck between two relatively close obstructions.
Crap. Living in NYC, there is really no such thing as being stranded, public transport abounds and one can get oneself home. But was alone, car had been towed away, . . . what to do?
I had just left the garage and had a brand new set of tires -- the accident happened just a quarter mile from there! So I walked back to the garage to see if I could have the tow company bring the car over, but it turns out they don't do body work. He recommended a few places nearby that do. Unfortunately, the one place, next door is booked up till the 16th. I didn't get to the other place, but it might be moot. We'll see.
I also asked them about car rental places in the city and luckily Enterprise was very nearby. But they didn't have any cars. I felt very stranded, but the woman at Enterprise was very helpful. Then I thought she could check some Enterprise offices in nearby cities (Concord, the capital; Plymouth, near home). Nothing. Finally she tried Rochester and they had a car available.
I called a taxi to see if they'd drive me all the way (about an hour away). They would! So I had transport to the rental and a rental waiting. In the meantime, a car became available in Plymouth, near me and the taxi driver said it would even be cheaper to drive to Plymouth (about 25 miles). Whew.
But now I have a question, never having been in an accident before.
Q: AAA (my insurance) wants me to go to the towing company that took my car, recover my personal possessions and license plates and release the car to AAA. AAA will then have it towed to one of their adjusters to decide if it's repairable or totaled. Is this normal? What if the damage is just cosmetic? It all seems like it will take weeks. Ugh.
Feeling shook, but I stopped at the store on the way home to pick up a bottle of Prosecco and a dozen roses to celebrate life. And for a little while, I'll be driving a Nissan.
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Damn. At least you weren't injured, @Bernard. And yes, definitely indulge yourself with some Prosecco. And chocolate. And anything else you feel like!
I think as far as insurance it all boils down to
A) what the retail value of the car is and
B) what the cost to repair damage, cosmetic or otherwise, is.If B exceeds A, it gets totaled.
Hugs to you....
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Damn. At least you weren't injured, @Bernard. And yes, definitely indulge yourself with some Prosecco. And chocolate. And anything else you feel like!
I think as far as insurance it all boils down to
A) what the retail value of the car is and
B) what the cost to repair damage, cosmetic or otherwise, is.If B exceeds A, it gets totaled.
Hugs to you....
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@Bernard , sorry that your car got hit in an accident. Glad that you are unharmed.
About insurance … it may depend on the circumstances company, but my experience has been that it usually doesn’t take long for an insurance company to send out an adjuster to look at your car, and for the adjuster to issue an estimate. Think “days,” not “weeks.”
Good luck. -
Thanks, @Ax, and @ShiroKuro.
I've just spoken to the first adjuster (a different one will phone tomorrow, probably) and she did make it sound like things will move along.
A bit of good news, though. My policy has rental coverage, so I will only have to pay $35/day for the rental. Yay.
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@Bernard said in Ugh. Accident.:
I just talked to the towing guy and he feels pretty sure it's totalled. Ugh.
Given your description of the accident, it's hard to imagine that the car would NOT be totaled. You're describing an impact that likely messed up the chassis.
They'll give you the bluebook value of the car (or some other similar estimate), which is a pain. But that's often better than repairing a car, especially a nice one, because most insurers (State Farm, Geico, and so on) are unlikely to allow you to use OEM parts. For that, you would have to have used a costly insurer like Chubb. Most insurers will require the body shop to use parts made by "Richard's auto parts" in some basement in Akron that do the job but are usually nowhere near the quality of OEM parts.
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Oh Bernard. Are you sure you are ok? You may be sore or worse tomorrow. If you start feeling stiff please do get yourself checked out.
It sounds like a bad one. I recently went through this myself--rear ended, car was drivable. It ended up being close to $10k for repairs, which surprised me.
Adjuster took a few days. Repair took weeks. I paid for my own rental replacement but enterprise gave me the insurance rate of $35 /day. It added up.
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Damn. That’s a shame.
Glad you’re all right!
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Oh Bernard. Are you sure you are ok? You may be sore or worse tomorrow. If you start feeling stiff please do get yourself checked out.
It sounds like a bad one. I recently went through this myself--rear ended, car was drivable. It ended up being close to $10k for repairs, which surprised me.
Adjuster took a few days. Repair took weeks. I paid for my own rental replacement but enterprise gave me the insurance rate of $35 /day. It added up.
@rustyfingers My left shoulder is sensitive, like I'd had a vaccination, and my left side when I make certain movements is a little stiff, but otherwise not bad.
At this point I'm rather hoping it is called a total.
Sorry to hear of your being rear ended.
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Damn. That’s a shame.
Glad you’re all right!
@Steve-Miller Thanks, Steve.
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Glad you’re okay. Hope you still feel okay tomorrow! Prosecco cheers to you. Sorry about the car.
