The insurance saga continues...

This isn't me, but it's how I feel. Mind you, I am a VERY laid back person and it takes a LOT to get me upset. In fact, I tend to avoid confrontation and hate to argue. But this situation has frayed my last nerve.

The insurance dilemma is still going on. I didn't hear anything all week, so I called the other insurance company on Thursday to find out the status. I talked to the claim rep's supervisor, maintaining a calm demeanor the whole time. I could tell he was a real schmoozer...tried to explain that they were trying to contact the other party for her statement, but her schedule was so busy...and I should understand that. My son, Jon, got a call today from them saying that she was disputing the claim. **sigh** Jon has been asked to make a statement about what happened about four times now. And when they called to tell him that she was disputing the claim, they asked him AGAIN to give a statement. Does this seem a little odd??? They get ONE statement from her...THREE weeks after the fact, and Jon has given a statement four times??? I told him they're looking for discrepancies in his stories. He has given them the same statement each time...how fast he was going...which lane he was in. Excuse me, but wouldn't the police report, and evidence of the damage and tire marks be proof??? He told Jon that a decision would be made over the weekend. I'm thinking it will be a weekend sometime in March or April considering the hastiness in which they've operated. I am totally frustrated by this whole process...to include my insurance company, State Farm. Since I don't have collision coverage on this vehicle because it's old with lots of mileage, they don't want anything to do with it. At first they were real supportive and said everything would be covered under uninsured coverage...then everything changed. I called my agent this morning when I found about the dispute, and she never even returned my call.

I was talking to one of the instructors in my department this week about it...he teaches driver's education classes at the university. He said he had State Farm insurance for about 25 years and they kept raising the rates. He started looking into other insurance companies and found that Progressive offered a better deal. He went to State Farm to see if he was getting the best deal he could and after the agent spent about ten minutes on the computer checking things out, stood up, shook his hand and told him goodbye. I'm thinking State Farm is getting a little full of itself. I definitely don't have the same feeling for it that I did before...especially since I have never filed a claim with them.

Well, depending on what happens with the woman's (and that's a very nice word compared with how I really feel about her) dispute, I will be contacting an attorney and filing a complaint with the insurance commission of Texas. I'm guessing that because they're dealing with a teenager, they're thinking they can get away with it.

On a more positive note, it was my birthday last Saturday (the 17th). With everything that was going on, I wasn't feeling very festive, but I got this card from a friend tonight which gave me a smile. When I opened it, it played the song, "Tequila." Oh, yeah...I could use one of those about now. Thanks, Barry.

Out of curiosity, I did a search on January 17th birthdays. These are some folks who share my birthday:

Muhammad Ali

Anne Bronte

Al Capone

Jim Carrey

Anton Checkhov

Benjamin Franklin

Andy Kaufman (kind of a coincidence since Jim Carrey portrayed his life in "Man in the Moon" in 1999)

Eartha Kitt

Shari Lewis (remember Lamb Chop???)

Michelle Obama

Kid Rock

Vidal Sassoon

Betty White (I loved her in the "Mary Tyler Moore" show)

So I share a birthday with some pretty cool people (except for maybe Al Capone).

On another note, I'm scheduled to go to Isla the end of May. I haven't even thought about it lately with everything that's going on.

But I could really use a walk along this about now.

Need to vent...

I haven't been very interested in posting or commenting on posts lately. I'll explain why. My 18-year-old son had a traffic accident on the evening of January 1st. (First off, I'll say that no one was injured...the most important thing.) He was on his way to work at the movie theater and was in the far right-hand land of the frontage road of I-35. A woman in a new Mustang was in the left lane alongside of him...and decided she wanted to make a sharp right in front of him to get into Pizza Hut. I think he was probably in her blind spot, but that doesn't make what she did okay. This resulted in cutting him off and she pushed him into the curb and busted his front tire all up rendering the car undrivable. He drives a 1996 Toyota Avalon with over 300,000 miles on it...which he paid for himself. Her car was merely scratched up a bit. Jon's car was towed to a local collision place and it is still there today.

So, we're going on three weeks here. Jon goes to school and has two part-time jobs. Now he's relying on his family and friends to chauffeur him around to these things which he hates because he doesn't like inconveniencing others...he's a very independent kid.

This is gradually becoming a nightmare. The police report declared the woman 100% at fault...and yet nothing has been done since the 1st. Apparently, the woman driving the car was not the owner. And the owner has to give a statement to the insurance company that he did or did not give his permission for the woman to drive his car. He has not returned the insurance company's calls. And it is not known whether the woman driving has insurance of her own. She is not returning calls, either. So, we're in a holding pattern. My insurance company (State Farm) cannot do anything until the insured's company has completed its investigation...which they are taking their time in doing. If they find out the woman was not insured and that the guy DIDN'T give his permission for her to drive the Mustang that night, then my coverage for under/uninsured motorists will cover the damage...and State Farm will go after her to get reimbursed. If he DID give his permission, then his insurance will cover the damage. On another note, his insurance is one of those rinky-dink companies that no one has heard of.

I had the day off today so I checked in with State Farm as to the status. Just more of the same. I am so freakin' frustrated by this I'm about to explode. I pay mucho insurance for having two young boys on my policy, have never submitted a claim, and I feel like I'm being screwed. I'm not upset with State Farm because it was the other driver's fault. But I just having this feeling that the other driver's insurance company is thinking I will just forget about it and it will go away. Of course that's not going to happen, but at this point, I wonder how long this is going to go on. Jon said to me the other day, "I didn't do anything wrong, Mom." And yet we're the ones suffering. Just doesn't seem fair.

Okay...thanks for letting me vent. :-/