(Personal) I have another reason to be thankful this thanksgiving.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Rizon

* The bad thing was I got a call at work from an obviously drama-queen woman who said my wife was in a "really bad" accident and was being taken to a hospital and she didn't know where. So I had to hurry home, and got stuck in traffic that was DUE to the accident, then driving by the scene, stopping and asking an officer where my wife was (he didn't know). Then standing around at home for over an hour waiting to find out where she was taken (after calling around to all the hospitals). She was literally ok, just a scratch and was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons.

In high school I got in an accident in the rain (my fault for rear-ending the guy in front of me after someone in front of him slammed on their breaks), had to stick around waiting for tow trucks and deal with the police, then my aunt showed up and took me home. Meanwhile my parents got home, got the call, and went looking for me. My mom was FRANTIC by the time she got home to find out I was okay. This was in '85, so LONG before cell phones.

My favorite part of that was that my front dipped because I slammed on the brakes, so my VW Rabbit radiator ate the rear bumper of his American-made large sedan (something like a Cutlass or whatever, I forget 20 years later), and his car stalled and wouldn't start while I had to turn the Rabbit off

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by Rizon

The car we had was about as junk as you can get (Ford Tempo) and literally not worth $5. But in the end we got my ex-wife's medical bills paid (*) and got $1400 for the car (which I paid $1000 for a year earlier).

Glad to know my years of paying auto insurance with 0 claims helped you get more money than you deserved.


Can we just do away with insurance and reinstate debtors prison?

[Mustang]

Several years ago, a guy pulled out in front of me and I blasted him drivers side going about 30. Totaled my car and caused neck and shoulder problems for about a year. The guy was uninsured, but my insurance company paid out $18K for the car (had $14K left to pay), plus $5K for medical and then another $10K for the pain and suffering piece. My insurance didn't go up at all either... Guess I'm lucky.

Airbags are awesome though.

Oh.. and before anyone bitches about the pain/suffering piece, I could do without the $10K for what I dealt with for a year.

[miked]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

Glad to know my years of paying auto insurance with 0 claims helped you get more money than you deserved.


Can we just do away with insurance and reinstate debtors prison?

Just because the car isn't worth anything doesn't mean it is devoid of value. That's exactly what you pay insurance for, so the insurance company doesn't say...bah, it's only worth $5, so go buy a new car for that. You get paid what it costs to replace your car when it's totaled.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I had a family member get in an accident about a year and a half ago. They were found 100% not at fault, yet she gets a call from the other person's insurance company a little bit ago telling her they're refusing to pay all her medical bills as they feel she was "over treated" for her injuries. Meanwhile, the person on the phone had no idea what she was treated for or that she was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Dispute is still going on, too. Good times.

[Flasch186]

Lawyer up.

[boberot]

Three words of wisdom, from my own experience:

SUM
Supplemental Uninsured Motorist coverage

Your insurance salesperson probably won't mention it but after a bad accident my family and I were in a few years ago, I'm making sure everybody in my life knows about it.

SUM protects you where

1. the car that caused your injuries has no insurance or is unknown (a hit and run); and
2. the defendant’s insurance coverage is lower than your own coverage.

We were hit by a loser with no job, a suspended license and driving his mom's shitbox. We received some compensation, but not much. I wish we would have known about SUM before the accident.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

Glad to know my years of paying auto insurance with 0 claims helped you get more money than you deserved.


Can we just do away with insurance and reinstate debtors prison?

Hey, that's what they offered. I'll bet a lot of it had to do with it being the other woman's fault and to keep us from suing (thought never crossed my mind, actually). My wife could have been killed.