Insurance Issues

In spite of a police report that says the other driver is at fault, the insurance company ruled that my husband is 75% at fault.  This conveniently gets them out of paying for any of our expenses or our car. 

Their argument was that Jeff hit her in the back of the car which means he should have seen her.  We have pictures and a police report that show he hit her in the front of the car.  See the pictures below that show the initial contact behind her front wheel and you can see the line of red paint from our car.  They insisted he hit her in the back wheel which caused her to spin which is contrary to the evidence and police report. 

 

The other driver claims she had fog lights on and it was getting daylight.  It was 6:45 a.m. two weeks ago.  Jeff and the police report said it was dark and she had no lights at all.  The police officer was there within minutes. 

I took these pictures at 7:05, 20 minutes after the accident.  My cell phone can’t take good pictures in the dark.  I wish I’d had thought to get my other camera and have taken more pictures at the scene.

 

This picture was taken from where I was parked.  It was taken at 7:42 am.  The accident was at 6:44 am.   It’s still a bit dark.  Imagine an hour earlier.

 

We are hoping a complaint with the state will get this turned around.  Our adjuster did not dispute any of this so did not act in Jeff’s behalf like she would have if there were two insurance companies involved.  They must be trained to rule for the one with full coverage and against the one with only liability if both drivers have the same insurance.   They will pay for the other car either way, but this gets them out of paying for two cars.

Quick Trip

Sometimes we have opportunities where God reveals himself to us  to let us know that in the midst of adversity, He has got our back. 

The guys had a camping trip for scouts that has been planned for months.  They needed our van for all the gear.  The girls and I would have been home with the car not doing much running around but able to make it to church.  The car is old, does not have working a/c and would not be comfortable for a very long trip although it is sound mechanically. 

It turned out, that because we had a reliable and comfortable rental, the girls and I were able to make a short overnight trip to KY for a funeral.  While we were already there, we were also able to attend a family reunion.  We left early to get Sierra back for a friend’s birthday sleepover but had great weather for the trip. 

Had the car not been disabled in the accident, we would not have been able to go to the funeral and reunion.   God works things out. 

Now that we are back home and both girls are at a friend’s house, I am feeling the tiredness of the drive.  It is a good tiredness.  One that you can feel good about. 

Our truck should be ready for us to pickup although Jeff did not receive the confirmation text he was expecting.  Hopefully we will get it tomorrow and return the rental. 

There is a possibility our car can be repaired but we are not sure what that would involve or if it’s even feasible.  We continue to pray that the insurance company will make the decision we feel is fair and just so that we will at least be compensated some value for our car.  If they rule that Jeff was somehow partly responsible for the accident, we feel it is because they are biased.  They would save money by making that ruling but it will cost them more to determine Jeff did not contribute to the accident just as the police determined. 

Getting Road Ready

Jeff has been working to make our parked truck road ready.  We decided to wash it last night since it was pretty gross from sitting for a few years.  The kids were a big help. 

The car that we expect to be totaled was a 1993.  This truck is a 1985 but still low mileage considering. 

Before

During

After (it still needs another scrubbing).

 

It was picked up by the wrecker to take it to our mechanic. 

 

In the meantime this is our second vehicle for a few days.  It was lucky for us that they were out of midsize cars and could not lease the economical full-sized car due to plate issues.  Instead we got this premium car for the same price as a midsize. 

 

 

We are still waiting on the insurance company to determine official liability in the accident.  We do not like the suspense.  It seems like a no-brainer to us just based on the police report and what we know. 

The Other Car

Praise God!  The police report listed the other driver as being  responsible for the accident because her headlights were not on.  She was unaware of this when the officer pointed it out to her.  Jeff had zero blame.  So we are anxiously waiting to see what our insurance company will do for us, such as… rental car…  total our car…   etc.   She has the same insurance company as we do. 

The sad thing is we have much more in our car than what book value probably will show because we put some hefty repairs and maintenance into it about a year ago and four new tires a couple or three months ago. 

The other car hit one guardrail then spun around and hit the other guardrail twice.  This is according to marks on the road and damage to her vehicle.  When the officer asked her if she hit the guardrail, she replied that she did not know.  Seriously?  I suppose she was in shock and couldn’t see out the windows past the side airbags (both sides) that deployed. 

Notice the damage to both sides of her vehicle.  (She had temporary plates also, showing that she’d only had this vehicle about 12 days).   You can notice the red paint from our car on the driver’s side. 

I don’t know much about accidents but I am thinking she might have been driving a little too fast. 

 

 

 

Too Nervous to Do Much Today…. Still Shaking

I was only out of bed for about five minutes this morning when the phone rang at 6:45 am. 

It was Jeff.  He’d had a wreck on his way to work.

I called 911 for him and then the two younger ones and I got dressed and headed over there. 

The other vehicle had a wheel that looked like this too.  Her vehicle looked rather new.  It was banged up on both sides from spinning and playing pinball with the guard rail. 

It was dark at that time and there was a car in front of her that had its lights on.  Jeff never saw her until after she stopped spinning facing the back of his car.  Still no lights on.  He was kind of stunned I think because of that.  We don’t think there were any witnesses who stayed to talk to the police.  If only someone could corroborate his story. 

Neither Jeff nor the other driver required a trip in the ambulance.  The paramedics checked both of them out.  Her side airbag deployed but she said she was not hurt.  Jeff’s b/p was 150 over 110.  Imagine that.

Anyway, we are down to one operable vehicle since this one appears to be totaled.  It’s a 1993 and we bought it new.  It’s sad to see it leave us in this way but we are so blessed that no one was hurt. 

 

8-years Old Today

My baby turns 8 today.  Time flies.

Making pink frosting

Sierra had her first girl birthday party today.  I will post more on that later, but first, I want to mention how easy it was to make pink frosting. 

I used my own buttercream frosting recipe and also made beet juice to tint the frosting pink. 

These instructions for beet juice were pretty easy:  http://www.livestrong.com/article/511152-how-to-dye-frosting-using-beets/

I put the leftover beet juice in a freezer zip-close bag and am freezing it for later use. 

The only downside is that I doubt Sean will want pink cupcakes for his birthday next month. 

Boiling beets in a cup of water.

 

 

 

The finished cupcakes. 

 

We had white and chocolate cupcakes.     The most surprising question from one of the girls, a best friend of Sierra’s since preschool, was “Where do I put my frosting?”   What????   I’m used to kids who eat the frosting and leave the cake.  

Fortunately, I had some that I did not have time to decorate so I traded her for a plain one.  Another girl who was here a little longer than the others got a second cupcake and wanted it without frosting also. 

Mohawk–Easiest Haircut Ever

I cannot think of anything I’ve ever done for my son that has made him more happy than when I gave him a mohawk haircut.  This was the easiest haircut I’ve ever given him. 

Lovely

Apparently one of Charlotte’s (Charlotte’s Web) descendants has moved in out behind the house.    Spiders are not my favorite critter.  And just for the record, they are not insects.  Too many legs.  See how much I have learned from Sean’s 4H entomology?