We finally made the splurge and purchased a three row vehicle. It’s a used black FORD Expedition and it is officially the new favorite of the household. I’m convinced my husband, Adam, loves it even more than I do. But he can’t take back the fact that he said it would be my car, and the F150 Truck would be his. No take-backs!
The drive is smooth, the space is roomy and the Expedition looks sharp! It almost looks like a secret service vehicle with its tinted windows. If only people knew there were just two chaos creating boys in the back.
Two weeks in and we have already used the extra seating room to our advantage many times, including a pleasant hour-long drive to Carowinds with the boys and their friends. Unfortunately life likes to throw punches when you get too comfortable. Enter the fender bender.
We were driving to one of the boys’ last baseball games, with the grandparents and boys in tow. Completely stopped in stand-still traffic on Broad Street in downtown Mooresville. Then BAM! Our beautiful “new to us” Expedition rocks forward as we get hit from behind.
Thankfully no one was injured. The sweet old lady who rear-ended us was okay, and so were all of us. Sadly our bumper didn’t land the same fate.
If you have ever been in an accident that wasn’t your fault, it can be a doozy. The great news is that the sweet old lady had insurance, so we didn’t have to pay the $3k in repairs ourselves. The not great news is that working through another’s insurance company is complete chaos.
You have to download the other company’s insurance app, file a claim, take pictures, upload videos, work with a claims agent that ignores half your communication and that is just the first half. My bad fortune is your gain because I’m going to tell you a couple of the helpful tips that I learned along the way.
First, your insurance isn’t involved at all if you aren’t at fault (and it states so in the police report) and the person who hit you has insurance. Contact the person at fault’s insurance to start the process as no one else will do it for you.
Second, be persistent. Most insurance companies will try to make it harder for you in hopes you give up and they don’t have to pay. Don’t take no answer as an answer. Call, text, follow-up. We kept getting an error message when trying to upload necessary videos to move our claim forward. It took multiple calls to get them to move it along.
Third, you are allowed to get your vehicle repaired at any auto-shop of your choosing. At least in the great state of North Carolina. Don’t let them force you into one of theirs that you aren’t comfortable going to.
Fourth, you are owed a rental car while your car is in the shop. And the rental car must be comparable to the car that is getting repaired. When the insurance company tried to give us a smaller SUV the rental car company actually went to bat for us and got us what we were owed.
And finally, if their insurance isn’t willing to pay the full amount of the repairs you don’t have to say okay. If you weren’t at fault then you should be getting the damage from the accident fully repaired. It’s okay to say no and have some back-and-forth if that isn’t what is promised.
It’s been a total whirlwind, but our beautiful Ford Expedition should be back in our driveway in a couple days. Driving the rental has made our love for the new car grow even stronger, if that is possible. Hopefully you never have to deal with the chaos of a no-fault accident, or any accident for that matter, but if you do then may you follow these steps for a slightly less frustrating process.
