Don't Leave the House

The title will lead you to believe that this is a Covid-related post but nope.

After almost two weeks of waiting and calling and providing documentation to the loser other driver's insurance, we finally received a determination today.  I say this with no hyperbole: You will not believe it.

They said "We will claim 50% liability....BECAUSE YOU KNEW THE RISK WHEN YOU LEFT THE HOUSE."

I'll let that sink in....

They're saying that because we chose to leave our house in the snow, we assumed the risk of a SNOWPLOW running a stop sign and BLOCKING the ROAD.

We won't be covered by them because we LEFT OUR HOUSE.  Neat.

To say that Kevin lost his mind on the adjuster is probably an understatement.  I wasn't lucky enough to hear it; I was lucky enough to de-escalate him via phone afterward.

So the insurance with the cute little reptile as a spokesperson is not a good or ethical company, I'm just saying. They were more worried about protecting their driver, who hit and ran AND was in the wrong in every way, than paying the cost of repairs of the accident HE CAUSED.

Not to be thwarted, because now I'm annoyed and have to win, I phoned our insurance.  

Is it bad when the adjuster is left speechless?  

Upon explaining what happened and the other insurance company's final determination, our adjuster was silent for the beat of five.  Then a quiet "What?" before trying to recover his professionalism only to say "As an adjuster, I have Never heard of that, ever."

To which I replied "Apparently, it's a thing. Tell your coworkers."  And he laughed.  Then apologized for laughing.  I told him it was okay because we have traveled into ABSURDITY.

To apply the reptilian insurance company's logic, we should never leave the house because something bad might happen.  What are their homeowner's policies like?  If we're not safe outside of our house, certainly we're not safe inside either, by their logic.

Fortunately for us, this put our insurance into problem-solving, Oh No They Didn't, mode.  They will cover our repairs then "negotiate" with the other company to recover their cost and our deductible.  They walked me through next steps and we will have an estimate for repairs to provide to the body shop for final cost determination in 48 hours.

Seriously, though.  Because we had the audacity to LEAVE OUR OWN HOUSE, we get to pay for someone else's mistake and error in judgment.  AFTER we did all the work of contacting the Sheriff and providing the insurance companies photos, accident and POLICE reports stating FAULT.   All they did was speak to the loser other driver and take his word for it.  You know: the guy who HIT AND RAN.  

Oh, the police and accident report is not valid because AND I QUOTE: "The officer wasn't there at the time of the accident."  

I KNOW.  So frustrating. I mean, c'mon.

Now we wait.  It could be that our insurance company fails us in some way because they are in the insurance business. I have to believe that they won't reach the subterranean level of ignoring police and collision reports and victim blaming us leaving the house.

But you never know.  I wouldn't believe that a hit and run accident would be deemed our fault because we left our house.