Product of the System

On April 23rd, 2007, I was rear-ended by a lady who provided false insurance information. Despite the fact that I’ve been paying Progressive for years to also cover uninsured motorist accidents, the months following this accident have been a nightmare.

I was traveling onto an on-ramp onto a freeway whereby the lady in front of me in an SUV began to swerve slightly and slammed on her brakes. I was following at a decent distance considering the speed and although I was caught off guard a bit, I managed to stop with a few feet to spare. I was driving an Acura 3.2 TL-s at the time, and it does handle very well, so I gotta give props to Acura on that one. The lady behind me in a van rental, however, was not so prepared to stop.

Side Note: I did own an Acura NSX-T at one time, so I already have respect for the A-team (A for Acura, that is.. haha).

She was traveling at an estimated 40 miles per hour and did not really have time to slow down. Once I had stopped my vehicle, I remember thinking, “Oh God. I bet the person behind me won’t be able to stop.” And, as I looked up at my rear-view mirror, I saw her just finishing something she was doing with the radio apparently and she braced for impact. It was quite an impact too. I was flung backward so hard my necked crackled against the headrest (arching back at a harsh angle around the corner edge), and I remember hearing the screeching of my car’s tires as they slid several feet into the car in front of me with such force that the front bumper of the car was impaled all the way up to the radiator by the tow hook on the SUV in front of me.

My sporty car was badly damaged in the front and the rear as it was crushed between the two bigger vehicles. Surprisingly, my car -once pulled free from the tow hook- was able to be driven off eventually.

The real problem, however, was that the whiplash really injured my neck. I was raised to be “tough,” though, and that has not been the best thing in some cases. In this case, for instance, I just told myself that the neck pain would wear off. I didn’t really feel it right away anyway -most likely because of my pumping adrenaline. So, I declined the ambulance and said that despite my neck pain, I didn’t think I needed to go to the hospital. A part of me wanted to go get checked out, but I also felt bad for the lady who hit me because she was literally freaking out and having a nervous breakdown.

So, I was comforting her and the people in front of me who I was slammed into. Those people didn’t speak any English, so I ended up translating at the scene between the spanish-speaking driver of the SUV and the police. She explained that someone swerved into her lane and she slammed on her brakes. She heard tires squeal (mine) and then heard more tires squeal for a split second, heard a crash, and a few moments later, she and her son were jolted hard. So, that coincided with the fact that I managed to stop and the driver of the SUV only felt a single jolt once my car was slammed into hers. Had I been unable to stop, there would have been two jolts.

At any rate, I was kind of in “hero” mode and trying to calm the situation and basically forgot about myself. I tend to do that in tense situations.

Boy did I pay for being noble! The next day, I really hurt. The pain got worse and worse, but I try to avoid doctors and medications at all costs. Eventually, however, the pain got so bad and I began having other symptoms, so I went to the after-hours care. Aside from the pain in the month or so following the wreck, I also began to space out a lot, have memory lapses, very localized, throbbing migraines, and have random nose bleeds (gushing) that would last for 30 minutes. That can’t be good.

So, I went.

It took a few months of diagnoses, a CT scan, and an MRI to determine that I was truly in some serious pain. Actually, I should re-phrase that. It took the doctor’s all of that to determine my level of pain. I had been telling them from the beginning that I was in extreme pain but I have a fairly high tolerance level for a male. They thought that since I was not writhing in pain or crying that I must not really be in pain. Ah well. After the MRI, though, they were amazed at how every vertebrate in my neck had some soft of protrusion or herniation. My neck is in really bad shape now.

I was in extremely good physical condition at the time, and I was boxing regularly. Unfortunately, I had to stop boxing -of course- and I could not even work out. I had no desire to even walk -since even sitting would be killer pain in my neck. So, I lost my hard-earned physique and am in the process of turning into slush.

Anyway, I digress.

I obtained the police report shortly after going to the doctor -since I now realized I would have to file against the at-fault driver’s insurance. Before, I was just going to “let it slide.”

However, I was told by her insurance carrier that they had no policy or record of her. I called the police who handled the incident and they said that there was no valid insurance and the lady was no where to be found. Great.

So, I filed an uninsured motorist claim with Progressive, my auto insurance provider.

A few weeks went by with no word and then one day, I got a letter stating that my claim was denied because the vehicle I was driving was not on the policy. “Umm… do what?”

I never received a phone call to discuss my claim, and I never even got to explain that I wasn’t attempting to collect damages to repair the car. I just wanted my neck fixed. Discouraged and running out of money fast, I focused on my work and tried to make money to cover my new medical bills and my regular bills. Naturally, though, in time the pain became unbearable. I had to call Progressive or somebody.

Ironically, I received a call from a Progressive claims agent the next day after I decided to do something. She (name purposely omitted) was incredibly helpful and told me that my claim was not handled properly. She could not say much because she was not the handler of my claim, but she advised me on steps to take in order to get my claim processed. Those steps were:

1. had to attempt to claim on the at-fault persons insurance -of course.
2. had to attempt to file an uninsured claim against anyone else’s insurance of anyone who lived with me -regardless of whether they had anything to do with the wreck!
3. had to attempt to collect my auto insurance reimbursement from my health insurance -how ridiculous?!
4. had to explain in my claim that I am seeking medical expense reimbursement.

It took me a couple of months to gather all of the required information and go through the steps. In the meantime, I paid out-of-pocket for my medical expenses. It definitely adds up quickly, doesn’t it?

I opened a new claim and this time met with a claims adjuster about their medical exposure in my case. She seemed very helpful, interested, and eager to listen. I am still awaiting word on an offer, so I’ll have to write an update once I know something.

Share This! Social Bookmarking and Sharing

    

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website