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Sep. 1st, 2014 01:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jianantonicI've had a sore neck and a headache all day, but other than that nagging pain, I've been getting around just fine. Shanon and Sloane came by to check on me in the morning, so I got some much-needed baby cuddles. McKenzie stayed home with me for the day to help me take care of other errands, like retrieving our things from the car at the tow yard. I took some pictures of it when I got there...I was worried it would be an awful trigger to see it (for either me or McKenzie), or to even drive by the scene of the accident on 26, which I did three times today, but it didn't bother me as much as I expected. Here's what the car looks like now:
It's nice that I'm familiar with auto claims, because I know exactly how the process goes and what I need to do. I'm way ahead of the game, and I found out that the other guy's insurer has an office in the same complex as mine, so I can even follow up in person if I want. I'm thinking it might be beneficial to me if they know I work in claims. They at least won't try to fuck with me. And hopefully they'll appreciate that I got a killer price on the rental car I'm charging them for, and I've already signed over the title for the total loss, so they don't have to pay the tow yard to store my vehicle while I get my act together on that. Basically I've done most of their job for them, and they haven't even seen the claim yet because it's a weekend.
McKenzie helped me get groceries for the week -- lifting isn't fun right now, so it was helpful to have him schlep all that stuff. Then we went to pick up my rental car. I should get to keep it until the total loss is settled, which, again, will be pretty speedy and will save the insurance company even more money for the rental car...the physical damage side of the loss is where I'm their dream claimant. The bodily injury claim, though, I'm a nightmare, because they know they can't dick me around. BI claims generally take forever to settle and often involve lawyers. I'm not going to hire a lawyer because I know how to negotiate it myself without handing over 40% of the settlement. But it'll probably be a long time before that part of the claim is closed, because first I have to determine either that my injuries are healed or that I'm comfortable accepting a settlement in exchange for a release of the claim, meaning I take their offer but sign away my right to ask for them to pay for future treatment. Soft tissue injuries are a bitch because they can persist indefinitely and there's no real way to treat them. You can get massage or chiropractic, but it's not like something's broken that you can just put back together. A lot of people have lifelong side effects from accidents like this. Usually it's nothing terribly serious or debilitating, but obviously I want to rule that out before I decide I'm done with the claim...either that or demand a huge fucking settlement so I can pay for treatment for the rest of my life. Anyway.
After running our errands, we went on a long walk through the neighborhood. The NP advised that I shouldn't run or lift weights until I'm feeling healed, but that I should definitely stay active to keep from getting too stiff. We walked around Aloha for about an hour, then came home and enjoyed a lovely nap. I went to games in the Pearl, and McKenzie drove on back to Oly from there. I didn't *need* him here for any of the things I did today, but I'm really, really grateful that he was here. Going through this trauma together has been a good thing for our relationship, imo. We'd been fighting and bickering so much lately, and were both so frustrated, but this sort of thing really clears away all the stupid insignificant shit and I feel like it brought our care for one another back into focus where it belongs. It didn't solve all our problems, but it put us in a much better position. Also, McKenzie loves the fact that I had a "rear-end accident." See it's funny because it's like saying I pooped in my pants. I swear to FSM that poop is the glue that holds our marriage together.
Time to pop some painkillers and get some snoozes. I know the car looks awful up there but I'm doing much better than you would think.
It's nice that I'm familiar with auto claims, because I know exactly how the process goes and what I need to do. I'm way ahead of the game, and I found out that the other guy's insurer has an office in the same complex as mine, so I can even follow up in person if I want. I'm thinking it might be beneficial to me if they know I work in claims. They at least won't try to fuck with me. And hopefully they'll appreciate that I got a killer price on the rental car I'm charging them for, and I've already signed over the title for the total loss, so they don't have to pay the tow yard to store my vehicle while I get my act together on that. Basically I've done most of their job for them, and they haven't even seen the claim yet because it's a weekend.
McKenzie helped me get groceries for the week -- lifting isn't fun right now, so it was helpful to have him schlep all that stuff. Then we went to pick up my rental car. I should get to keep it until the total loss is settled, which, again, will be pretty speedy and will save the insurance company even more money for the rental car...the physical damage side of the loss is where I'm their dream claimant. The bodily injury claim, though, I'm a nightmare, because they know they can't dick me around. BI claims generally take forever to settle and often involve lawyers. I'm not going to hire a lawyer because I know how to negotiate it myself without handing over 40% of the settlement. But it'll probably be a long time before that part of the claim is closed, because first I have to determine either that my injuries are healed or that I'm comfortable accepting a settlement in exchange for a release of the claim, meaning I take their offer but sign away my right to ask for them to pay for future treatment. Soft tissue injuries are a bitch because they can persist indefinitely and there's no real way to treat them. You can get massage or chiropractic, but it's not like something's broken that you can just put back together. A lot of people have lifelong side effects from accidents like this. Usually it's nothing terribly serious or debilitating, but obviously I want to rule that out before I decide I'm done with the claim...either that or demand a huge fucking settlement so I can pay for treatment for the rest of my life. Anyway.
After running our errands, we went on a long walk through the neighborhood. The NP advised that I shouldn't run or lift weights until I'm feeling healed, but that I should definitely stay active to keep from getting too stiff. We walked around Aloha for about an hour, then came home and enjoyed a lovely nap. I went to games in the Pearl, and McKenzie drove on back to Oly from there. I didn't *need* him here for any of the things I did today, but I'm really, really grateful that he was here. Going through this trauma together has been a good thing for our relationship, imo. We'd been fighting and bickering so much lately, and were both so frustrated, but this sort of thing really clears away all the stupid insignificant shit and I feel like it brought our care for one another back into focus where it belongs. It didn't solve all our problems, but it put us in a much better position. Also, McKenzie loves the fact that I had a "rear-end accident." See it's funny because it's like saying I pooped in my pants. I swear to FSM that poop is the glue that holds our marriage together.
Time to pop some painkillers and get some snoozes. I know the car looks awful up there but I'm doing much better than you would think.
