Accident number two...

... is almost as shitty as accident number one (get it?). 


Yes, booze and exercise are very well and good ways to vent frustration and annoyance. But I write. And in this case I write letters. It tends to get stuff done. It worked with the first accident and now that I've waited three months for something to happen with the second it's time they got one too. It's a difficult task: I want to express my frustration but not sound like a crazy-ass that is one step away from sending anthrax to the office. I need to make shit happen but not piss anyone off so they make it even harder for me to move on with my life. It helps that I like to write, that I fancy myself a good writer (and not in a stupid hipster "I'm a writer but no one understands my vision, that's why I'm still unpublished" kind of way). I'm a writer in that when I'm frustrated or sad or annoyed or excited or happy it helps me to get it on paper. Otherwise it just sits sits sits in my head and leads to insomnia and alcoholism. And that shit runs in my family. 


I can't wait for this car stuff to be over and done with. It consumes almost all of my waking life and I honestly don't know what will occupy my thoughts when it's over. When I have a car that all the doors open, the speakers and windows work, the trunk and doors unlock, and the brakes and turn signals light up the night sky then I'll be happy. Then my life will have meaning again. When people don't look at my car and judge me. Because I can see it in their eyes. I recognize it because it's the same look I give when I judge judge judge others based on superficial shit.

           "My name is Nicole Paul and I was in a car accident in Portland, Oregon on July 21, 2011. There were three cars involved and I was the last car hit, sitting unsuspecting at the intersection. The accident was caused by Thomas Klauer, who accepted fault at the scene. (I looked him up, he's the Sr VP of Schnitzer Steel and thanks to Forbes.com I know he made $1.4 million last year. Just write me a check dude. Please.)

            In the days following the accident I spoke with Gwen W--- who requested I get an estimate of the damage to my car and e-mail it to her. It took over two months to find an auto body shop in Portland willing to help due to the extreme damage. After finding someone to write the estimate, I e-mailed it to Ms W--- who, after I called to verify receipt, told me to call Brenda S----, the claims manager for Pick N Pull.

            I spoke to Ms S---- on October 10, 2011 and faxed the estimate along with a stamped receipt of the car registration per her request. I have since called Ms S---- three times, on October 12th, October 18th and October 21st each time leaving a message inquiring after the status of my claim; never hearing back if the fax was received or the information supplied sufficient.

            This has dragged on for too long and after driving around for three months in a car that is, quite literally, falling apart because of this accident I feel every day wasted is crucial to my sanity, or any semblance of it I have left.

            Thank you for your speedy resolution to this.

Four months is too many months

This is the letter I will be sending to everyone that works, has ever worked or will ever work for Allstate. The past four months have been my nightmare and I will not give up till I have a check in my hand and the dumb dumb that hit me gets a serious hike in his insurance rates.

"My name is Nicole and I was in a car accident on June 6, 2011 in Beaverton, Oregon: claim no. 020-------. The accident was caused by Shankar K-------- (henceforth referred to as Mr K) who is insured by Allstate. The police were called at his request: no citations were issued & information was exchanged.

Despite the fact that the damage to my car physically and explicitly proves I couldn’t have been going faster than the posted speed limit Mr K insisted I was speeding and hit his car while he was parked on the side of the road. My claim was denied because there were no witnesses other than Mr K’s own passenger. I spoke with my Progressive adjuster Samantha who had proof of liability from her taped conversation with Mr K wherein he accepted fault by saying he was pulling away from the curb and hit my car as I drove by, never mentioning my speed.

Samantha sent the tape to Victoria J------, the Allstate adjustor for my claim, and it was promptly destroyed by her machine. When I contacted Ms J------ she said fault would be placed on Mr K and Allstate would pay for the damage to my car. Unfortunately she failed to document this anywhere. When I faxed the estimate to Ms J------ she was out of the office and my paperwork was denied a second time by a different Allstate employee, filed away in what I can only imagine to be a cavernous Indiana Jones type warehouse.

It has been over four months with no resolution in sight. No one from Allstate ever came to look at my car, I was asked to provide my own estimate, and I have had to make several follow-up phone calls in order to accomplish even the smallest task. I would like the damage to my car to be paid in full as soon as possible so I can put all this nonsense behind me.
Thank you in advance"