Dude! I got my car!!!

Well, it was a lot of work, but finally everything is completed. After having to work through everything with insurance and the "responsible" party, the car is finally fixed. Not without having to really pull though. I insisted on going only through insurance, but Chuck Rafferty Insurance kept on sending me to the party that caused the accident. I insisted that they go through insurance, but they insisted that they didn't have to. My insurance company, Geico, told me that I have the right to make a claim, and Chuck Rafferty and the responsible party denied it. Geico clarified I could file it, and usually insurance companies accept that if the other party is 100% at fault (such as, when they back into your car at high speed from another street, and your car is stopped at a stop sign), but the insurance company could throw up roadblocks and make it difficult to get money, if their client wasn't interested in honoring the law and her obligations.

So I figured it would be easier just to have her pay it, rather than forcing this or going to court. I called her up, told her where to send the money, and when to get it there- by Monday, so that the autoshop would have the money before they worked on my car. Monday I dropped my car off, and discovered they had not received their payment yet. Monday night I called the responsible party, and she told me, "Oh, I thought you wanted it to go to the other shop, and were considering which one to go to!" Except no such thing had been said. I went to a second autoshop, at her request, as a favor to them, so they could get a second estimate. Then she on her own initiative decided to try to contact her shop, and set up an appointment with them for my car, though I had told everyone repeatedly I would be using my shop. Then she decided that I had suggested I wasn't sure which shop I wanted. Now that the payment was late, she would have to send it overnight.

Which she did. Only to leave a message on my phone to order me that she had decided, since she had to send it overnight and I had not been clear on which shop I wanted, she would be deducting the $25 from the two checks- and had already done so. Probably about what you'd expect from a couple who has four accidents between them and is trying to hide a 5th accident from their insurance and auto records by not paying through insurance.

Happily, Waunakee Auto Body is really excellent. They not only repaired my car to a T, but told me not to worry about the additional $25. Any other issues in obtaining payment, if it was needed, would be dealt with directly between them and the responsible party, who may thereby learn a bit more of what it means to be the responsible party.