A real car insurance story
Summer vacation interrupted
by careless driver's makeup!

It was a clear and sunny California day as two men, on vacation, waited for the stop light to turn green.

As the driver glanced in the rearview mirror, he noticed a woman using her own rearview mirror to apply makeup. She was driving a VW bug that was bearing down on them at high speed.

SCREECH! KABOOM! The VW smashed into the back of the men's AMC Gremlin and slammed the Gremlin into the back of a brand new sedan in front of them.

Both men were jolted severely, and one of them hit his head and broke his glasses. Otherwise, they were unharmed. The woman in the VW would need a lot more than makeup to restore her good looks -- she was taken away by ambulance.

Police and emergency workers arrived at the scene quickly. Tow trucks carted the Gremlin and VW away, and the sedan left under its own power after the drivers exchanged insurance information and made statements to the police.

After obtaining the car insurance information of the woman, the two men immediately began the process of filing a claim. Their car was determined to be a total loss, and since they were on vacation, they needed to replace their transportation quickly.

The insurance adjuster for the woman's insurance company, of course, tried to settle the claim for a minimal amount of money that would not have replaced the car -- his assertion was that the car was old and had used up most of its useful life and had little value.

Fortunately, the men were visiting a relative who also was a prominent physician. The doctor stepped in to the negotiations with the insurance company to indicate that he would order a battery of expensive medical tests that might uncover other injuries to the men if the insurance company did not want to offer a reasonable settlement so they could replace their transportation.

The insurance adjuster was appropriately intimidated and agreed to settle the claim for a couple of thousand dollars, which was enough in those days to buy a small used car.

The men were not trying to take advantage of the insurance company, but they did find that the insurance company was trying to take advantage of them. Thankfully, their doctor relative was able to place the situation in perspective for the adjuster.

The morals of this story?

1. The insurance company will always try to reduce a claim to as little as possible, so be prepared to establish the validity and strength of your claim.

2. Watch out for anyone using their rearview mirror as their makeup mirror, especially if they're driving!

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