Going For Bike Ride - Part 2

When it comes to the arguments against FI most people always resort back to the tried and true:

But, what if you get hit by a bus?

Well, I did (er, a car, but still). This is a continuation of Part 1.

Before we go further, I want to make it clear. I never intended to sue the girl that hit me, or try to profit from this in any way.  So, I haven't called an ambulance-chasing attorney or anything like that. I've just been dealing with this on my own.  All I wanted was for my medical deductibles to be paid and my stuff replaced. That's it!

Is that too much to ask?

Here's an update on what's happened since that fateful night:

What happened with the bike?

First, the easy and more entertaining part.

I spoke with the nice claims adjuster at the driver's insurance and she asked me to send her pictures and information regarding the gear that was damaged.

So, I sent her over a picture of my helmet, my bike lights, my bike and my shirt along with price estimates:

Helmet - $100

My head was in that!

Lights - $50
Shirt - $20 (although it's technically priceless since I got it for running the Marine Corps Marathon)
Bike - $1,999 (No, I didn't pay that, not even close.  I got it off craigslist used, but they asked for a replacement cost, so...)

The adjuster writes back and says, well if the bike is that much, you'll have to go get an estimate on the repairs. Ummm.....

My Bike - Ready for Repair

We packed it up into the trunk and drove over to the bike shop.  We walked in and I told the guy at the store I needed a repair quote for insurance.  The repair guy was like, "Well bring it in!" I paused for a minute before showing him the photo. I said, "Are you sure you need to see it?"  He laughed, but due to protocol had to see it in person.   So I drug all 6 pieces of it into the shop. ("It's looks like one of the fold-up bikes, but it wasn't supposed to be one of those!"- Mrs.Wow)  Everyone in the store kept coming up to me asking what had happened.  They couldn't get over how mangled the bike was.  After, a brief look, the shop owner told me to go pick out a comparable bike from the wall.

Hmmm... which one do I want?

Well, my old bike was carbon fiber and full Ultegra components, so I found one pretty close.  When all was said and done, he wrote me up a quote for $3,200.  Whoa... ok, I guess some people pay that much for a bike.  I'll take it... we thanked him and left.

I sent the adjuster the new quote and she just cut me a check, no questions asked.  Not bad, I made $3,400 ($3,200 for the bike and $200 for the other gear) for getting run over by a car.  I need to get a new bike, but I'll take care of that when I need a new bike.  Right now it's all just sitting in VTSAX.

What about the medical expenses?

Here comes the miserably awful part that is not completely over yet.  So, it turns out that while I was in the hospital, despite the fact that I was holding my Driver's License and Medical ID card in my hands, (I walked in to see him sitting like a school kid with his prized lunch money.  He told me 'They told me to hold this!' - Mrs Wow), somehow they checked me in under a different name.  Apparently,  I was aware enough to know that I am not a 40 year old Hispanic female.  Upon discovering this information, the Mrs mentioned it to a nurse, who replied:

Don't worry it happens all the time - (uh, really?????)

Figuring it was taken care of, we patiently waited for a few months for the big bills (hospital and ambulance) to come through.   Well, I saw the ambulance bill, $1,800 for a ride down the street.  HOORAY!!! But never saw anything from the hospital.  So, I called my insurance company to see what was going on.  They never got a bill from the hospital.

So I called the hospital:

Them - "We have your insurance ID as this: XYZ"
Me - "Nope, That's wrong."
Them - "We have your group number as this: ABC"
Me - "Nope, That's wrong, too."
Them - "Well, why did you give us wrong information?"
Me - "Ummmm... I was run over by a car?!?!  I didn't even know my own wife"- WTF???? Also, keep in mind that I was holding my medical information for them, so even though I might not have known it from memory, they should have been able to read it straight from the cards

Turns out they tried to bill the wrong insurance,  possibly a Hispanic female?

After clearing things up with the hospital, I followed up with my health insurance a week later and they still had heard nothing.  I smell a Part 3!!!

And that ambulance bill you mentioned?

$1,800 right? Luckily, my insurance picked up a portion of that and I got a bill for the rest - $800.  By the way, the city where we live covers that fee so I am not responsible for it, but that took two phone calls to figure out and confirm.

Why exactly did they send me a bill then?

That's nice and I thanked them for covering that portion of the bill, but why is this so hard?

Making progress

So, it's still not over, almost 5 months later, amazing!!!  At least I'm making progress toward resolving this whole thing.  Apparently, I have 2 years from the accident to get all the claims in.  I'll keep you updated with more information as it comes.  Can you imagine if I was not able to take care of this stuff? And, why exactly do I have to take care of it?  I mean I was the roadkill!?!?

What are your thoughts?  Ever had the nightmare of dealing with insurance or the health care system?  Ever get run over by a car?