Irresponsible people

You may remember that back in December I walked out of the house one morning to find that someone had crashed into my car overnight. There was no note, no nothing, other than my power mirror laying in the driveway, and a big hunk of plastic lens on the pavement next to my car. Hit and run. You may also remember that my sharp-eyed landlady noticed that the truck across the street was suddenly being parked nose out, and off to the side next to the house. A quick walk over to check -- yep, damage to a rear tail light.

The police came, confirmed that the hunk of lens indeed was a Toyota product (it's on the inside of the lens), and the truck was a Toyota and indeed had a smashed taillight. The woman in the house who owned the truck was reluctant to fill out an accident report form, until the officer pointed out that she could be charged with hit and run, which is a serious crime. I could have opted to have him do that, but I just wanted them to be financially responsible for the damage. Everything was turned over to my insurance company, all the proper reporting forms submitted (on my end). I was confident things would move smoothly. The car was repaired, I paid my $500 deductible with the assurance it would be refunded when the other insurance company paid up.

A month or so ago, a call from my insurance company revealed that when they called the phone number listed on the form the woman filled out, they were always told it was a wrong number. The insurance company she listed would not call them back. I contacted the officer who was here (via email) but never heard from him, was about ready to go to the police station myself.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. My landlady met and ended up in a conversation with the woman who rents the house (they had just moved in when the accident happened), and in the course of conversation referred to 'the accident'. The woman was shocked, knew nothing about it, had been out of town at the time. The truck belongs to her sister, who has been staying with her while trying to get her life together. She was really upset, said she would talk to her sister. I learned this on Monday, and rather than talking to the woman, opted to send a nice letter, including a copy of the form her sister filled out, and letting them know that I was about ready to press hit and run charges. I gave them the phone and claim numbers, and basically said that if my insurance company didn't get cooperation from the sister quickly, I would press charges.

Yesterday -- a call from my insurance company. The sister had called them. She has no insurance (lied on the form), so now my claim falls under uninsured motorist. They are going to send me a check for $300, go after the sister for the rest of the money, and will send me the remaining $200 when they get it. I'm not holding my breath on that, but I'm happy to have the $300 back and will write the rest off until I find out otherwise.

So the strange saga comes to an end, effectively. Kudos to my landlady for her sharp eyes and for bringing the subject up with the responsible sister. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to being able to park my car off the street!