Law and Government

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Cost of the Alberta Trip to Buy My New Toad

I’m meeting with the third party’s adjuster tomorrow morning to discuss my claim for non-Aviva covered expenses due to the accident. I already sent justifications/evidence for things like lost income and supplemental medical coverage, but I didn’t have much to justify my $1,500 for the trip to Alberta to buy my new toad.

So I took about an hour this morning to add up everything and get my receipts in order. My trip to Alberta cost me $1,600 in flights, hotels, taxis, buses, fuel, and food. My estimate was pretty good!

One piece of good news was that I was never charged for the car rental I ended up not using! So I only lost the two nights at the hotel in Calgary, but that was made up by staying at Chez Life on Our Ark in Stettler for two nights.

My breakdown for the trip had been:

$500 for fuel (actual: $596)

$300 for meals and incidentals (actual: $241, with this category including the bus and taxis)

$200 for the hotel (actual: $330 since I got a hotel in Sault Ste Marie)

$50 for a car (actual: $0)

So I have no problem justifying that claim. Now, I just have to get them to understand that buying a car in Quebec was not a viable option. The adjuster is a Quebecer so he does know a bit about how things work in Canada, which may help.

I will be so happy if I get that $2,700 that I am claiming. It’ll cover the toad conversion, meaning that I won’t have to save up anything this summer beyond my usual amount in preparation for departure and I just may be able to take a proper vacation in August. I shouldn’t be out this money and I really hope I don’t have to sue for it. 🙁

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Go Ahead From Aviva For Final Motorhome Repairs

My adjuster left me a message yesterday regarding the final motorhome repairs, but I missed it (I’m not very good about remembering to check my cell). So I didn’t know that she’d called until I went to call her today. I actually got hold of her immediately!

There are no issues with the estimate so VR Expert has the go ahead. I have asked them to do the insurance stuff first so that they can invoice and Aviva can cut a cheque by the time my repairs are done. We shall see…

The estimate is quite a bit more than it would have been in the US, probably because of the cost of getting parts up here, plus the tax difference. Anyway, I was told that they would be looking at what work the estimate covered, not the dollar amount, hence why there were no issues with approval. This is the first time that I can say Aviva has done the right thing without my having to stomp my foot. I expected to have to wait for them to get a Canadian estimator out here before I could even get the inspection estimate done. Instead, Aviva told me that we could skip that step so long as the repair shop and the US estimator agreed on the work to be done.

I also asked VR Expert to give me an estimate for taking out the front window and putting something to cover it. I suggested screwing in a piece of fiberglass and sealing it well, leaving me to deal with the interior, but he said he said it wouldn’t look good. I asked him to think about it and come back with a quote. I’m tired of that window and the loft is empty, so I might as well get them to pull it for me. I’m not too worry about the final look, thinking that as long as it is a nice, crisp piece I can paint it a solid colour. I’d even like to stencil Miranda’s name on it!

Work commences on Tuesday morning. I do plan to go out there a couple of times and sneak a peak.

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The Final Estimates

I went to VR Expert today to get the estimate for the final insurance-covered work to be done on Miranda as well as for the work to be done on the water-damaged overhang. While I was there, I got some more personal items out of the rig and also emptied out the loft in preparation for the work.

First the bad news: they can’t start on the rig till next Tuesday. What with having two four-day weeks in a row, I definitely won’t have Miranda back until at least July 16th. OMG.

The insurance-covered portion of the work is:
-replace rear hitch with a 3500HD model, straighten the support, straighten the frame (all involves welding)
-repair and repaint the rear fiberglass bumper.
Subtotal: $1,967.56
GST: $98.38
QST: $196.26
Total: $2,262.20

I have sent this off to the adjuster and hope that she will reply with the okay to go ahead.

Now, the overhang. The passenger side wall is apparently saturated. So remove and reinstall window, mouldings, and fiberglass; replace rotten luan; seal everything: $1,700.

As for replacing my propane regulator, making my entry door plumb and square, and replacing the window frame: $189.

Subtotal: $1,889.00
GST: $94.45
QST: $188.43
Total: $2,171.88

He forgot to get the info for the tow package, but I will be having that done in the fall since Miranda comes first. So I will be going back to the States to get the parts and just paying for the installation here.

If I can manage to save some QST, that would be awesome. QST claims to be 9.5% but is actually more than that because it is calculated based on the price with GST. In a province with PST, you would do, say, $1,000x.05=$50GST, $1,000x.095=$95PST, Total=$1,145 ($1,000+$50+$95). In Quebec, the math is $1,000×1.05=$1,050, $1,050×1.095=$1,149,75. Difference: $4.75.

As long as the overhang repair doesn’t cost more than the estimate, I can live with it. I wouldn’t have had to do it if I had repaired that damn leak correctly the first time. I will have some internal work to do again, like repaint the wall, but I have tons of that paint left. As long as they don’t trash everything, I can deal. I just hope that the new side panel matches the rest of the rig… There is a chance they will be able to save the existing panel (taking $250 off the bill), but I’m bracing myself for the worst case scenario.

The other repairs are minor and I actually find the $189 amount rather low. I cannot wait to have a door that opens and shuts easily!!! And how about a propane system that doesn’t whistle! It helps that I picked up the propane regulator in the US last year. It was just $25 when it would have been about $50 here!

Now, I need to figure out how I am going to survive the next few weeks. One thing is certain; I need to spend at least one weekend out doing something fun like going camping with my truck. Now that I have an idea of how much I’m looking at to get back on the road with a sound rig, I know what I can spend this summer. I just have to make sure that I have the $2,200 or so for the tow package well ahead of my estimated departure date!

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More Upheaval Ahead

Tomorrow’s job will be to get Miranda ready for her visit to the repair shop first thing on Friday. I am going to make a run out to the repair shop in the morning to make sure I know the exact way I should go with Miranda to avoid having to do a U-turn. I am also going to ask if a) I can bring her tomorrow night (since it’ll be easier to coordinate a lift back than it would be Friday morning) and b) if I can leave her until the repairs are completed.

Regardless, Miranda is going to be in the shop for some time. It therefore makes sense that I move into the guest room tomorrow. So I’m going to have to empty the rig of pretty much everything I took out when I moved into The Apartment. The fridge and freezer have to be empty so I can turn them off, I need clothes, and, of course, all my office equipment needs to come. Somewhere in all of that, I have to figure out how to make the garage a safe and tolerable environment for Tabitha and Neelix.

I’m just so tired… It has now been a solid month and a half, with no end in sight, of being out of my routine and my home not really feeling like home.

The trip out west cost more than I would have expected (although there is no question I did it cheaply), so I’m much tighter for money now than I would like. I had hoped to come back with money to both set up the new toad for towing and to effect repairs on Miranda. Now, I can do one or the other only at this time. I’ve decided to get an estimate on the work to be done to Miranda before deciding on how to proceed. I may get the work done on Miranda and save up to get the truck converted in the fall. I hope that the RV place can do the conversion on the truck so that I can get in one stop a full picture of what it’ll cost to get the work done on my rig.

One thing that happened when I was out west that I failed to mention is that I got a call from an adjuster in Montreal who was hired by the moron’s insurance company to evaluate my $2,700 claim for lost expenses and the trip out west. He wants to meet me in person and we are doing that next Friday (June 22nd). Ridiculous. For $2,700 with supporting documentation, they would have been best to just cut me a cheque and make me sign “By accepting this, I give up the right to sue” paperwork. Now, I’m going to do the math on the trip and will be revising that figure. It just keeps going up the more no one wants to pay me…

The adjuster says that if I’m not covered by Aviva, I’m not covered. But that’s horse hockey. There is plenty of wiggle room in my policy to cover my claim. A good part of it could go under the travel interruption portion and the rest could be squeezed into the household good portion. Aviva should have acted on my behalf, as I requested they do, and presented that claim to the third party themselves. I shouldn’t have to do this.

My adjuster at Aviva SUCKS. The adjuster at Intact went out of her way to use the spirit of my policy to benefit me while my adjuster at Aviva is making sure it not only sticks to the letter of the policy, but has also lied about my coverage and shown a complete lack of understanding of the policy. You’d think she was paying out of her own pocket.

My insurance policy with Aviva comes due in September and I am actively shopping for a replacement. No one else has a product comparable to Aviva’s Elite policy, but surely there’s someone out there who could tailor make a policy. At any rate, I can’t renew my Aviva policy in good conscience without looking for alternatives, not with the amount of good press I gave this company before having to make a NOT AT FAULT claim.

 

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More About the Registry and the Windshield, and Ken’s Assessment

Croft mentioned that sometimes dealerships will handle the registration of the newly purchased vehicle. That was my experience in Quebec with my two new Accents. But this place wasn’t set up for that and I already had a license plate, albeit with expired tags. Surely I could drive five blocks to the registry without getting pulled over.

The minute I stepped out of the truck at the registry office, a cop came up to me! “I sure hope you’re going in there.” I replied in the affirmative and asked if he wanted to hear the story. Nope. All was good. Of course the registration was only a few days overdue.

The lady at the counter had a hard time finding the right plate and I got nervous. I detailed the instructions I’d been given and she apologized, telling me the problem was at her end and that I’d done everything right. She finally found the plate, made the transfer, accepted $80 something bucks, and handed me the year sticker for my plate.

Now, the windshield.

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It was at least six big cracks and at least as many chips. It did not pass the Alberta safety inspection. There is no way I’m getting across the border with it. I have an appointment at 8:00 tomorrow to have it replaced for $250 plus GST. It will mean I won’t be able to leave until 2:00ish, so I won’t be getting as far as my property, but at least I will be legal and safe. The fact that I needed a new windshield and an oil change was ammunition during the bargaining phase. I have absolutely no problem paying for the replacement and am irked only about the lost time tomorrow.

Ken has gone over the truck and taken it for a test drive. He says that it is “very mechanically sound”, that I got a great deal, and that there are no concerns about me driving across the continent. I am going to need a tune up before the fall, but I don’t need to worry about anything right now. The condition of the tires, the engine, and the presence of receipts showing basic maintenance at the minimum has always been done tells us the truck was not abused. I feel even better now about my purchase!

I power washed the bed today and set up camp. It’s really tight in there right now, but my mother and I are going to build a platform for the bed to get it over the wheel so I’ll gain a few inches.

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