Law and Government

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Dealing With Aviva Continues to Be Trying

I just had a most frustrating call with my adjuster at Aviva.

I don’t have the energy to get into all the details, but the bit that boggles me is that she STILL DOESN’T GET THAT I LIVE IN MY MOTORHOME.

I wish I had the exact quote, but it was basically, “You’re not insured for personal items in the motorhome, just things specific to the motorhome like the fridge that would be damaged in a collision.”

My response was, “WOAH.” I told her that I have the Elite policy that covers me for $15,000 in personal items in the rig and $2,500 for anything left in an exterior structure. She rattled some papers then said, well, you’re claiming $150 for the dishes and filing cabinet. With depreciation, I’ll let you have $120. Fine for that. Geeze.

But did you know that if you have a hard drive that flies across a room and lands hard enough to make skid marks as it slides across the floor your insurance company won’t believe it’s toast until a professional looks at it and makes that determination?

The reimbursement process for that is way too complicated so I am taking that amount, plus the supplemental medical coverage, plus the lost income, plus the trip back to Calgary directly to the third party’s insurance. I will be phrasing things along the lines of “I am mostly satisfied, but there is $2,000 for x, y, and z that they are giving me trouble with. I’m hoping we can resolved this amongst ourselves.” Off to make a call to Ohio. Never mind that I have work to do today.

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New Toad Insurance Matters

I just spoke with my insurance broker in Lethbridge about the new vehicle I want to buy to get a heads up about how complicated it will be to get insurance on it.

As it turns out, my existing policy is still valid and there will simply be a substitution of vehicle. I was told to not expect any significant difference in the cost of the insurance since that policy holds a liability portion for the motorhome. So so much for thinking that I could eliminate a $90 a month payment. But he said it’ll be super quick and easy next week. I just need to get the vehicle VIN and a few other details and that’s that. I will then continue under the same policy number with the same expiry date.

I’m glad that I also had the foresight to ask if I can use my policy for a rental car when I am in Calgary to save the $25 or so daily for coverage. Yes.

Now, I just need to cross my fingers that The Truck will be available for sale Monday. The pickings are a lot slimmer now that I’ve eliminated the 3L engine and am excluding trucks that don’t already have a topper. I don’t want to have to look for one on top of looking for a truck, but if it comes to that, I will. I would just prefer to hit the road with the topper on so that I can sleep in the truck on the way back.

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Intact Insurance Claim Resolution

My cheque from Intact insurance for the car settlement arrived this morning! Since I’d already done several hours of work today, I decided to take a break and walked over to BMO to pay off the car loan and have the balance given to me as a draft.

I was concerned that because the cheque was made to my name and BMO’s, they could try to apply the balance of the cheque to the motorhome loan, meaning I would have to take the cheque back, have the insurance company pay BMO directly, and then wait for a new cheque for the balance. I almost went that route and kicked myself for not going through with it.

Needless to say, my pulse started racing when the teller said, “Okay, this more than covers the car loan. Do you want me to apply the balance to the motorhome loan?”

“No! Please! I’m on foot! I can’t use my motorhome as a daily driver!”

She laughed. “No. No. Don’t worry. I have to call the insurance company to confirm that the cheque is good. At the same time, I’ll make sure that it’s for the car and not related to the motorhome loan. Then, I can do a draft for the balance.”

It took nearly an hour for all of that to happen, but I walked out with a bank draft for nearly $8,000, which is more than enough for the truck, towing equipment, a year’s worth of insurance, and some left over to get work done on Miranda.

Next, I walked to CIBC to deposit the bank draft. I was shocked to learn that they have to put a week-long hold on it! It’s a bank draft, as good as cash! Apparently, this is a brand new policy; the memo came out just a couple of days ago. The teller said that she would ‘fax Toronto’ and that I could call them this evening or tomorrow morning and they will lift the hold. Anyway, it’s unlikely that I will be flying to Alberta this week, so a few days’ hold is fine.

Thumbs up to Intact insurance. This was a painless claim!

From CIBC, I decided I might as well go pick up cat food and decided that an extra couple of kilometres would be less tiring than going to the grocery store across from the bank and carrying the bag all the way home. So I’d planned on a 5.5KM walk and ended up doing 7.5KM. After several days of typing, it sure felt good to get out and take in some fresh air!

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Getting Closer to the Final Motorhome Repairs

This afternoon, I was able to not only take a couple of hours off, but I also had access to my mother’s car. I went to the RV place my sister recommended, but they only work on trailers. They sent me up the road a ways to VR Express in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. They can do all the work on my list. I need to go in ASAP with Miranda for them to create an estimate for both halves of the work, what I want to pay out of pocket and what the insurance will cover.

I emailed the info to my adjuster and asked her how I need to proceed at this point. The service tech thinks that Aviva will want to send a Quebec adjuster to where I am parked right now, after which time I can move the rig to VR Express so they can do their estimates. I’m still hoping to time this with the trip to Alberta, but that’s more and more doubtful. I also haven’t received confirmation that the cheque for the car is in the mail, which is making it all the more difficult to plan anything. Anyway, the pieces will fall into place as they always do so no sense stressing about it.

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Tonight, I Love Being an Albertan

Jody just emailed over a scan of my vehicle registration papers for Miranda. Total cost for a year, $84 and change. It was about $100 the Yukon and it was a whopping $650 in Quebec. Am I glad I don’t have to register a motorhome here again! The amount for the car would have been the same and will be the same for my new toad.

That said, registering a trailer in Quebec is about as cheap as in Alberta and has the same benefit: it’s a one-time registration fee. My sister just bought a travel trailer and I think her registration was $7o. Add $270 per year to register a personal vehicle (have I mentioned that I’m glad I don’t live in Quebec anymore?), such as a truck to tow the RV, and it makes sense to own a towable in Quebec. I wonder if I would have considered this route way back when had I known what I didn’t know.

Now, I just need to figure out how to advise Alberta that I won’t be renewing the car registration seeing as the car is six feet under and will soon by replaced by a cute little pickup. I think my grieving period is over. 🙂