Finance

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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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New Toad Purchase Details

I took a cab from the bus depot to the dealership, arriving just past 4:00. It was just a bunch of cars on a dirt lot with a pimply teen selling the vehicles out of a tiny trailer. I’d done some research and knew the place wasn’t as shady as it looked.

The kid put a license plate on the truck, handed me keys, and left me to look at the truck. At first glance, it looked good, but there is a bit of rust, the windshield badly needs replacement, there’s corrosion on the battery, and it was due for an oil change. I got on all fours and confirmed that nothing was leaking and that the undercarriage was clean. The tires are almost new.

The bed was filthy and they didn’t have the keys for the canopy. The cab was sparkling, though, and there was a Mr. Lube sticker indicating that the truck was just due in terms of both mileage and date for an oil change. In the glove box, I found a few receipts showing that basic maintenance had been done on it. I also found the Alberta safety inspection report that said all was good, but the windshield needed replacing.

I cautiously maneuvered the truck out to the road and onto Yellowhead highway. It drove smoothly and the gears shifted easily. I took my hands off the steering wheel and the truck drove straight and true.

I decided I wanted to buy it, but not for a penny more than the 3K sticker price, including the warranty, taxes, and fees. In optimal condition, it’d be worth about 5K, plus all the fees. The warranty is North America wide for a year on all the major components like the engine and transmission.

The kid said the truck was not going for a penny less than the sticker price plus all the fees, for a total of about 3.8K. I tried to go below 3K knowing I wasn’t going to get it, but I wanted to test the waters. I told the kid that I had my suitcase to spend the night, couldn’t put more than 3K on my debit card, and if I had to leave to get more money, I might as well go look at the other trucks on my list. He called his boss and told me that for 3K, they weren’t giving me a warranty.

I refused to budge. 3K including taxes, fees, and the warranty.

He called his boss again and I overheard, “if she leaves, we’re losing the sale. Yes, she’s going to leave.”

The deal was done. Salesman and boss were not happy, but they knew a manual truck wasn’t going to move. We signed the paperwork, I paid, and the kid put my license plate on the truck. Done!

I drove to the registry, paid the $80 fee for the plate renewal, and then headed to a quick lube place for the oil change, fluid top up, battery testing, and tire pressure check.

Next, I got some picnic fixings, topped up the gas tank, and I was on the road to Stettler by 7:15.

The truck drove like a dream! It was so much quieter than the Accent and very powerful. I will have to get used to needing to shift gears at higher speeds. No regrets so far!

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What Happens If You Total Your Vehicle Registered in Alberta?

My vehicle registrations are due tomorrow. I’ve paid for the motorhome, but wasn’t sure what to do about the car. The Service Alberta website was useless.

So I called and after spending ages on hold, I got a live person. She explained that my insurance company would have informed the Ministry of Transport that the vehicle is off the road, so I don’t have to do anything.

When I go register my truck next week, I can bring the car’s license plate and if it’s deemed to be reusable (I can’t imagine it not being reusable), it will be transferred to the truck. Easy peasy.

Unrelated, after this call, I had to call the lawyer in Saskatchewan who dealt with my property transfer because the cheque I sent for their services hadn’t cleared my account yet. The person who answered confirmed that the cheque was deposited yesterday and that my account is in good standing. I was then thanked profusely for not only paying on time, but making sure my payment was received. Methinks they have to chase their clients!

Okay, I’m ready to turn in my grown up card for today… but I’m waiting for a call from Ohio.

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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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Managed to Reach BMO

I dug through my computer and found enough to call BMO this afternoon. Friday just felt too far away. The first number I tried was the wrong one, but the helpful lady gave me the correct number.

The correct number was answered by an English-speaking computer. WHAT?! I’m not used to dealing with this stuff in English, so I pressed two for French and got an Anglo with a really thick accent. HUH?! It has always been my experience that Anglos are lucky to get a French person who can muddle by in English with an almost incomprehensible accent when they call anything that’s remotely official in Quebec.

But I digress.

I didn’t have my loan account number, but I was found through my name (it helps to be the only person on the planet with your name) and then I breezed through the security questions.

The loan balance was just about where I expected it to be, $4,200. I have a payment over the weekend which may affect the balance unless BMO does a stop payment once they’ve heard from the insurance company. I don’t mind if that payment goes through because it will eventually come back to me, but it would be nice if it doesn’t.

Before we got down to the business, the guy told me he was sorry to hear about the accident and was I okay? Yes, thank you, but I’m pissed off that my nearly paid off car is totaled. He gave me the balance and said he hoped that the insurance payout would cover it. “Yup. And I’ll still have more than $7,000 in my pocket by the time the moron’s insurance pays me back my deductible.” His reply was, “How did you pull that off?!” Apparently, they get a lot of people who have their car totaled and the insurance payment doesn’t cover the loan. It would suck to have to make payments on a car that’s been totaled!

So, now I just have to wait for my total loss adjuster to contact BMO because that’s how BMO wants things done. At least, I’m two days ahead of where I thought I’d be after I hung up with her.

Intact has been absolutely stellar. Big thumbs up!