While the current hot topic is health insurance, that debacle is a political hot potato I shall avoid. As many of you know I was involved in a car accident last week, courtesy of a teenage driver, who hit one car and then mine. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the police report clearly indicated I was not at fault. Great! But what has ensued is an endless nightmare.

Fortunately or unfortunately, this is not my first rodeo with car accidents, so I thought I knew the drill. In the past, the insurance company of whom caused the accident took care of everything. But not in this case–I’m the one who has done all the reporting and spent hours answering the same questions over and over. Since the driver’s insurance company indicated they had no knowledge of the accident, I can only surmise that he failed to report it or disappeared. Finally, my agent advised I contact her main office. (I guess her job is to sell, not handle claims.) I did, which resulted in more phone calls, answering the same questions, more trips to the towing service, who impounded my undrivable car, and my miserable headache.

It seems ludicrous that in this hi-tech age the communications between insurance agencies remains in the dark ages. Lord knows we pay more than enough for our worst-case scenarios. Of course, I have no idea if my car will be repaired or totaled. I have no idea when or if I’ll be compensated, but I’ll let you know. Until then…hope your new year is off to a great start.