[jac1976]

With respect to the insurance. Yes, there was an agreed upon value which I could have been paid and the insurer would then take possession of the car. As it was explained to me, in order to buy back, I would allow the company to “auction” the car and I would be able to match the winning bid which would be subtracted from my agreed upon value. Essentially, I get the car and the balance of the agreed upon value. A few sentimental items excepted, I wanted my mechanic to assess the value of the car in order to decide what bid amount would leave me in the best possible financial position compared to taking the agreed value in total. Further complicating the matter was the fact that 4 weeks following the accident I received a ticket for the accident. I spoke directly with the ticketing officer who, while not witness to the accident, concluded the cause of the accident was excessive speed. As an aside, I am uncertain still what speed is appropriate when hitting a tree head on. Those that witnessed the wreck (and should be noted had a better vantage point and a borderline encyclopedic knowledge of these cars) point to a tie rod failure and provided not only a description of the behavior of the car prior to impact, but also the trajectory and tracks left by the car as evidence. Long and short was that I hired a lawyer to fight the ticket as I 1) didn’t want added insult to injury 2) thought the ticket was dubious and 3) feared what ramifications this might have had on the insurance claim and future insurability. Thus, retaining the car while my case was adjudicated would allow my mechanic or whomever to examine and possibly support my claim. Again, this was all speculation on my part, but I wanted to make sure all of my “i”s were dotted and “t”s were crossed. At the time, with mounting medical bills, a work schedule and income hamstrung by my injury, and uncertainty about the ultimate function of a right knee with a patella that had its remaining 4 pieces held together with screws and wire, I thought I was making a prudent decison. In hind sight, none of this was necessary and ultimately contributed to me losing the car.

Make no mistake, I hold myself accountable from the minute I left the road (possibly even prior for not doing as thorough a check of all systems) until now. There are obvious points where I should have just taken the money or found someone to pick up the car and discounted any of the aforementioned concerns. Hell, I even should have found a way to pay the ridiculous price BHCC was asking for what I felt was still my car. I certainly wish I had as I now sit with no insurance money and no car. Trust me, I have thought about this more than a healthy person should. I never thought I would total the car and I certainly would never abandon the car in a tow lot. I think it is unconscionable that a person can honestly say he thought I wasn’t going to pick up this particular car... and even more inconceivable since he had spoken to me a number of times.