In case you didn't catch it last week, my car was recently stolen. It sucked, no question. But it was definitely an interesting experience in terms of seeing how everything worked in that situation, from the beginning (calling the cops) to the end (getting my baby back).
I already said that August was a bad month. This part was just another nail in the coffin: eight hours after I met with my insurance adjuster and gave him my keys, the police department called to tell me they found my car… in the parking lot of an apartment complex two buildings down the street from my own. That just made me mad.
Since I didn't have my keys, the cops had to tow the car. Once they finished their investigation, it ended up at the towing company lot. Then I had to deliver paperwork from the police station to the towing company to get my car released. When that was done, I called my insurance adjustor, who had the car taken to the auto body shop.
From there, it was fairly simple. My insurance adjustor and I went over the car very thoroughly. First we had to clean it up--the thief had emptied every compartment and left the contents on the floor, naturally. Because he/she had access to my personal info, I ran a credit report with annualcreditreport.com to look for any funny business. There didn't appear to be any paperwork missing from the car, such as my insurance card or registration, so I didn't think it was worth putting a fraud alert on my report. I'll keep an eye on it for a while.
Once we had identified all the damage, my insurance adjustor took pictures and completed the paperwork. Then he passed everything over to another insurance agent, who worked with the auto body shop to make sure my car was taken care of. When it was ready, I paid the auto body shop the full amount of my deductible, and they gave me the keys to my clean and shiny car.
If I had to do it again--and I really, really hope I never have to--there are a couple of things I would do differently.
I wouldn't have had as much work done on my car. The windshield had to be replaced, no matter what (big crack). On the other hand, they completely replaced the upholstery on the back seat because of one broken corner ($550!). A little glue would have done the trick. The scratches on the inside panel didn't really necessitate replacing the whole panel, and the dents they pulled out could only be seen if the light was just right. It seems silly to waste all that time, money, resources for little things like that.
I also would have been a little more proactive about calling the insurance guys and the repair shop. The repairs took longer than they needed to, and a quick call would have had my car finished a few days sooner.
In the end, the best advice I can give is this: ask lots of questions. If you're worried about looking stupid, don't. Asking questions about simple stuff is better than getting stuck with a big bill out of ignorance.
--Jennie
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