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I waited until the dust settled to post this up so here we go.....
For New Years Eve Me, My GF and My son went out of town to the inlaws to celebrate (roughly 2 hours drive from home). Had a great New Years and made the trek home New Years day. The roads were typical for our region, compact snow and slippery sections, but the CR-V does great in such conditions. About an hour into the trip we were listening to some old school NKTOB. As we came around a slight corner we both noticed the tip of a power pole protruding from the opposite ditch. Odd we thought.
Then the light bar lit up the snow on the power lines that were stretched across the highway from the downed pole in the ditch up to the pole across the highway. There were 3 lines. 1 on the road flat and 2 in the air. With barely any time to slow down we drove through the lines. The line was looped under my drivers side fender behind the headlight and stretched across the hood over the passenger A pillar. It was trying to pull me into the ditch as I fought the pull and continued to brake without coming to a stop with the line still on the V or causing a slide. I could hear the line ripping over the vehicle making a loud "BZZZZZZZZZZ" sound of braided cable on metal. Once the line cleared with a loud "Crack" like a whip I pulled over and came to a complete stop. While this is all happening there was a vehicle coming the opposite direction on the highway that I was flashing my lights at to alert them of the hazard.
The opposite vehicle stopped before the lines and got out and put flares out while I took care to see that the family was ok. I called in the accident told the operator that I drove through downed power lines and emergency crews were then on route. Here is where it gets funny. 15 minutes later Fire, Ambulance and Police all pull up on scene, drive right by us and pull up to where the van had blocked the road. After waiting another 10 minutes no one was even approaching our vehicle so I got out and walked up the highway to tell them where we were. As I get closer to the pole I see there was a truck in the ditch and that was the cause of the pole being down. He was about 5 seconds ahead of me on the highway but because of the corner I had no idea that he went off the road. I walked up the Emergency Crew (about 10 people) and said "Hey Guys I'm the one that drove through the power lines"
Everyone turns to look at me. One of them says "You hit the lines?" I say "Yea my Vehicle is down the highway over there we dragged the lines down the highway."
Well that kicked everyone into gear again. Flashlights came out and everyone started hustling down the highway towards my vehicle looking for the line and to check on us. The officer on scene moved his cruiser down the the highway and blocked it off and checked on us. About this time the ambulance carted off the people from the truck and the cop called another one back to check on us. I will note that it was -25 degrees out and I'm thankful the V stayed running the whole time or it would have been a cold long night. Paramedics checked us out in the amberlamps and we were released on scene. Right after it happened we called the inlaws and they arrived just in time for us to transfer all our belongings over before the V was towed. That ends that part of the story.
Monday
I wake up after a shitty night, gather all my info (insurance papers, license, etc) and prepare to call Dial a Claim. After a short wait I get someone and start the claim. After all the info I had was given and a rundown of the scenario and crash were taken the lady on the other end puts me on hold.
Now here is where I will say that because of the limited value of my CR-V I only have basic insurance with 3rd party liability. Here is where ICBC jump on me. She comes back and says "I see here you only have basic insurance through ICBC so unless you have 3rd part coverage you will not be insured for this accident as you hit the lines and that falls under a collision." I wasn't really prepared for this as, in my mind, it was a pretty clear case of cause and effect with the truck causing the downed lines. As you can imagine I was a little in shock at being told that my vehicle is now wrecked and I won't be covered by ICBC. I told her I would call her back. I called the officer who attended the scene back and asked for all the info from the truck as ICBC didn't have this info yet. Explained to the officer what ICBC was saying and he told me in his report he was very clear that there was no way I could have seen or avoided the lines and that it couldn't be my fault.
I called Dial a Claim back in the afternoon with all the new info and got a different lady. I passed on all the trucks info and the info for the other driver. Once I gave his info I though for sure this would clear up the issue of who is going to cover as they now have a vehicle to go after rather than just my solo incident. NO SUCH LUCK. This second person relayed the same info and said that because the truck didn't physically contact my vehicle that it is not held accountable. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???? Now I was angry and I wasn't afraid to show it. I responded with "So your telling me that because I'm not covered I'm now responsible for the tow bill, and the storage fees at the tow yard?" "Yes Sir that's correct" she replies.
I say "I guess there is no point in us continuing this conversation and I should consult a lawyer? I'm not letting you screw me out of a vehicle." She responds with "I'm going to talk to my supervisor sir please hold" A few minutes pass as she comes back on. "We are going to assign a investigator adjuster to this sir he will contact you in a couple business days" She gives me his number we end the convo. So that night I drive back to the town the car is being stored at (40 minutes from my house) take it out of the tow yard and drive it to a friends place to avoid paying storage fees.
Wednesday
I call the "investigator" at 9:30am. He is VERY pleasant, and we begin by going over the whole scenario. He was super nice, concerned with my well being, my families well being and the whole scary incident. He said was was volunteer fire fighter and what I went through was scary. Right away after all was talked about he said "Absolutely the truck is at fault. It's not like you drove through marked, flagged lines. These were hidden and unavoidable. I will talk to my manager and get back to you before 4."
Holy fuck was I happy. I still had a bit of skepticism because of my previous phone calls but, things were looking up. At 3:30pm he called back and told me that his manager agreed and that I would be covered 100% and that if I need a rental or a loaner while things got settles that would be covered to. Also to give him the towing receipt and he would reimburse me for that too! PHEW!!!! FUCKING SIGH OF RELIEF!!!!
Thursday
Contact the local adjuster let him know where my vehicle was and he goes out to assess it. Couple hours later he calls back with the news that my V is a total loss (I expected this due to the damage on the A pillar) and offered me a payout amount. I took the payout amount and he told me to strip the V of any NON OEM parts so I get to take all my after market toys off and still get paid pull value!!!!
What a week! Fuck. I was so fucking stressed out but managed to stand up for myself and get a fair deal with ICBC. Vehicles can be replaced (just be prepared to fight) and the family is unhurt so in the end it's a positive outcome on a shitty shitty situation.
Moral of the story:
Put collision on your car if you want to avoid hassles. ICBC Can and WILL try to fuck you over any loophole they can.
Sorry for the long post. Happy New Years everyone!
__________________ "The guy in the CR-V meanwhile, he'll give you a haughty glare. He's responsibly trying to lessen his impact, but there you go lumbering past him with your loud V8, flouting the new reality. You may as well go do some donuts in a strawberry patch and slalom through a litter of kittens." Dan Frio, Automotive Editor, Edmunds
is it safe to approach a downed power-line or just let emerg crew handle it? good thing you went otherwise the truck driver would've still been down in the ditch? was he able to move or just stayed in his truck for safety?
berz never fails to have the crazy stories. glad your family is safe.
only thing missing is that you found the original ICBC adjuster and powerbombed them.
They didn't try and fuck you over they were following the insurance guidelines that you paid for on your vehicle. They didn't have the truck info yet or probably the whole story on what happened. Technically with no info on the other truck and the way you described what happend you have a single vehicle accident on your hands. Until they talked to the police and got the other trucks info on what happened are they suppose to just say yes sir you don't have collision with us but hey it's Christmas lets cover your vehicle
Glad you and the fam are OK. That is #1 every time no matter the scenario. Secondly, amberlamps! brilliant! I'm dying over here. Good flashback.
Nothing new here. ICBC not having enough info at the time you reported is a possibility. Glad you made out OK in the end and good for you for not backing down
is it safe to approach a downed power-line or just let emerg crew handle it? good thing you went otherwise the truck driver would've still been down in the ditch? was he able to move or just stayed in his truck for safety?
It is not safe to approach a downed power line until verified safe by BC Hydro. You don't want to be completing the circuit for a 69kV (kilo-volt) power line... and power can flow through the ground or the air into your body.
The guidelines in my Firefighters' Handbook (<-----volunteer firefighter here) states that you should be a minimum of 10m/33ft away, because electricity can arc from the live end and kill you.
You said ICBC try to screw you but you realize the one said no were just call centre agents right? And the later one did pass you through an adjuster who helped solved your problem.
Call centre agents are taught the basics, and when the customer is pissed off, they consult a supervisor which usually gives the correct judgement. That's the moral of the story. And yeah stand up for yourself.
They didn't try and fuck you over they were following the insurance guidelines that you paid for on your vehicle. They didn't have the truck info yet or probably the whole story on what happened. Technically with no info on the other truck and the way you described what happend you have a single vehicle accident on your hands. Until they talked to the police and got the other trucks info on what happened are they suppose to just say yes sir you don't have collision with us but hey it's Christmas lets cover your vehicle
I agree with this. This is why I hung up and called and got all the relevant info on the truck but even with this relevant info they were STILL claiming it was a solo collision and not the fault of the truck. And yes it was the call center but had I been someone else without much knowledge on the subject I could have just hung up and lost my vehicle. They could have worded it different instead of flatly saying your not covered have a nice day. They didn't even say they would investigate until I got mad.
It is not safe to approach a downed power line until verified safe by BC Hydro. You don't want to be completing the circuit for a 69kV (kilo-volt) power line... and power can flow through the ground or the air into your body.
The guidelines in my Firefighters' Handbook (<-----volunteer firefighter here) states that you should be a minimum of 10m/33ft away, because electricity can arc from the live end and kill you.
This is why everyone jumped into action when I told them I dragged a line down the highway. They didn't even know. I also walked on the other side of the highway to avoid any errant lines as it was dark.
First off, glad you guys are okay. From the sounds of it the truck driver was lucky you hit the lines or he would've been there a while.
I'm not sure how ICBC works but I'm guessing the people answering the phones at the call centre might not have the authority to bump something up to requiring further investigation. Considering how many people try to claim an accident isn't their fault I'd imagine that cases like yours where you legitimately aren't at fault are a rarity.
__________________ 1991 Toyota Celica GTFour RC // 2007 Toyota Rav4 V6 // 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1992 Toyota Celica GT-S ["sold"] \\ 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD [sold] \\ 2000 Jeep Cherokee [sold] \\ 1997 Honda Prelude [sold] \\ 1992 Jeep YJ [sold/crashed] \\ 1987 Mazda RX-7 [sold] \\ 1987 Toyota Celica GT-S [crushed]
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Originally Posted by maksimizer
half those dudes are hotter than ,my GF.
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Originally Posted by RevYouUp
reading this thread is like waiting for goku to charge up a spirit bomb in dragon ball z
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Originally Posted by Good_KarMa
OH thank god. I thought u had sex with my wife. :cry:
I was really hoping for another Berz beats up asshole story.
But I guess you sort of did that.
10/10
__________________
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Originally Posted by jasonturbo
Too bad it isn't about flipping cars to lose money, I'm really good at that.
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Originally Posted by SkunkWorks
This wouldn't happen if you didn't drive a peasant car like an Audi...
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[14-05, 14:59] FastAnna You tiny bra wearing, gigantic son of a bitch
[15-05, 10:35] FastAnna Yeah I was dreaming of those big titties in that tiny bra
You have to remember that ICBC only knows what they know from reading a report. They weren't there to witness it first hand or know the entire context of the scenario.
I had an accident last February way out in the bush on a snow covered FSR. A logging company service truck cut a corner on a blind corner and I ran into him (I was on the inside, he cut across from the outside). No police report due to location and it was my word against his. We both provided pictures and statements. ICBC initially said 100% my fault based on the evidence they had. From the beginning I knew I had some fault in the accident, realistically 1/3rd but ICBC would call that 50/50 and never assumed I would be fault-free. It took some more going back and forth with someone who wasnt just a person connecting a phone to a keyboard, and some more pictures and going over details, but they ended up coming to an understanding that it was in fact 50/50 and I probably could have gone to 25% if I really needed to. The adjuster that I dealt with actually seemed like they were on my side trying to help me in the claim process. They then offered peanuts for my write off, but another round of conversations with people who can actually make a difference, and we ended up with a deal that was far exceeding what I had initially hoped for. The total loss settlement management was absolutely fantastic to work with as well.
TL;DR. you CAN work with ICBC, it just takes some time. They're real people doing a job with fairly strict policies. Its a lot easier to work with them than to butt heads right from the get go.
Everyone always tries to screw ICBC and everyone thinks ICBC is trying to screw them. Sometimes instead of screwing each other, you can just do a little bit of love making and everyone can leave happy.
Yea I really didn't want to be "that guy" but in the end it seems that's the only thing ICBC really cares about.
I still have to say though the Investigator and the Adjuster were amazing people to deal with.
Berz out.
And that is something I'm not sure could have happened, if we had private insurance companies. From experiences with private insurance companies it's like even when you are a clearly a victim they try to make you somewhat responsible, by trying to find something, to avoid paying.
Glad you are all fine and worked out for you, could have easily been fatal as pointed out already.
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