On Friday 13th my day started with me spilling a whole cup of very strong coffee all over the neutral coloured carpet in my bedroom. Not the best start to the day, but I did manage to clean it up and then go and buy some white vinegar and mix it with soap and water and get the stain out. It took quite a while.
Then, there I was checking on emails when I suddenly got one from the garage I'd bought my car at. My next door neighbour had taken my car there because... and get this as a completely freak accident... one of the clock faces on the clock tower of my house had fallen off and smashed through the back window of my car, denting the roof, boot and sides of my car on the way. Would you ever credit it?
Luckily no-one was hurt and my car was placed under wraps, away from snow, ice and prying eyes to await insurance people coming to get it.
Then it necessitated my getting in touch with my insurance company. Great, I thought, I can fill out the online application form and get the process started. But no... nothing could be that simple. The form demanded I put a driver on the form and it couldn't be me, as the only way to claim for this strange twist of fate was to tick a particular box on the form, but then it wouldn't accept me as the driver. Frustrating or what?
In the end I found out (thanks to Tracy) that I could use Skype as a phone if I put some money on it and phone the UK for 4p per minute. I never knew that and it's one of the most useful things I've discovered.
So then it was a long winded call to my insurance company that cost me all of 80p and now my car is going to get sorted.
There are problems though - when is anything simple? - as the clock is officially the property of Scottish Borders Council (my neighbour did phone them and tell them what had happened) and one of it's faces is currently residing, smashed to bits, in the boot of my car. However, the insurance company will be claiming from the Council. How much do you bet that SBC don't pay out? Then of course, that means that officially the car will have 'fault' on my policy, which means that my no claims bonus is stuffed.
Oh well... nothing I can do. But it does make me aware how grateful I am to have such lovely neighbours (I always leave my car keys with them when I'm away so the car can be started now and again to keep the battery ok) who took my car off the street and got in touch with the Council on my behalf. Also the guy at the garage who emailed me pics and told me not to worry and enjoy the rest of my holiday as it was only metal and glass that was damaged. And finally, that no-one was in the car at the time or that anyone was passing... that would've been a completely different kettle of fish.
The clock stuff will get sorted, but it is interesting that the clock man had been round to repair it just a couple of weeks ago, so maybe the Council will point the finger at him? Who knows?
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| The clock face in happier times being fixed last summer |
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| The same clock face now residing in the back of my car! |
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