So, the car accident I had in August....  some good things and some bad(ish) things.  Good news is that I am showing improvement and should be able to return to work in a couple weeks.  I just got dropped to two chiropractor visits a week, so things are staying in place a little better.  

I FINALLY talked to someone at AIG!  My car insurance, Progressive, is playing 60% of my lost wages, and covering the medical bills.  AIG, the other driver's insurance, is supposed to cover the other 40% of lost wages, and if my medical coverage runs out then they start picking up the tab.  Progressive has been great, and once they had all my paperwork things have been flowing smoothly since then.  AIG, on the other hand.... I feel like they're running me in circles.  In the beginning, I was assigned to two adjustors, Marlene handled medical(which is nothing for them right now) and Mike handled the lost wages.  Or rather... he didn't handle it.  Like one week after my accident, he called, trying to strongarm me into a settlement.  There's NO way that's a good idea, because at that point I had no idea what the extent of my injuries were, and what treatment is needed or how long it will take to fix them.  After I told him that, repeatedly, he left me alone.

I hadn't heard from them since(this was mid-August) and when I finally got all my lost wages info compiled and over to Progressive, I tried to contact Mike to do the same thing with AIG.  To no avail.  I left voicemails for both Mike and Marlene all the time, and one day I literally called them every hour all day long.  No answer, no return call.  By this time I had been out of work for six weeks and was getting really frustrated.

Add to that, the rumors that AIG is going under, was bought out by the government or private investors or whatever, due to financial problems.... yeah......

I finally managed to get an operator on the phone at AIG one day, and found out my case had been reassigned to someone named Laurence.  I got his extension number and email address, and left him a voicemail letting him know I needed to speak with him about my case, and that I was emailing him all the documentation for my lost wages.  There's a law that once they have all the info, they MUST cut you a check within 2 weeks, or they have to start paying you interest.

Two more weeks passed, and I still wasn't able to get a response from Laurence even after multiple calls.  We're going on two months out of work here, and I can't even get someone to call me back.  And now, a couple days ago, I FINALLY managed to get someone to walk across the offices at AIG and make Laurence take my call.

In short, he informed me that Liability Insurance(coverage someone else carries in case they hit you) works differently than PIP(coverage you carry to protect yourself).  They do a one time settlement, and if it isn't done right at the beginning, then they either settle when the injured party decides to end their claim, covering only what is owed up to that date, or they wait until the injured party is no longer under care for the injury, and then they settle.

What this means is, I get no money until I am back to normal, which could be months.  Even after I return to work, I'll still be getting treatment for a while.  And I've been through this before, there's no way I'm going to risk my spine and say I'm better before I am just to get that check.

On the bright side, when I do get that check, it'll be a nice chunk of saved up money.