I was hit by a big rig - need your help

(Update:  Gallegher Bassett contacted me and stated the client, PFG Transco,  offered to pay me my money.  In return, I am removing the contact information for the people involved.  However, I am not removing the story.  This should be a warning to companies who do unethical things - in the age of social media, we consumers do have ways to state our case.  We don't have no choice but to take it when a company decides to cheat us, thinking that we have no recourse.  Denying an insurance claim without investigating any of the facts is unethical, as is putting truckers on the road who are dangerous.  I can't do much about the second thing, but I at least got the money I was out due to that driver's lack of skill. 

I want to thank those of you who made calls, who tweeted, and who worked to right this wrong on my behalf.  You are fantastic and I appreciate every one of you.)


Facebook readers will know I was hit by a big rig the other day, a truck by PFG Transco, Inc. HR's email address is the only one I can find:  (deleted upon request).

It was November 19th and I was driving home from a doctor's appointment (where else would I be going?) and I was stopped at a red light, waiting to go straight. A big rig, an 18 wheeler, pulled into the turn lane left of me.  The light was green so he went. He was too close and he hit me, knocking off my side mirror, and I might add, scaring the crap out of me. (You who have been on chemo for a few years might not think that's such a bad thing.....).

I was shocked and slightly terrified.  I'm not supposed to die in a car accident, but of cancer!  How dare this truck take away my remaining months!  The scraping noises it made sounded like he had taken off the entire side of the car and not just the side mirror, and in fact, we have noticed bumper damage since.  I jumped to the right to get away in case the back of his truck came in through the window as he completed the turn, but fortunately, it didn't.  He drove off down the street. Stunned,  I honked and honked, trying to make him take notice, my back aching from the sudden movements.  He didn't stop, so all the cars had gone and I was in the front at a red, and his lane was still green, so I jumped over and followed.

At a red light, I hopped out of the car, banged on his window, and yelled "Hey!  You just hit me."  

:

And him right before I knocked:

We chatted a bit.  He apologized, hadn't realized, seemed very nice and wanted to pay himself so he didn't get fired, which I was willing to do if if wasn't too much money. (I wasn't going to trust him with a check.)   He said it would be cheap, and pulled out his wallet, but I wasn't so sure.  But, if my husband agreed, than I would too.   He then said then said to follow up to Outback Steakhouse up the street.  I asked him why, and he said he had to make a drop there.  So, I called my husband, explained to meet us at Outback .

As he began driving into Outback, I saw that he was hitting their sign.  I grabbed my camera!  

He seemed to be stuck.  I backed up although he had plenty of room.  He eventually gave up and drove away:.

You can't see it in this video but he cut off a blue car to the left, and he straddled lines several times to make turns.  I had no idea where he was going and so I put down the phone and called the 800 number on the back of his truck for "safety" and reported that he had just hit me.  Then I saw him make a couple more driving errors and since I had no idea where he was going I called 9-11.  While I'd agreed to meet with him and my husband to see if we could handle this privately, he was not demonstrating good driving and I thought it was best to do the right thing and for all I knew, he was going to leave town.

I was on the phone with CHP the whole time -they were calling it a hit and run and they were telling me to be careful.  I told them not to worry, he was a nice guy.  Hah!  

He finally pulled over behind a gas station.  Hindsight says he was trying to get away from me, but at the time I thought he was just looking for a place to park.  So, I told him (with CHP listening) that because of his bad driving and crossing lines and almost hitting somebody else, and hitting the Outback sign, I felt I needed to handle this properly so I'd called the authorities.

All of that should be recorded as it was a 9-11 call.  

I contacted my husband and told him where we were.  

The man was extremely apologetic, said he was a family man, was just supporting his wife and kids and he would get fired for hitting me.  He was very sorry, he said it numerous times.  I felt terrible and said I was sorry too, I even patted him on the shoulder.  His name is Fernando, and he'd been driving a truck for 6 months.   We talked until the CHP arrived.  I shared with him my own son's struggle to find a job and I knew how tough it was.

Well, the CHP arrived and then my husband.  The CHP helped us exchange information.  But, they said that the accident was actually in Sacramento City Police Boundaries and the police don't come out to take reports.  So, we would handle this through our insurance company.  I told Fernando that I would get an estimate and call him that night with the costs and we could still handle it off-book if he wanted - I really did feel terrible.  So, we got an estimate that day, for only $200.00 (still hadn't noticed the bumper) and I called Fernando on his company phone and left a message saying it was only $200.00 and if he would call me back, we'd take care of it that way.

He didn't call back, so we dealt with it through insurance.

This morning, I got a phone call, waking me up, from their insurance company, Gallagher Bassett, who hilariously bill themselves as the most ethical company in the world.  They took my statement and then told me they immediately ruled in favor of the driver. 

What?

Apparently, he said he hadn't hit me, he didn't know me, there was no damage and he had no idea what I was talking about.  He lied to me about being a good man and about wanting to do the right thing.  My side of the story didn't matter at all, as I had no proof he did it so why they called me?   I have no idea. 

The fact that I'd called their company hot line immediately saying he'd hit me, that I followed him halfway around town, that I'd called the CHP - none of that means he hit me,  according to them. I'm just a crazy lady, I guess, following big rigs around and making up accidents and calling 800 numbers and the CHP for no reason.    That is just what this terminally ill woman does for fun in her spare time. Follow trucks and pretend they hit her.  Because, I don't have enough problems  in my life, clearly, I need to create more.

Here is a screenshot of the calls I made.  You can see that I was nervous and messed up dialing the truck's reporting number a couple of times, called my husband (Doug) in between and then called 9-11.

$200.00 is nothing for the "most ethical company in the world" to do the right thing but it is a lot for me at Christmas time.  Apparently there is no justice in this world, especially for me.

Maybe you should call  Gallagher/Basset and leave a message for (name and number deleted upon request) and let her know what you think about calling a terminally ill lady and pretending to get a statement when it has already been decided.   Or, you  may want to call the trucking company and let them know how you feel about having drivers of that caliber on the road with your children: (number deleted upon request).  They might also be interested in this post.

If you would like to tell Fernando  what you think about his lies, his company line is: (number deleted upon request.)  Feel free to leave a message - I called him and he hung up on me.  He's a good, family man, after all.  I'm sure he would like a letter telling him what an honorable person he is.

After all, I'm sure he immediately reported the accident I caught on video at Outback, which is is probably required to do.  Oh wait, he didn't, the insurance company told me they had no knowledge of it (but wanted me to send them the video.)  So, they could cover it up?  No chance.

Outback will have it with my testimony today.

If you have any advice for getting my rightful $200.00 from these people, I would be happy to hear it.