It's 7:30 am and my phone rings showing an unknown number. Being a sunday I was in half sleep and usually reject unknown numbers but thanks to trucaller that it showed it as a govt number. Picked it up and after what I heard all my sleep vanished and I was completely awake.
here is what I heard:
Caller: Adi!
Me: kaun?
Caller: its daddy
Me: whose number is this where are you?
Dad: Adi, I have met with an accident on SUN city road. A car coming from wrong side banged me. The car is smashed.
Me: What!?
Which car did you take!?
Dad: dzire. The car is smashed and I have a fracture my leg is twisted I need to reach the hospital.
Me: Call 108 A.S.A.P
Dad: Reach fast.
Hearing all this grabbed the keys of the kizashi and just as I was about to go mom stopped and almost collapsed on hearing what I said. Finally she came to her senses and called up our neighbour who is useful in such a situation dealing with cops and locals. we went in two cars my k and his ertiga to the accident spot.
remember the sun city I highlighted well that was for a reason. I had heard it wrong. On reaching sun city I could find no crowd gathering or any accident. Called up dad and was shocked to learn that it was at SCIENCE city which is in opposite direction. Took a U- turn and rushed for the accident spot which was 3 kms away. As soon as I reached close saw that it was on the other side of the road and could only see a white accent partially from my side due to bushes on the highway divider and a huge crowd.
Took a U- turn and what I saw made me cold for a minute. The car was completely smashed the airbags were deployed and dad was sitting in the drivers seat with two bodies lying on the road and one old man shivering on the road bleeding profusely from his forehead. The bystanders had called 108 which was on its way. Dad was bleeding from his ankle which was twisted. We put him in the 108 that arrived soon and got him admitted in the hospital. His ankle bone had split into 9 pieces. He now has an external fixture which will be removed within 20 days.
Let the pics do the talking for now:
My 2 months old Dzire zdi smashed
What had happened?
it seems that an accent coming from the other side swerved in order to avoid a pig that came in his way. On swerving he hit the divider knocked 3 bushes down and landed on my car at triple digit speeds. My dad was at 60 km/h. The driver and his mother died on the spot and the father survived with a broken jaw, cracked skull and damaged spine leaving him paralysed. It was all over the news.
And next day in the TOI
What saved my dad were seat belts which held him in place. My dad remembers a loud engine roar then a bang and then the airbag in his face. Can't even imagine what would have happened what would have happened if it wasn't a ZDI.
Dad is now on the road to recovery and will be able to live normally from march 2014. By live normally I meant will be able to drive again.
The pic of the accent
Aftermath
Both cars were impounded by the police since someone had died. A police guy came to the hospital and took my dad's statement. We registered an F.I.R against the driver of the car since it was a formality otherwise they could do a case on us. I can also claim third party this way.
What about the car?
The car was towed away after fitness test to the service center. They said that I should opt for total loss since the car is far too damaged and I would also lose my warranty after repair.
the repair estimate came to a whooping 8.2 lakhs. I contacted bajaj allianz who sent their surveyor.
A week later I get a call from them that they have put a cash loss on my car as according to them the repair estimate would come 4 lakhs as they weren't giving me a new bodyshell nor a new engine but just the lower part of it.
My I.D.V is 7.35 lakhs with 0 dep and they offered me 6.25 lakhs to which I was furious and told him was he out of his mind 1.10 lakhs off for a 2 month old car he explained it as depreciation for 2 months and said the best he can do is 6.75 lakhs. This means I have to pay 30k to clear my laon and additional 10k to clear the parking and estimate charge.
The service center guy says that if he opens the engine the car will be declared a total loss since he knows that the whole engine is finished and the insurance company thinks its just the lower part that is damaged.
This is how the insurance companies liability works out
Cash loss
Buyer: 4 lakhs
insurance co: 2.75 lakhs
Repair
Insurance co: 3.5 lakhs
Me: 50k
So I am trying to bargain with them at this point of time for the best possible deal. Pics of the estimate from service center below.
*UPDATE* on 4th December 2013:
Bargained bit more by making a sad face. They agreed for 7.1 lakhs. This clears my loan and gives me 3k excess yahoo. Sometimes the sad face works out.