Hi guys and thanks for taking a moment to read this.
For the past several years I’ve been doing gig work off-and-on using various app-based platforms. Earlier this year, I was doing Doordash full-time, until in June, my account of 7 years was deactivated due to my license being suspended. (Which is another long unrelated story) After that, my wife and I started going out using her Dasher account until I was accepted into 3 new gig work platforms, about three weeks ago. (Beginning of November) These platforms are fairly new to my area and haven’t really taken off here yet. So individually none of the three have been able to provide enough work for me to cover all of my bills, which led to some financial challenges. This includes getting a cancellation notice for my auto insurance policy.
On 11/16 I made an auto insurance payment using an electronic check, to avoid my policy being cancelled the next day. I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but the e-check didn’t attempt to clear my account until 11/21. By this time an unexpected subscription fee was charged to my account which caused my insurance check payment to bounce, and my policy lapsed.
Later that same day, I was driving on the expressway, on my way back from a delivery I had just completed in another city, for one of the new gig work platforms I’m working with. I had been following an 18-wheeler for a couple of miles in the passing lane and decided to pass it on its right side. I switched lanes and was passing next to its trailer when the driver abruptly swerved over into the lane I was in. Fortunately for me, I was still far enough back to slam on my brakes and avoid being smashed into the concrete barrier to my right, but as I was almost clear of the trailer, its steel bumper smashed into my front driver side fender and then proceeded to remove my car’s grill and front bumper.
At that point, although I was dragging my bumper under my car, I still followed the truck for a few miles and took several pics of the back of the trailer. I called the state troopers, and they instructed me to get off at the next exit to file a report. One trooper came to the gas station where I was, and another went looking for the 18-wheeler. They caught up with him a few miles down the road and had him follow them to where myself and the other state trooper were parked. An officer with the local county sheriff’s office arrived with the 2nd state trooper and the 18-wheeler.
After about 15 minutes of all three officers examining the back of the trailer, they came back to me and insisted that they couldn’t find a single spec of evidence of it making contact with my car. They went on to say that attempting to get the trucking company’s insurance to pay for the damages and/or pressing any criminal charges for the driver doing it intentionally would be futile and that I’d be better off just reporting the accident to my insurance company and having them cover the repair costs.
We went back and forth about it for a while, but I finally agreed to go their suggested route and report it to my insurance company. I did so and a claim was initiated, but the next day, 11/22, they called and informed me that my policy had been cancelled and couldn’t be reinstated due to the accident occurring during the lapse in coverage. That same day, their insurance appraiser came out to appraise the damages and provided an estimate amounting to $3,347.92.
The Pathfinder is my household’s only vehicle and it can’t be used for working with any gig work platforms in its current condition and right now these platforms and my wife’s disability payments are our household’s only sources of income. So, I need to raise enough funds to get the repairs done and for us to live off of until then. For now, we still have some money in our accounts, and I believe I can get the repairs completed for less than the estimated amount. That said, we’ll most likely still need $3-4,000 to get through this, but any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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