My bike (purchased for 175 euros two weeks before the accident) being damaged beyond reasonable repair.
My glasses (purchased for around the equivalent of 200 euros in April) being scratched to the point that the lenses need to be replaced.
My mp3 player (purchased for around the equivalent of 80 euros in December) being beat up pretty badly, though still functioning.
Several chiropractic appointments, which I believe are being fully covered by my health insurance.
The scooter driver in the accident, Ed, filed a claim for the damages with his insurance company. I got in touch with an agent from that company yesterday, and I described the accident and the extent of the damages.
Initially, the agent suggested that I needed to get quotes from experts regarding the current value of the goods. She said that I may have purchased the glasses and bike for what I say, but that item values depreciate over time, and they may not have been worth their initial amount during the crash.
Apparently my “sad voice” and description of how I’d been hit after I’d just arrived in Amsterdam bought me some good will and flexibility from the insurance company. The agent took a tally of what I said my items were worth, and she said that she’d be willing to wire me 450 euros for damages to the bike, glasses, and mp3 players. Then, without any request on my part, she said that the insurance company would give me an additional 550 euros for the pain and inconvenience from the accident. So, in sum, they were offering 1000 euros.
I was floored by the offer. I had expected no more than 300 euros, and, if the company had offered me nothing, I probably would have simply walked away from the situation, happy with my intact bones. I have no idea if this is a typical experience with a Dutch insurance company, or if I was just lucky in this situation. Regardless, I’m pretty happy with the outcome. The 550 euros the company offered for pain and discomfort isn’t worth what I experienced after the accident, but it far exceeds what I would have expected.
In other news, I hosted my first couch surfer, Ana from Romania/Toronto. It was a lot of fun – we went out to dinner and walked around Central Amsterdam on Monday night, and we cooked together and shared traveling stories on Tuesday night. It was great to show someone the city, and show off the minimal Dutch and Amsterdam knowledge I've acquired.
I’m inundated with couch surfing requests at the moment. I've got a few Germans coming this weekend, and some Hungarians the following. They've promised to bring German beer and Hungarian palinka. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Between the good insurance and the apparently vibrant community of couch surfers, Europeans seem like a much more humane bunch.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you're not Moroccan. Or Turkish. Or Algerian. Or...well...you get the picture.
ReplyDeleteI say that (somewhat) in jest. But, I do think that corporations might not have quite the same anti-social tendencies as those in the U.S. I'm sure there are some very good reasons for this.