What, you may ask, could possibly make the van situation worse, without actually having our claim denied?

HO HO HO. Yeah.

Well, I finally got ahold of the other guy's insurance company after having Corey's folks fax me the report (a thousand apologies for my lack of faith in them). First off, let me explain that I was in the MOOD for a fight, so when the chica on the other end of the line said, "Well, THAT has to come out of our COMMERCIAL department," I had no qualms about telling her, "I don't really care WHO it comes out of, as long as it isn't me."

Ahem.

So I got through to the commercial department, where apparently a claim has been started, but the only party of the three parties involved with any actual information is the one that LIVES 600 GODDAMN MILES AWAY. That's right. The people who could've driven to the CHP office on their lunch breaks have no clue as to what's going on. So I gladly shared what info I have.

They told me that I needed to call the tow yard that has my van, and have it released to their tow company. This way, they're not incurring more daily fees for storage. At $70-80 per day, it makes perfect sense to me. This is also supposed to expedite the inspection process. So I did that. I called them up, and gave them my name and told them what kind of vehicle we have, and they said, "No problem."

So later on, Corey comes home from work, and talks to the insurance guy. The guy says, "Well, they picked up your van, but it has the wrong VIN number."

Okay, just let's get this straight. Even I know that VIN numbers are unique to each vehicle.

"Oh, and it's a 1985 blue minivan. But it has your plates."

So we're thinking, "WTF?" Because our van resembles the one they picked up only by the shape of the body and the name plastered on the outside of it. We are also furious that someone has apparently stolen our license plate off of our van and put it on another van.

And by the way, where IS our van?!?

We called the tow yard to find out where the hell our van went. The first attempt to find out wasn't very successful.

"We have three yards - which one is yours at?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know - maybe the one that let someone take the WRONG VEHICLE and let my license plate disappear????"

She kinda hung up on me, so I tried again later, using Ye Olde Sweete and Innocente voice.

What it all boils down to is this: OUR insurance company was able to take our van, without our clearance (supposedly against the tow company's policy), to THEIR tow yard on Tuesday. When I called THEM to get our van released to Other Guy's insurance company, they said they couldn't without clearance from OUR insurance company. Who was supposed to stop any action on their part for the claim on SUNDAY. So, in essence, the company that had our van originally? They allowed TWO VEHICLES to be removed from their property without proper permission. And the plates on the other van? Not ours. Not even from the same state!

I also sent communication to GM. They supposedly have some investigating the situation. Which probably involves a bunch of fat men in ties farting around a deluxe taco salad or something.

We're officially going to hire an attorney. The depths to which this situation has invaded and interrupted and DISrupted our lives is unbelievable. Corey is still extremely skittish when he's driving, and he still hasn't gotten on a freeway. He's been to the chiropracter and been diagnosed with moderate whiplash, and prescribed a minimum of 8 weeks of therapy, possibly more depending on his progress. The natural curvature of his neck is gone - the x-rays show it to be quite straight. Beyond that, I'm still having to haul my family around in monsoon humidity and heat in a car with no A/C, in a car that can't even get up into our mountains only 15 miles away because it overheats, and in a car that has to have its headlights unplugged so the battery doesn't die.

the last trail...the next path