RMV Hearing? Must Read This
There was that old song “I Fought the Law, and the Law WON.” Not this time…
Well, I fought in the insurance company and I won. (I could not find a song that says “I Fought the Insurance Company….”)
In January I hit a Mass Pike pot hole that featured a jagged-edge rock sticking up like a knife. It was raining. At 55 miles per hour in the rain, if I swerved to avoid it, I would have hit a car. The rock tore a long hole in the under carriage of the my car.
Long-story short, a month of repairs later and a $4000 claim to my insurance company, I got my car back. They paid for the damage, minus my $500 deductible that I paid.
Well last month I get a letter from the RMV saying the “accident” adds a SURCHARGE to my record, now requiring me to take DRIVER retraining, or get my license to drive SUSPENDED.
I demanded that my insurance company revoke the surcharge, on the grounds that the hitting the pothole was unavoidable at 55 miles per hour on a rainy Mass Pike Monday. They agreed and revoked the surcharge, a month later. According to my insurance agent, now it was up to ME to fight it out with the RMV to get it off my record.
With the revocation letter in hand from the insurance company, I show up at the RMV for a “walk up hearing.” Heidi, my wife reminds me to get there early. Doors open at 9 am. I showed up at 8 am. I was person number FIFTY in line an hour before.
At 9:05 am I get to the counter:
Lady: “You’re here why?
Me: “Walk up hearing.”
Lady: “Hearing tickets are OUT for this morning……only 20 in morning, 20 in afternoon. Can you come back at 2 pm?”
Me: “WHAT……..it’s 9:05!!!”
Lady: “Sorry…..that guy over there got here at 6:30 this morning. Sorry.” She seemed to feel bad.
Of course, I was shocked, dismayed and upset. I wasted an entire morning. There are no signs on line or on site that say “only 40 hearings a day.” The lady was just doing her job so I wasn’t mad at her.
I shook it off. I came back the next morning at SIX THIRTY AM.
I was NUMBER SIX in line. Bonding with HUMANS ONE THROUGH FIVE, they all KNEW why I was there at the crack ass of ass. “Hearing…huh? Is this your second day?” For the first time, I felt embraced and welcomed as if I was on an alien planet meeting with Earth survivors who like me, escaped from a crashed ship looking for their own. The 2 and one half hours passed, like it was……..2 and one half hours as we shared stories from the old days, of….two days ago. After an hour, I felt like a seasoned veteran, offering expert advice to humans behind me.
FINALLY……..it was 9 am. The doors opened, and I was welcomed in to be given the GOLDEN TICKET! (Unlike Willy Wonka, there were no candy fountains, and the ticket was small and pink.)
At 10:35 am, after four and one half hours since I arrived, I was called into my hearing. Ready to unveil my rehearsed speech, 70 seconds into my visit, the very nice hearing officer spoke: “You’re all set. Your INSURANCE COMPANY sent us your revocation letter. Here’s your copy of the release. Have a nice day.”
I didn’t have to show up.