Visits

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Motorist Beware

Today while we were headed into Sanur for a couple of simple errands, my wife’s car was rear-ended by another car. Now, in America that’s not a huge problem, right? You just grumble a bit, get out of the car, exchange insurance information, and you’re on your way.

Not so in Bali, my friends. To begin with, almost no one here carries car insurance. I don’t blame them for this. They would be insane to do so. The insurance is shit and pretty much the only guarantee they make is that they will not pay so much as a single cent under any circumstance.

So then, what is the method of procedure? Well, although I do not understand the thinking, it seems that you must first go to the dealership for your make of car. There some men come out and mark the dents and/or scratches with a stick of chalk, some paperwork is filled out, and the driver is sent to an insurance office. Yes, even though the offending party has no insurance. It seems, as far as I can figure the thing, that insurance companies here will give loans to drivers who have no insurance. So you go to the aforementioned insurance office and the people there fill out some paperwork, examine the dents and/or scratches on your car, and then send you forthwith to the car repair shop--not to have your car repaired, mind you, but so that the people there can also fill out paperwork and study the dents and scratches.

Now considering the distances between these places, and the bumper to bumper Bali traffic, you can pretty much kiss the rest of your day goodbye. This is why it is always best to get into your accident early in the morning if at all possible.

The actual repair of your car may take place in anywhere from one week to one month, depending upon the availability of a replacement for the injured, dented, or scratched part. A bumper, for instance, a fender, a taillight. Rare creatures indeed are these.

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