A collision

2 November 2021
Early morning. After spending much of the long weekend at my girlfriend’s mother’s I have decided to wake up at 5:30 a.m. and return home before the morning rush hour. Streets are nearly empty, so the drive is smooth. Less than a kilometre from home I am on the right lane of ul. Belgradzka, driving exactly at the speed limit of 50 kmph. A red Toyota Yaris on the left lane trundles slowly, probably is about to do an illegal U-turn. My prediction of a fellow driver’s intention is wrong. She swerves right unexpectedly, trying to turn right from the left lane into a roadside car park and hits the left side of my Megane. My car is turned around and pushed into the lanes running in the opposite direction. Fortunately, no car is there, so a serious smash-up is averted.
After cooling down for a moment I fire up the engine and cautiously pull up into the car park. I get out. The damage to the vehicle is not as bad as I thought. The culprit of the accident right away admits her fault. Without undue unrest we set off to a nearby meat shop where she was supposed to have a training, to fill in the accident form I used to keep in the glove compartment for years. Suddenly it comes in useful.
Half an hour later I return home. I am still a bit of nervous, but first things first. I go to Lidl to do the shopping, eat breakfast, get down to work to handle the most urgent stuff. As business is taken care of, I learn what my rights in this situation are and how to ensure the car is repaired properly.
Early in the afternoon I report the accident to the culprit’s insurer (Uniqa).

4 November 2021
After two days of not being contacted by any representative of Uniqa, I call them. It turns out my accident report went astray and had to be recovered from the abyss of similar reports manually.
An hour later I pick up the phone and they already offer me a repair of my vehicle at Alfa Romeo’s garage. I refuse to have my car repaired by a different garage than a Renault authorised dealership. Then they offer me cash. I also turn down that proposal.
After two hours of studying my rights carefully I call Uniqa again and disconnect after exercising my right to have my car repaired by professionals and with original spare parts. The damages will be paid directly to the garage.

5 November 2021
I turn up at Renault Warszawa Puławska to have the sighting of the car. I sign documents which entitle the garage to claim the costs of the repair from the insurer. Since my car is theoretically roadworthy (but practically it ought to be driven cautiously, since the left-rear rim is dented and nobody knows whether undercarriage geometry is correct) I am not eligible for a substitute car. I hence have to borrow a company car if I am to move around safely.
Advised by a friend, I calculate the car’s value at Uniqa’s page, just in case they claim the cost of repair is above the car’s market value.

9 November 2021
The valuation of the repair is drawn up. It would cost approximately 15,000 PLN to restore the car to its pre-accident shape. Fortunately, this is well below the car’s market value, which is around 24,000 PLN.

11 November 2021
I hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, hence I download a guide on supreme court ruling which states the rights of drivers whose cars were damaged in accidents by other drivers. Just in case I brace for a nasty dispute with Uniqa.

15 November 2021
A car rental company contracts me. They want to fix me up with Kia Sportage, a SUV. I detest SUVs, besides, that car consumes 40% more petrol than my Megane. I kindly ask them go give me a compact car, if they lack one, a small city car.

16 November 2021
After two weeks of waiting I drive my car off to Renault Warszawa Puławska, then pick up the substitute car, which eventually is a Renault Megane IV sedan, with 1.5 diesel engine, automatic gearbox and nearly 60,000 kilometres on the clock. The car, driven by tens if not hundreds of drivers is rickety.

19 November 2021
I receive a letter from Uniqa. The insurer informs they have resolved to pay out 50% of compensation to Renault garage and pledge to pay the remaining half once an invoice is issued. Finance-wise all goes well.

21 November 2021
I park the substitute car in my garage and discover a scratch on the front bumper. Needless to say I refused to pay for insuring against my participation in the damage. I find the paint code and order a 10 ml paint with a brush on Allegro.

23 November 2021
For no apparent reason the car rental company wants the car back immediately, as the clock went past 60,000 kilometres and they need to have it serviced. I lie I am not home and cannot give the car back.

24 November 2021
The car paint does not arrive at my Paczkomat, although shoes for Szlachetna Paczka ordered on Monday came yesterday. I lie again to the car rental company I am away from home and the car stayed at home and cannot hand it over. Fortunately in the evening the paint arrives.

25 November 2021
I spend an hour in the morning cold carefully removing and painting the scratch. The effect is not awesome, but when a guy from the car rental company turns up at 4:00 p.m., he inspects the car carefully with a smartphone scorch and does not find the scratch. Several hundred zlotys are saved in my wallet. I pick up a Hyundai i30 with 1.0 engine from a lawn mower, with an automatic gearbox, which I dislike.

1 December 2021
I drive to Pyry to pick up a washing machine delivered to one of families I look after in Szlachetna Paczka. On my way there, the locking system conks out and driver’s door opens while I cross a speed bump. It’s all downhill now I hope.

7 December 2021
I pick up the car from repair. Done professionally, at the cost close to two-third of the vehicle’s value, but I do not give a damn about that expense. I am finally happy to have my well-run-in, looked-after reliable car with manual gearbox. With hindsight, I discover that the window opening mechanism in the left-rear door replaced during the repair does not work correctly. It will be fixed free of charge after Christmas.