What happened was still very clear to me up to this day: I had just turned right from Mayapis Street going to Malugay Street. My wheel was turned fully right because I knew my car was far from the gutter (sometimes I turn really wide because "na-gutter" na ako before and a pretty bad one pa just that morning at my office's basement parking). Anyway so I was there at the intersection when the PNR alarm went off. I was 100% sure my foot was on the brake since I was checking the oncoming train and the railroad barrier if it was already going down. Then all of a sudden, I felt a bump. I turned to my left and saw this large van pushing my car from the side. It took the driver a good 5 seconds before he realized he couldn't move forward to the right because he was ramming his car into mine. Obviously he was not looking at his right otherwise he would have seen me. Utterly stupid, right? IKR. I would have let it go if the damage was only external, but unfortunately because of the impact I couldn't open my door anymore. I had to get that fixed and come hell or high water -- for free.
1. I was still lucky that it happened in a busy area. In less than 5 minutes, a police officer came to the rescue and advised me step-by-step on what to do. (If it's a dark and shady area, better think twice if you want to get out of your car and get into a heated discussion with the other driver without witnesses).
2. Take photos from all angles. (Should be clear photos so use a flashlight if it's too dark.)
3. If you don't agree on the spot on how to get the damages fixed, you both go straight to the police station. Lucky for me again, the Makati City Police Station - Vehicular Traffic Investigation Unit was only a couple hundred meters away. (In my case, my insurance expired 2 weeks ago which I didn't renew since I was about to sell my old car. The van driver offered to have it repaired in Las Pinas but aside from it's far I also didn't want to deal with this dude alone so I refused and said as-a-matter-of-fact that since he has insurance why not just use that and make the most of his money?)
4. Give a copy of your valid OR, CR and driver's license.
5. At the station, the other driver was still insisting it was my fault. The police officer asked me to tell my version of the story and sided with me because since both of us are turning right, I was in the innermost lane and have the right of way. It was only at this point the driver admitted it was indeed his mistake. Liar much, right? (Be careful or crazy liars and keep telling the truth!)
6. Fill out the police form and have your statements notarized. (Important: Get this notarized asap so it's deemed final since the statements can easily be changed by any party.)
7. Wait for the police report. The officer said it will take 2 days so our time was spent again waiting not to mention the effort in going back to the station on a Friday, my coding day. We got it around past 8AM, the photocopy cost 40 bucks. I also printed and brought clear, colored photos of the collision as attachment.
8. The following week, Tuesday, I met the driver at Toyota Manila Bay to get a repair estimate. (Important: Select the branch where the insurance was bought otherwise your policy will need to get verified which can take time).
9. Since my insurance expired, I had to get a Certificate of No Claim from my TPL provider. Lucky for me again, their office was located only 15 minutes away from the casa. (You need to submit a copy of the police report and TPL. Waiting time of 10 minutes in my case.)
10. Driver submitted the complete requirements only the day after next because he had work *roll eyes*. He forwarded me the contact number of the insurance guy based at Toyota.
Waiting game begins...
Follow-Up mode on...
11. The next day, Friday, I called the insurance who informed me that the documents are still for assessment.
12. The next working day, I got an update that the documents have been assessed but now they need to verify the policy! They explained that sometimes the premium was already paid, but agent has not remitted yet so the head office needs to confirm the status first.
13. Good thing the driver had the contact details of the insurance agent. I called the next morning and had them confirm to their head office that the policy was fully paid and remitted to facilitate approval.
So I forgot to tell this is a developing situation.. I will call again soon and hopefully with the help of the agent, the letter of authority can be released immediately. Then I can have my car repaired at Toyota which will take 10 days. Then I have to commute for more than a week and considering the coronavirus threat I know I need to ride a GrabCar everyday. The repair was free, but hell yeah there are still other expenses to consider. Not to mention the time you could have spent doing something productive.
*Sigh*
C'est la vie.