I have written a couple of blogs recently on our indoor waterfall and the trauma surrounding water damage through the house.  I now report that it is done.  We may never be back to normal, but the house is.

The final anxious episode was dealing with the insurance company.  You’ve all heard the horror stories.  Well, in our case, it turned out to be a pleasant experience.  I notified Armed Forces Insurance that we had paid out a little over $30,000 in bills and forwarded the receipts.  We received notification from Jeanne Priddy, Senior Staff Adjuster, the next day that they were paying for everything (less the $500 deductible).  The check arrived shortly thereafter.  It is really a pleasure dealing with insurance companies dedicated to assisting the military.

Between Armed Forces Insurance (AFI) and United States Automobile Association (USAA), military personnel have great insurance available to them.  I have my house and personal property with AFI and our cars with USAA.  Granted, I don’t have a gecko working for me or a goofy woman named Flo, but when I’m in trouble, AFI and USAA are definitely on my side.

I think this is only the second claim we have filed with AFI.  Previously, back in the Seventies, we had two ceramic elephants (BUFEs -pronounced boofies) stolen off our front porch in Charlottesville, Virginia.  By driving to the pottery “plant” in Vietnam with my boss, Joe Conboy, we were able to pick up BUFEs for practically nothing.  After they were stolen, Carole took some pictures of the BUFEs to the local department store and got a quote on replacement costs.  We made so much money on the stolen BUFEs that we seriously considered putting two more out on the porch.

My first experience with USAA was when I was assigned to Goeppingen, Germany in 1966.  I am reasonably certain that our 64′ Chevy Impala Super Sport (bright yellow with black interior) had rough handling at the Bremerhaven port (like it was dropped).  On the ride home, I found a tire bubble that indicated to me that the tire had been pinched during a short drop.  Then, on my first trip to Nuernberg, while driving down a cobblestone road, my rear window shattered.  What a mess.

I notified a Mr. Schwartz, with USAA in Heidelberg.  I told him I was driving to Stuttgart to the Opel dealer to get my window replaced.  He told me I probably wouldn’t have much luck and when I got tired of trying to find my rear window in Germany to notify him.  He said he would find it and ship it to a local auto repair shop.  I tried for three weeks, then contacted Mr. Schwartz.  My replacement glass was flown in from Denmark.  I doubt whether any other auto insurance company would even have an agent in Germany.

What did I do with no rear window?  No problem.  The Army solves all their problem with green tape!  We cut a piece of clear plastic and slapped it on with green tape.  The Army used green tape for every conceivable purpose.  It would stick to almost anything.  There was only one problem with my car.  When I took the green tape off, it took the yellow paint pigment with it.  Powerful stuff.  I had a pale white strip around my rear window.

On my second tour in Germany, we were on vacation and I was driving the entire family from Munich to the Neuschwanstein Castle.  I hit some black ice and ran into a tree.  The car was totaled.  We all survived and USAA paid us for the car.  A good samaritan German assisted in getting us back to Munich.  No Neuschwanstein, no vacation.  That’s not covered in the insurance policy.

When I started working at Arent Fox, I had to park in the garage under our building.  Driving around support posts was not my strength.  I kept scraping the side of my car. USAA kept putting new doors on my car.  As you would expect, my insurance rate went up, but they never deserted me.  I wonder if some of the cheapo insurance companies would have put up with me.  I’ll never know, cause I ain’t switchen.

We have an expression, “The Army takes care of their own.”  But, if the Army can’t, there’s a good chance that military insurance will cover it nicely.