I call my middle brother the day before yesterday to touch base with him. Every since he got this bright idea to quiet his perm job at Home Depot Supply where he had benefits, vacation time and a regular salary and decided he was going go off and substitute teach to try to get his "foot in the door", I have been trying to check on his at least once or twice a week to make sure he is ok and see if he needs anything. My brother has told me that he does not have health insurance for his kids. He tells me the Dentist that his wife works for writes prescriptions for his kids if they need meds from the Pharmacy. My dad is retired and has this car that is like 14 years old. It is paid off. He has had quite a few problems with it; but, while he was working as a High School teacher before he decided to retire, he had put his car in the shop. My father tells me his car just needs a new radiator. I found one off eBay we can buy and is $80. I figured myself and my 2 brothers can all go in with $30 and buy this radiator so my dad's can drive his car. When I called my middle brother, he immediately tells me, "Ahh, I have to go. I just got in an accident and think I just totaled my car." My brother had a Ford Ranger that was paid off and he gets this bright idea that he is going to go buy this little Suzuki car that is a little more reliable that his truck. He has only had this thing for a few months.
My brother calls me back that same night and tells me he was in IH35 in San Antonio near the Pepsi bottling plant. He was coming over the bridge when traffic had come to a complete stop. He slammed on his brakes and was not able to stop in time. He rear ended a Ford F150 truck with his kids in the car. My brother not knowing where to get his car towed, tells the tow truck driver to take it to the Police Impound lot. I had asked him what kind of insurance cover ages he had. He tells me he does not know. I asked if he had rental car reimbursement and he tells me he does not know. The only thing he knows is that he has Progressive. My brother had called Progressive and the adjuster wanted him to bring the car into one of their adjustment shops. He tells the guy that the car is not drivable. The guy asks if he can tow it there and my brother tells him it is at the Police Impound lot. The adjuster is going to go to the lot to look at the car and contact my brother with regards to his claim. I suggested he contact Progressive to find out what body shops are their preferred shops and have the car towed there. That way if the car can be fixed, they can start work on it immediately.
The good thing is that his kids were shaken up but were ok and no one was hurt. I am amazed that my brother has no clue about his insurance overages, if he has GAP insurance on his car, or if he has rental car reimbursement. From what I understand, Progressive does not do a 100% pay off of his car if they total it. More than likely, my brother financed the whole car. If Progressive does total his car, he will be lucky to get full value. The good thing is that my brother has his old truck he can drive. It has high millage; but, I told him that I would be happy to help him keep that beast on the road. I am surprised that my brother's wife has not put her foot down to make him get health insurance for his kids. I realize that he and his wife do not make very much money; but, there are insurance programs through the State of Texas that would allow him to get insurance for his kids at a reduced price if he needed to.
I am going continue to keep checking on him to make sure he does not need anything and help point him in the right direction. He is currently subbing at East Central High School until the end of the school year and working part time at Walmart to bring in extra money. He is hopeful that East Central will offer him a job next year. The big problem with that is my brother has not passed the Exit test yet and schools are not going to just offer him a job if he is not already certified unless they have some sort of emergency certification.
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