A Calgary couple is fighting with their insurance company to fix damage their mechanic says was caused two years ago during a collision with an Amazon delivery vehicle.
The hit-and-run collision happened Feb. 19, 2023, on a residential street in southeast Calgary’s New Brighton neighbourhood.
“We were in our basement and our neighbour came running to us, saying an Amazon driver had hit our vehicle,” said Amanda Avery, whose 2015 Dodge Journey was damaged in the crash.
“When we came outside we’re thinking that it was just our mirror taken off or something.
“We didn’t realize the extent of the damage.”
Surveillance video shows the Amazon cargo van driving along the icy road when it appears to lose control and slides into Avery’s vehicle.
After the collision, both vehicles continue to slide on the ice for a few seconds before coming to a stop. Avery said her vehicle ended up eight feet away from where she’d parked it.
“Our car seats, our booster seats that were in there were thrown to the very back.
“Everything was shuffled around.”
The Amazon van then backs up and drives away.
“It took my husband running to the next cul-de-sac to catch the driver and the driver was out of his vehicle assessing his damage,” Avery said, adding the driver allegedly didn’t want to return to the collision scene.
“My husband eventually called the police and said, ‘You have to come back with me.’ And the driver agreed to come back,” she said, adding police showed up, took statements and did their investigation.
The Calgary Police Service confirmed the 36-year-old Amazon driver was charged with one count of hit and run.
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“I absolutely was devastated. I felt violated. I felt like, how can somebody hit your vehicle and then drive away and leave a family with that much damage?”
To add insult to injury, Avery said it’s been a nightmare trying to get her vehicle fixed and claims her insurance company SGI CANADA isn’t budging to cover the accumulating costs.
The Journey’s frame was damaged, a door wouldn’t open, the tire popped and fell off where the impact occurred, and the front bumper, grill and headlights were damaged — plus there was hidden damage to the underside, Avery explained.
The family wanted the vehicle to be written off, but Avery said her insurance company insisted it was all fixable.
“When we got down to the mechanic shop and we saw the damage, we were even more furious and did not want anything to do with this vehicle as we thought, ‘How can they fix this to make this vehicle safe for our family?’”
It cost over $9,000 for insurance to fix the Journey — or at least, the couple thought the vehicle was fixed.
“A lot of fighting back and forth with insurance to have it fixed properly to how it was before the accident. And it was just a lot of betterment clauses being thrown in our faces about just making it driveable at that point,” she said.
Avery thought that was the end of her troubles until a couple months later, when she took the Dodge in for service.
“They put it up on a hoist for my husband and myself and they were saying that it was dripping leaking pretty bad.”
The mechanic quoted repairs around $1,600, saying it needed to be done and was likely damaged in the accident.
Avery said when she asked insurance to cover the costs, SGI CANADA denied the claim.
“They said no because that’s ‘bettering your vehicle’ and they didn’t want to do anything to better the vehicle they just wanted what was seeable to be fixed,” Avery said.
In a statement, SGI CANADA said:
“SGI CANADA is committed to providing excellent customer service. We work with our customers to restore their vehicles to their pre-loss condition. If customers have concerns about the outcome of a claim, we encourage them to contact their adjuster, who will work with them to find a resolution.
“Customers may also discuss their concerns with their adjuster’s supervisor, manager or with the claims centre. Customers can also contact our Customer Service Centre at 306-775- 6900 in Regina or toll free at 1-800-667-9868.”
Avery said they’re fed up, explaining their tire shop found more damage during summer wheel changeover and the family had to front the repair costs themselves.
“We were furious. We still are furious the two years later. We’re still dealing with issues that are happening. We’re still out thousands of dollars that we’re putting into our vehicle that insurance should have covered. Amazon should have come forward and helped us from the get-go.”
Global News reached out to Amazon and received a statement from global corporate issues and media relations spokesperson Austin Stowe, saying:
“Amazon packages are delivered to our customers by independent third party carriers. Following the incident in question, the customer never contacted the relevant company, despite being provided the information to do so. That said, we understand the frustration this matter has caused and we’re happy to support them however possible moving forward.”
While the van in the security video is clearly an Amazon vehicle, Stowe said it was driven by a third-party contractor.
The Dodge is supposed to be fixed, but Avery said water now leaks into her Journey.
“There was nothing wrong with our vehicle before the accident.”
Avery said to add insult to injury, the insurance company keeps trying to close the file. She just wants her insurance company to take some accountability and make things right.
“They were just in contact with my husband not to long ago asking us to close, they wanna close the case — and we just said absolutely not, we’re not ready to close the case, because the case isn’t closed.”
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