Yeah, this is no fun at all. I am learning that I cannot find any one cause of this (thought someone has told me this is all my fault). I know how I feel about many aspects of all of this though...from the rental car company not verifying the claim with the insurance company before I was allowed to leave (or since I picked it up at 5pm- the rental company not following up the next day) or not having proof that they attempted to verify the bill be payed by the insurance company right after I picked up the rental...to me being the one that has to prove when the parts were ordered and when they arrived (not my job!)...to not wanting the paint to be damaged before having the film applied (I took steps to do this when I payed out of pocket to have the film applied). Seeking black-and-white answers to my questions and opinions has been a real PITA. But I'll admit that this is one hell of a learning experience and will be very much on the ball if this ever happens again.

I'm thinking I might end up getting the ins. to cover up to Dec 20th, which would be a good start and reduce the amount out of pocket I'll probably end up paying. But I still don't feel I am responsible for not driving my car from the 20th to the 10th (21 days). I feel that it would have been negligence on my part if I were to have driven the car and incurred damage to the paint before having the film applied that is supposed to protect the paint. What logical sense does it make to run an extremely high risk of damage before the car is put in the condition it was in before the accident?