totaled driveable van

We traveled over 2,000 miles in our totaled van. It worked as a great conversation starter. It worked to haul half a ton of books plus all our luggage and gifts. It worked to carry the family.Just before we left on our trip, the insurance adjuster said, “To repair the hail damage would cost more than your van is worth. So it’s totaled.”“But we need the van to go north to see family,” Hubby replied.The insurance folks agreed to wait for us to return before settling. The whole thing left me shaking my head. First, Hubby came home, “It hailed while I was shopping. Look at all that hail damage.” If I tilted my head, I could see the tiny dimples on the van’s exterior. The hood looked a little rough if I stood less than two feet away. Otherwise it was as my mom used to say, “You can’t tell the difference on a trotting horse.” It was no big deal to me. Every time Hubby walked into the garage, though, he saw the horrors inflicted on his vehicle the one time it happened to be outside during a hail storm. He called the insurance company. As did all the other owners of vehicles and buildings damaged by hail. So it took a while for the adjuster to come. Meanwhile, unwilling to drive anywhere with that bumpy hood, Hubby found a match from a junk yard and replaced it. The adjuster came, walked around the van and pronounced, “The repairs for the damage are greater than the value of the car. It’s totaled.” The insurance company wanted to settle that day. Hubby said, “can we do that in a couple of weeks? We have a trip up North and need the van to carry all the stuff we plan to take.” “Okay, we will settle when you get back. Do not have any accidents or any more damage.” He drove very carefully. We visited a lot of folks, and most of our conversations included Hubby saying, “my van is totaled. Come, see it.” Every time he had folks tilt their heads this way and that, so they could see the tiny dips on every part that was not the hood. Some even opened the sliding door, stood on the ledge and looked at the roof. “I did not replace the roof because I could not see it from the ground,” he explained. Back home again, he contacted the insurance rep, “We are back. No more damage. What do I need to do to settle?” “Bring us the title and sign some papers.” He did that. Then we got the strangest call. A heavily accented voice on a hard-to-hear line instructed Hubby how to turn the van over to the company, “Take out everything you want, Park the van in the driveway. Put the key under the mat and leave it unlocked. Someone will come by sometime to pick it up.” “They said what?” I asked. “You better ask the agent about that.” Hubby has had totaled vehicles in the past. Every time it required a wrecker service to drag the vehicle away. This time we drove it for nearly two months after the event. The agent assured him, “Yes, follow those instructions.” He stripped the van of everything, vacuumed out the trip debris, left the keys under the mat and mused, “Are they going to pick it up in the middle of the night?” The next morning, he woke up and ran to the window, “it’s still there.” It was still there for at least another day. Then one afternoon, I went shopping while he worked in the shop. When I came home, we no longer had a van. I guess someone else is adding more miles to that totaled vehicle.