It all started when Jill Schellenberg, who lives about 45 kilometers southeast of Winnipeg in Kleefeld, Man., left her workplace in Sage Creek on June 24. The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic stopped about a block away. He pushed it into the parking lot of a nearby fire station and later towed it to a garage. “They diagnosed it as a bad fuel tank and when they took it out they noticed there was baking flour that had been thrown in there,” Schellenberg said. That was just the beginning of what Schellenberg said was a strange and frustrating set of circumstances that left her without a car for the past four months. “I had to quit one of my jobs,” he said. It prompted her to quit a casual position in the city because she said she had no way of getting there for the night shifts she was working. After filing a report with the Winnipeg Police Service and opening a vandalism claim with Manitoba Public Insurance, she said the $1,034 MPI offered her in loss of use coverage wouldn’t be enough to pay for a rental car. “Rental cars are not cheap, so I turned it down and they advised me to find the cheapest possible mode of transportation and I was advised to take the bus,” Schellenberg said. Which wouldn’t be a problem, except the bus doesn’t go to Kleefeld. Further complicating matters, Schellenberg said the fuel tank removed from her car was lost somewhere in the process after it was taken to the original shop which she said MPI wanted to have inspected in order to advance its claim. “There is nowhere,” he said. MPI said in an emailed statement that it cannot comment on the specific circumstances of any customer due to its privacy policies. The public insurer said the time it takes to repair a vehicle depends on the circumstances of each claim. “The process for a vandalism claim involves MPI initially completing an assessment of the damage to the vehicle. Once an assessment is completed, the vehicle is taken to a shop of the customer’s choice,” said MPI. “MPI continues to work with the shop to determine the extent of the damage and appropriate repairs. Overall, through the process for any claim, MPI continues to work with repair facilities to resolve specific claim issues and discuss available options with the customer as needed.” MPI said loss of use coverage is generally for 30 days, but recently changed to 60 days due to higher-than-normal claim volumes and delays in repair times due to problems in the supply chain for parts. That policy changed on Aug. 15 after Schellenberg’s vehicle was vandalized. He caught rides from family members to a different job in Winnipeg, but eventually grew tired of waiting and wrote an email Sunday to MPI, Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen and the media. It wasn’t until that email Monday morning that she said MPI gave her two options: repair the vehicle or write it off and receive a payment of just over $4,000 for the car. Opt for payment to avoid further headaches. “At this point, I’m glad there’s an end to the story,” Schellenberg said. He spoke to prevent someone else from doing what he did. Schellenberg is now looking for a new vehicle and a new job, but said there is still no word on where her gas tank ended up. Winnipeg Police confirmed that a police report has been filed regarding the vandalism that occurred. Officers are investigating the matter, but said no charges have been filed so far.
