Chesterfield man faced with insurance delays after wheelchair van accident: 'Extremely overwhelming'

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — A Chesterfield man has resorted to extreme measures to maintain his independence after an accident left his wheelchair-accessible van in need of repairs and his insurance company slow to respond.For more than 15 years, 71-year-old William Ogburn has relied on his wheelchair to get around."Had a debilitating accident in 2009, December, that's what put me in the wheelchair," Ogburn said.The longtime Chesterfield resident never imagined he'd need to create his own makeshift transportation solution while waiting for his specialized van to be repaired."When you run into a dead end, you just have to make something happen," Ogburn said.In order to leave his home independently, Ogburn now attaches his wheelchair to a trailer behind an SUV and uses a walker to get to the front seat of his car—a method he acknowledges is far from ideal."Not as safe as what my van is," Ogburn said.These extreme measures come after weeks of difficulties with his insurance company following an accident that damaged his wheelchair-accessible van. After receiving an initial repair estimate of around $20,000, Ogburn says he's been caught in a frustrating cycle of delays and inadequate offers."Took them a week to send another estimator out. He submitted the new list... then I didn't hear anything," Ogburn said.The insurance company's offers have been thousands of dollars below what it would cost to repair or replace the vehicle, despite Ogburn stating that the van and all its accessibility modifications are insured."Now I'm looking at two more weeks and y'all haven't even authorized the parts to do any more work," Ogburn said.For over a month now, Ogburn has been without his specialized van, forcing him to cancel important medical appointments."I had to call and cancel my kidney appointment with my kidney doctor," Ogburn said.The situation has been particularly challenging as Ogburn is still coping with the loss of his wife, who previously handled many of their household affairs."My wife was kind of the one that handled a lot of the business with everything, and losing her was a strain enough and a stress enough," Ogburn said. "But this on top of all of that, I'm telling you it's just been extremely overwhelming."Feeling that no progress was being made, Ogburn hired his own estimator, hoping this would demonstrate to the insurance company what repairs were truly needed. Just a day after taking this step, Ogburn says the insurance company contacted him about reassessing their offer—a development he believes should have happened weeks ago."When you're dependent upon yourself to take care of yourself and provide for yourself, it's been very humiliating to be honest with you. I never wanted to call on people and burden somebody else with my problems and my issues," Ogburn said.As the situation continues, Ogburn remains uncertain about when he'll regain his mobility independence."I just don't know how much longer I'm going to have to deal with this," Ogburn said. "I just wish it would all come to an end."Click here to email the CBS 6 Newsroom.📲: CONNECT WITH USBlue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube