In case anyone is interested, my visit with the insurance claim adjuster was surprisingly painless. He looked at the car, took a few digital photos, and said, “yeah, I think we can approve the full amount of that bid you got from the upholstery shop.”
I was damn near speechless. I really expected to have a fight with the guy. Of course, there’s still the possibility that next month’s premium will be, ahem, unsatisfactory. One battle at a time, though.

I called the upholstery shop this afternoon; it’ll take three to four days to get my replacement top, then one or two days to replace it. I’m thrilled at how smoothly this has all gone, while simultaneously nursing a small, intensely hot flame of rage at the miscreants who made it all necessary in the first place…