I have an on-site contract in the northern area of Minneapolis, where a tornado has done about $200 million in damage. Many of the people who work here, live near by.
The sad part is I can hear the employees (in the other cubes) arguing with their insurance companies.
Everything is good - until you have a claim.
Completely agree. Which is why I avoid insurance or keep the bare minimum "the law" requires.Originally Posted by dBrong
Financially speaking, you are almost always better off just living prudently and putting money aside in case something happens. If you live prudently, it probably won't - and then you still have your money!
When hurricane Andrew went through southern Florida a couple of decades ago, AllState was definitely not the "good hands" people. They tried very hard to claim the damage from the hurricane was from surface water, and not the storm.
Chip H.
Yep!
Personal example:
Our house is paid for so we don't have to have home insurance. I have already reduced our coverage to the bare minimum, with the highest deductible available. It's still close to $800 annually.
Now, $800 per year (fixed, assuming no increase over time - which ain't likely) is $20,000 over 25 years. That's a big pile of money. How likely is it that we will ever face $20,000 of damage to the house? We do not live anywhere near water (zero flood risk). Tornadoes in the mountains? It can happen, I suppose. But it's extremely unlikely. What else? Fire? I doubt it. We're home almost all the time. If a fire did start, one of us could probably put it out before much damage happened.
Bottom line: I assess our risk of a major/catastrophic loss at almost nil. So why should I spend $20,000 on insurance when I could keep that money, invest that money - and thus, have that money to pay for whatever comes up?
$20k would buy a new top-of-the-line roof. And leave $10k left over. Or i could completely finish our basement and add $50,000 in value to our home.
Or I could buy at least 2-3 acres of land....
Screw insurance. It's a con based on fear that gullible people who can't gauge risk (or do math) fall prey to.
Agreed. I remember the Andrew scenarios. Anything that can explain the damage was caused by something other than what actually caused it must be the correct explanation <sarcasm off>.
And then there are situations such as the one my sister found herself in recently (a few months ago):
She and her family were vacationing in a ski area of CA. A brand-new Mazda driven too fast by an inept driver on a snow-covered road collided head-on with their 2001 Honda Accord about 25 MPH. The accident was without question the other driver's fault completely. This was never challenged - and the driver of the Mazda freely admitted responsibility.
No one was injured but my sister's Accord received appx. $6,000 in damage to the front end, which of course resulted in this perfectly good car (before the wreck) being declared a total loss by the insurance co. of the other driver (Geico).
They then tried to "settle" for an amount that was literally $2,000 under current retail value for the Accord based on absolute BS such as (seriously) "dusty engine compartment" and so on. They also would not acknowledge that my sister had very recently (three weeks prior to the wreck) spent $800 on a major tune-up/service and had receipts to back this up.
She spent more than a month threatening to sue - even to the extent of hinting that "personal injury" might become an issue (I know it's Maggoty but this is what they force people to do - and I recommended she try this) before they finally "adjusted" their settlement offer but she still ended up with less than what they would have gotten had they sold their Accord on the retail used car market (before the wreck) and without enough money to replace their totaled Accord with an equivalent condition used Accord.
Insurance is scheisse.
Having spent most of my adult life as one of those " maggots" I must agree with you Eric, you probobly don't need insurance. But, you don't live in Joplin, Mo. or Dade County, FL. or anywhere a catastropic event may take everything from you within a few seconds. Let me help ya'll understand why the companies have to be very careful during these events. Before I became an agent, I worked for Greyhound, downtown Miami. At 3:00 AM a bus that holds 42 passengers was pulling into the terminal. A taxi pulled in front, the bus tried to stop but hit the cab crunching the rear fender. By the time the police showed up, we had 63 people ready for transport to the hospital and I was getting the names of the 108 people who said they were on that bus. True story.
Most folks don't have any idea who carries their Homeowners policy right now, throw in a cat loss and they are overwhelmed. The agents are little help as their offices are gone too. We now have computers and back-up that will help a lot over the "Andrew" type situation. Still, the homeowner must find the carrier for his policy. Then, the adjuster must find what's left of the property. Not an easy task as all signs, landmarks, anything familiar is gone. Property gone, insured is who they say they are, vbalues are verified, issue a check to the insured and the mortgage company. Woah! What good does that do me? I CAN'T CASH IT AS THE BANKS ARE GONE! How do I get the morgage company to sign it?
And everybody wants their company to stand up and get their money first.
Cat claims are tough for everyone and I have a lot of beef with my industry. But, in thses cases, I think they do a stand up job.
The problem is that when people purchase insurance they have the idea - and I think rightly so - that the insurance should cover their loss as it is a value to them.
If you have a 2-3 year old car, and you have a $5000 fender bender - well you're OK. But if that car is 7 yrs old, 50,000 miles, just had new tires, radiator, etc - you get stiffed. You don't get what it's worth to you - which is another 4-5 years of low cost transportation. Instead you get what the insurance company thinks it's worth to someone else!
A similiar scenario: You go into a resturant and order a spaghetti dinner for $12.95. They serve you a can of Chef-Boy-Ardee spaghetti O's (that costs $1.29), right out of the can, plastic spoon, tiny paper napkin . You say "that's not real spaghetti". The waiter says "well our lawyers have determined that this meets the legal definition of spaghetti". Then you say: "Where's my plate? Silverware? the food is cold!" The waiter replies: "The contract that you agreed to (the menu) says nothing about how your meal will be served. Tests show that you can eat with a plastic spoon, out of the can, with the same nutrition. Additionally spaghetti O's are precooked, they don't have to be reheated." The waiter continues: "Therefore sir, we have satisfied our end of the contract!"
The bottom line is that most insurance companies use every trick possible to weasel out of what the average insured believes he is purchasing. I believe the insurance companies know that they are screwing their clients, with misleading sales presentations and contracts. I think the insurance contracts should tell you up front what they won't pay for!
Last edited by dBrong; 05-28-2011 at 02:36 PM.
Like I said, I have a lot of beefs about insurance companies, but this dog don't hunt!
Let's take a totaled 2004 Chev Malibu with 50,000 miles. KBB tells me in Daytona, the value if excelent is almost $9000. Now, you have a deductable (in the contract) say $500. so were talkin 8500. I look in the auto trader and find 8 malibu's within 50 miles of Daytona for under 9000.
Where are you wrong?? Did the other guy hit you? Did you seek remedy from his insurance? DUH!
BTW, every exclusion is listed in the contract, in black & white not lawyerspeak. Pick yours up and read it! You'll be one of the few who take the time.
OK, I just realized something! I don't care if you go to www.getinsurance.com , 1800getinsurance, or actually have an agent who works for you. Here's the special deal! What company is interested in your business? The guy who hit you/ or the one your paying?
If you get hit. Make sure you're OK if not go to the Hospital. The next call should be to your insurance company where you file the claim...
Let them fix your car and subrgate against the other guy. Which company has your best interest? And if you have an agent, he has a monetary motive to keep you happy. Most of the companies I represent will settle a total loss within 2 weeks complete (rental car included). You guys with these problems are riding the wrong horse to the shootout.
An interesting point, Charlie. I have always taken the other route I insist that both companies deal only with me. That way I am in control of the situation and can stop any attempt at 'horse trading' between the two insurers. I use my measurements, my photographs, (Never travel without a camera in the car, film is better than digital as digital can be manipulated.) my witness statements, my diagrams, and ensure that both companies have identical information files of my side of the case. Over my sixty plus years of driving this policy has served me well and I never lost a claim. On the two occasions where I was at fault I phoned my company, gave them the precise details of date, time, location, circumstances, exact damage etc., and said 'I accept liabilty, pay the claim.'
Ken.
Die dulci fruimini!
Ken.
Wolds Bikers, Lincolnshire, England.
Exactly. We recently reduced the amount of coverage on my other car - an '01 Mountaineer - because the Blue Book price was a paltry $1500. Nevermind that we religiously change the oil at 3k miles and follow all the service and maintenance requirements. How else would this car have 100k miles on it and still be in excellent operating order?
What its worth to me: A dependable vehicle that is paid for and still has probably another 50k miles before it craters. What its worth to Geico: $1500.
Ok - I understand what you are saying. I used to be insured by Allstate and had a real agent that represented me. When the guy in the Dodge dually pickup rear-ended my Mountaineer, the agent took care of everything: made the appointment with the Ford dealership to repair the car, made arrangements for a rental for me to drive, took care of the other guy's insurance company lawyers...everything. That is what I pay them for and that is what I expect in return per the terms of my policy.
And now you're with Geico??
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