It Depends On How You Look At It...

The article below, “Policyholder complaints after tornadoes show discontent with delays, disputes over damage” helps illustrate why I get called upon so often to resolve insurance claims disputes.

Insurance companies are from Mars and policyholders are from Venus- or vice versa, depending upon your orbital preference.

Consumer advocates will read the article to determine that 475 Alabama policyholders took action because they feel they are being cheated on their tornado damage claims, and that many more policyholders just didn’t bother to file a formal complaint.

Insurance company executives will read this same article to conclude that the 475 Alabama Department of Insurance complaints represent less than half of one percent of all claims filed; NOT policyholders-claims!  They will say that those numbers indicate a satisfaction rate of better than 99.5%.

Mark Twain once said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Larry Kidd, the unhappy Allstate policyholder quoted in the “Policyholder complaints after tornadoes show discontent with delays, disputes over damage” article, probably doesn’t care whether he’s one of “only” 475 other less than satisfied claimants or one of 47,500.  Larry cares only about HIS claim.

Insurance companies have to manage huge volumes of claims, and Larry Kidd’s claim is just one of more than 100,000 Alabama claims resulting from that particular tornado.

When Leo Tolstoy said, “All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” he could have been talking about insurance claims.  The majority of insurance claims are resolved amicably and efficiently according to a standardized insurance claims process.  The process works- except when it doesn’t.

Therein lays Leo Tolstoy’s observant wisdom about insurance claims; his famous quote could be modified to read, “All satisfactory claims resemble one another; each unsatisfactory claim is unsatisfactory in its own way.”

That’s when I get called upon.   And that’s another story for another time.

But we’re more interested in YOUR insurance claims stories!  If you’ve got a story to tell, we want to hear it.  I know for certain that there are policyholders, adjusters, agents, attorneys, contractors, body shops, chiropractors, (and anyone else) out there who have been plowed over or ground up by a runaway claims situation.

Insurance claims are not statistics or graphs or surveys.  Insurance claims are blood, sweat, grease, grime, and bile.  Policyholders are not a twelve digit policy or claim number, adjusters are not mindless automations, and service providers (cleaners, contractors, body shops, etc.) are not soulless moneygrubbers.   Everyone involved in the insurance claims process is a very real flesh and blood human being with our own unique dreams and doubts.

We all have a story to tell about some crazy insurance claim we found ourselves involved in or consumed by, and some of these stories are even worth hearing.  So, let’s hear it!!  Please send them to info@claimsdisputeresolution.com.

(Don’t worry, names will be changed to protect the innocent… and to keep our website from being shut down.)

READ ARTICLE HERE

What If?

-Insurance adjusters were licensed professionals who are not directed by either the insurance company or the policyholder?


-All insurance policies went back to the 1942 Standard New York fire policy?


-There was no RCV coverage, only ACV?


-Insurance companies were regulated by a national insurance commissioner instead of state insurance commissioners?


-The only crimes for which you could be convicted are assault or theft?

Unintended Consequences

Initial blogs are like television pilots.

The pilot episode of a television series in a single viewing has to establish the show’s basic premise, introduce every one of the main characters, explain their background, and tell a story that begins and ends within a 30 or 60 minute format (while allowing sufficient time for commercials) in a way that interests you enough that you’ll watch this show at least a second time.

Since most television series never get picked up beyond their initial pilot, this doesn’t bode well for my blog.  You may be old enough and sufficiently wired into popular culture to remember that the pilot episode for Seinfeld was famously trashed by network executives, critics, and focus groups. Look how THAT turned out for the award winning nine year run of this “show about nothing”.

I am not equating my blog with the dour, witty genius of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, but I am inviting you to stay tuned while we find our voice.

If I’m writing this blog, how is it “our” voice?

I don’t intend to write into a vacuum. Blogging is like sonar navigation, I send out blog-bites that ping off other surfaces and I’m disoriented until something pings back at me. YOUR observations, opinions, feedback, and questions will inform how and what (and maybe even whether I continue) to write.

If you’ve read this far, you are not nearly as impatient or unforgiving as I am, but I DO owe you a justification for reading further and hopefully returning for a subsequent peek into whatever it is I’ve got to say  about whatever it is that WE’VE decided is worth conversing about.

If you’re reading this blog entry you’ve probably stumbled on to the CDR website looking for answers and/or help on an especially contentious insurance claim, and you will also know by now that I am nearly 35 years into the business/profession of resolving insurance claims disputes.

If you’ve never had (or handled) an insurance claim you can count yourself as lucky. To you, insurance is boring abstraction for which you are paying too much for a service you never use.  However, if you have never before interacted with an insurance company either as a claimant, employee, or service provider (other than paying premiums for your own auto and homeowners insurance coverage) you are in the minority.  And I am surprised that you’re on our CDR website or reading this blog.  But welcome!

The insurance industry is by far the biggest and wealthiest industry in the world; and they invest in (or even own outright) major businesses in every other legal industry in the world. I say “legal industry” because insurance is so heavily regulated that I doubt they can get away with investing in drug dealing, prostitution, and other forbidden (albeit highly profitable) business ventures.

The money paid out by insurance companies to settle insurance claims account for many tens of billions of dollars in yearly expenditures throughout the economy.  The insurance industry is mostly responsible for the financial and employment resurgence in any community devastated by a disaster.

Most of us HAVE dealt with insurance companies at least once, usually periodically, sometimes often, and for some of us dealing with insurance companies is a constant reality. The insurance industry accounts for the greatest percentage of employment worldwide, either directly or indirectly, more than all the other industries put together. An attorney once suggested to me  that 90% of all legal work is somehow related to insurance, and in health services that 90% figure is also equally applicable (you should also know that 90% of all statistics are just made up on the spot).

It has required 594 words for me to get to the point (I promise you that I will never again use up 594 words just getting to the point!), and that point is that insurance claims will provide an appropriate forum for just about any topic of interest. 

Since I am called upon to represent policyholders, insurance companies, and, more often than not, act as a neutral party between the two I am witness to good and bad behavior on everyone’s part.  I see every manner of fraud, arson, misrepresentation, misunderstandings, bad faith, greed, arrogance, ignorance, incompetence, abusiveness, obnoxiousness, rudeness, bureaucratic bungling, and sniveling cowardice.  I see good people make bad choices, and I see bad people manipulate the system for their own gain without an ounce of compassion for who they hurt.

Future blogs will address these issues.  Future blogs will feature YOUR stories.  I’d rather write about YOU than write about ME.

If you’ve got an interesting claim, a problem you can’t solve, abuse of the insurance claims process (whether by a claimant or an insurance company), or a suggestion on how to improve the process I want to hear from YOU. 
If you work for an insurance company or service the insurance industry I especially want to hear from YOU.   Every submission is anonymous and every identity is protected: unless you WANT to be identified, then I will give you full credit for your thoughts, opinions, or ideas. 

This blog is YOUR forum, and I am merely the editor.  YOUR writing will create the voice for this blog.