Response to dkhatt's epinon
Written: Nov 09 '99 (Updated Nov 09 '99)
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| poseidon's Full Review: GEICO Direct |
I've been wanting to stay out of the opinions here regarding insurance because of my career. As an insurance adjustor, I don't feel it would be fair for me to comment on which insurance company is good and which isn't, even though I know I can remain objective and not toss in my subjective remarks. By the way, I don't work for GEICO.
Saying that, I have to dispell a falsehood that came across a recent epinion regarding GEICO insurance. This came from dkhatt's epinion of 11/9/1999.
QUOTE/UNTRUTH:
Advantages: 1) Independent adjusters. This is key. When you make a claim with other insurance companies, a company employee come out to evaluate damages and deals with you directly. In this case... this person is NOT your friend. Employees rarely want to cost the company more to make the customer happier and in many cases are penalized for it. Independent adjusters don't have the employee loyalty and will usually find you the best solution for your claim, not the company's.
TRUTH:
I'm not sure where dkhatt got the information about this, but you couldn't be more wrong if you tried. While it is true that *some* adjustors enjoy the adversarial position they can put themselves in, but that's far from a majority. Most of us are over-worked and don't have the time or energy to play games. There are many good people out there in the industry that are employees of the insurance companies that are honest, decent, and ARE your friend when it comes to making a claim.
Truth be told, more claims are paid for than denied when a claim is filed. It is much more expensive to deny a claim than it is to pay one. Denials, while they don't cost the company something in a payment to the insured or a claimant, do cost the insurance company money in time, both in setting up the claim, sending out the adjustor, denying the claim, dealing with the complaint from the customer to the supervisor, then dealing with the insurance department when a complaint to them is filed. Also, you risk losing that customer forever, and have him or her use word of mouth (or pen) to advertise how horrible an insurance company treated them.
The best solution for ANY insurance claim is to have the claim closed.
I'm not sure where dkhatt got the information about being penalized for paying a claim to make someone happy. That is completely false and misleading. Most adjustors are salaried and get paid the same amount of money whether or not a claim is paid, and it doesn't matter what amount of money is paid on a claim. My paycheck is the same every two weeks, whether I handle one claim or I handle 100 in a two-week period. There are no secret bonuses for not paying a claim or for short-changing an insured. Annual raises are determined by the quality of work done, and part of the judgement is how few complaints have been filed against any adjustor.
If the State Insurance Department ever caught wind of what dkhatt proposes happens in the industry, the insurance company would be subject to massive fines, along with what are called "bad faith" lawsuits, which can be worth millions of dollars to the plaintiff (that's you when you sue). The insurance company would also risk losing its license to sell insurance in that state, which could mean millions or billions of dollars in lost revenue.
Another falsehood is that independent adjustors don't have any loyalties to the insurance companies they contract with, and don't have anyone's interest but the insured in mind. If the independent adjustor didn't have the insurance company's interest in mind, he or she would soon find themselves out of a job. Word spreads around very quickly in the insurance industry as to who is honest and who isn't. The independent adjustor is hired to help keep costs honest, and the independent adjustor has to document every item that's being claimed with pictures, etc.
Independent adjustors can be paid per assignment, and have that be a fixed rate, an annual rate, and can even be based on how much the estimate is written for. Occasionally, they sign long-term contracts with a carrier for a fixed rate.
The final untruth is that an insurance company employee is not interested in keeping the insured happy. This couldn't be further from the truth in property/casualty insurance. There is so much competition out there that many of the smaller insurance companies (such as the one I work for) bend over backwards to be the insured's friend and to satisfy the customer.
It is also far less expensive to renew an insurance policy than it is to write a new one. It would be stupid, with such a plethora of carriers out there, to alienate your clients and have to seek out new ones, when it is much easier to treat your clients with the respect they deserve and have them happily renew their insurance for another term.
It is a shame that a few bad apples out there do ruin the whole bunch. If you polled a majority of customers from most insurance companies, I'm sure the result would be positive versus negative.
Recommended:
Yes
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poseidon
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Member: Jeffrey Schwartz
Location: Sunrise, FL, USA
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