A Lesson About Insurance Companies

Insurance companies get people to complain about their premiums. Admit it, most of you have probably complained at one point or another about your premium. I know I have. Now, regular readers of my blog know that insurance companies had record profits last year. However, if you missed that post, let me give you two more examples of insurance company waste that contributes to your higher premiums.

First, I have a client who was recently involved in an accident. She has three adjusters assigned to her claim - ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Yes, one accident - three adjusters. There is a property damage adjuster, a total loss adjuster and a bodily injury adjuster. If we are lucky, and I think we will be, they are going to add a fourth adjuster, this one for med pay coverage. Four people to handle one claim. Maybe if one person handled each claim they could save three salaries?

Second, I have a client who received a letter from an adjuster that read "Your vehicle is in storage at: x...... The salvage value of $X will be deducted from your settlement." Now, usually X would be filled in with something. But, no, in this case, the X is in the letter. And, every possible box on the form is checked, whether it makes sense or applies to the claim. This is, for lack of a better term, a letter from a lazy adjuster. No one spent the time to read the letter. No one checked to make sure it made sense. No one bothered to do anything but check every box.

Now, not all adjusters are like this. And not every insurance company has three or four adjusters assigned to each claim. But, these two recent examples prove to me that the insurance companies run very inefficiently and are not customer focused.