You Might Be At Risk!

   I have a business that deals with a lot of insurance claims on a daily basis and I have been watching a disturbing trend taking place that affects almost every body in our country. Some insurance companies are not worth purchasing a policy from. Do you remember what happened after the last big storm when some people were being shorted on their home repairs while their neighbor seemed to get first class service? I talked to a man that was only paid $8.00 per shingle that could be observed as missing from his roof instead of just replacing the roof the way it needed to be done. He was denied any further repair and he ended up paying to have his roof fixed out of his pocket. My roof was replaced with no questions asked. I asked him later and discovered we paid the same amount in premiums. That made me take a closer look and I have been shocked at what I discovered and how much business I have lost due to my asking questions and telling the truth.
  How many of us have gone in for medical attention only to find out later that your insurance company say's Oh, they don't pay for that; you will be billed for that portion of the bill! Ouch. When was the last time you had your car repaired after an accident only to find out you would only be compensated with "imitation parts" and some of the repair would not be done on your car to "keep the cost down", while your neighbors car was accurately restored to pre-loss condition with no questions asked. If saving money is the goal and we both pay the same premium then whose money are we saving? Due to the lack of information about what you are buying when you purchase your insurance, people are being taken to the cleaners on a scale that is stifling.
  What other product do we buy that must be paid for in advance with no way to measure what it is you are actually buying until you need it. Would you go into a car dealership and let them decide how much to write the check for and then let them pick out the vehicle of their choice? You could pay for a new $70,000 dollar car and purchase a used clunker that you do not get to see until after you bought it. Would you plan a 5000-mile trip with your family, take your wife, your kids, and all the bags to the dealership and wait to see what they bring out for you with no legal recourse?. Doesn't this fact scare you? Why do we buy our insurance coverage this way? 
  I constantly hear people say, "I have good insurance" only to find out they don't know what they are talking about. It is because the girl in the office is so nice to you when you pay your premium. People usually are nice when you hand them money. What about when you have a claim? Some insurance companies are good under both situations; some are not. The ones that are the worst, seem to advertise the most. Gee who pay's for that? Aren't those cute little ads neat? I see a direct parallel between large marketing of cheap premiums and the worst coverage. The better companies don't seem to advertise their premiums as the selling point but how they protect you. This not always true so read the following and ask someone in your area for a referral before it is to late. Then, change your insurance to match your local market. What is good in my town may not be the best in your area. This all depends on many controlling factors in your part of the country. The laws are different in every state.
  I talk to people sometimes who think that their home owners and auto insurance coverage is like a life insurance policy. They are not. A life insurance policy doesn't allow you to change companies in the middle of the policy because you are building a fund. Home owner's and auto insurance works more like a contract that is in affect at any point in time. Just because you have been paying your auto or home insurance premiums for many years you are not "building up" coverage. You can buy home and auto coverage one day and have a claim the next and your coverage is exactly the same as a person who has paid for the same coverage from the same company for 30 years. I was surprised to find out how many people didn't know this simple fact. You can change auto coverage at any point in time as long as you do not lapse between policies and you will get your money back for the balance of what you have paid on your old policy pro rated. So you can switch your home and auto insurance anytime to a better company. 
  If you want to shop for insurance, where would you go to find out which insurance companies will take your money and protect your assets if you have a claim? Few, if any, insurance agents actually handle the claim once you file one. They can help only a little in the case of a dispute but not much. All insurance companies have claims departments and adjusters to deal with the actual claims process. I am shocked at how little our local agents actually know about what the claims department actually pays for once the claims department takes over. Their job is to sell the policies and try to help with limited questions. I can not count the number of times the claims departments ignore any comments about getting the agent involved to help a person with a dispute. The claims people don't care and they trump your agent every single time. They are trained at the schools they attend for their job. From early on they are watched very closely. Claims people with a sense of fair play and balance are usually weeded out pretty early in their careers. They need to have the mentality usually found in a hit man for the mob. Their jobs have an eerie similarity. No reason to care, they are just there to do a job. You pay protection money and they send a guy to reduce their losses. Interesting when you think about it. The organized corrupt insurance companies send a guy called an "adjuster".  Not unlike a hit man, he just doesn't shoot you, he merely cheats you out of your hard earned money or seizes your assets. Its like financial farming. They leave you alive so they can continue to milk you for more premiums before your next claim.
  So, where do you find accurate advice? Should you ask a used car salesman if the lot down the street is the best place to buy a used car? NOT! So never ask an insurance agent either. If you want to shop for medical coverage whom should you ask? Why not the billing department at your doctors office or the hospital? The accounts receivable person in the billing department probably knows more about who will cover you and who sends the "adjuster".
  If you want coverage for your home why not contact a few reputable contractors that "you" would trust to do the work if a tree fell on your home or if you have a fire? They are the people you are really going to need to trust. Ask the billing department for the contractor which companies take care of their claims properly. Which insurance companies pay their bills in full and on time? Or do they send the "adjuster".
  Auto coverage is the same way. Why not ask a body shop for an insurance company referral; ask one of the reputable body shops that you would choose to repair your vehicle in case of an accident. Not all body shops are the same and not all insurance coverage is the same either. Will your car get fixed properly or will the "adjuster" guy show up to do his "job" on you? Ask for referrals from people that know how you will be taken care of "before" you need your insurance. After you have a claim started, it is too late to change; you will be at their mercy and it might surprise you just how poorly your expensive possessions could be treated by the "adjuster". 
  This insurance situation is the worst fleecing of America and no body can see it. During tough economic times, it is even more important that you review how well you are insured. Ask the people that know. Seek out honest, fair businesses. You cannot afford to wait until it is too late. The cheapest insurance is never the correct choice and the most expensive usually is not the best coverage. You can find top value for moderate prices if you will just put a small amount of effort into it. That is one thing you can do to protect your personal economic position for free. In a tough economy it is even more important. You might not be able to make up the difference if you have one of "those insurance companies". You could be left with a large ugly financial gap after you pay your hard earned money on a Bernie Madoff style policy. How many poor struggling insurance companies do you know? There aren't any..... They take your money and invest it to make huge profits that they use to pay themselves billions in combined bonuses and perks. They build multi-million dollar buildings for the records processing and treat you like a problem instead of the owner/investor that you are.

  As an experienced observer......  You should share this with as many people as you can. Over and over again until it sinks in. Every single thing in your life is controlled by insurance anymore. Break it down and think about it. Every single business and person in this nation is required, by law, to buy insurance to do anything. The ink on paper, the paper, the truck that shipped it, the fuel, employees, the computers, the very essence of every item is required to pay into the insurance fund. We are being ripped off on a massive scale and the general public has probably never even thought about just how far reaching insurance tentacles are entwined into every single thing you touch. Make no mistake about it, they can afford to pay fairly on their claims for insured loss. Fight back with your wallet and only buy insurance after you get a referral from a non-insurance reputable professional that deals with insurance claims . Avoid rip off insurance companies and protect your assets. It is your money and your assets. Fair insurance claims protect our nation and our general basic economy. Fair claims support small business and that creates jobs that pay taxes. We all need to stand up and cry foul! Insurance companies that pay their executives  sickening salaries and year end bonuses need to be avoided. Protect yourself, they won't.

Jerry Richardson