Those Damn Insurance Companies
Disclaimer: Been having computer problems since the beginning of the week; that's why I have not been regular with my posting. (I don't know what Kelly's excuse is. Probably too much sex because the JW's haven't been visiting her, which I'm sure has nothing to do with the Satanic shrine she's got right in the middle of her living room.) I did write this with the intention of fixing it up a bit and polishing it off for this blog, but I'm too lazy right now to do that and will post it as is. Besides, I've got about three other posts brewing and just want to get this one out of the way. If you've ever had a problem with your insurance company, you might relate to this.
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Ann’s car broke down—again. Her car is newer than mine and with a lot less mileage, yet we have more problems with her car—a 2002 Mercury Cougar—than mine—a 1998 Ford Escort. Go figure. Anyway, she called me from her job and asked me to make arrangements for a tow truck and whatnot, which turned out to be a huge endeavor. To make a long story short, I spent about an hour and a half on the phone with the insurance company, trying to resolve a major miscommunication I had with the representative who sold me the policy, her boss, and her boss’ boss. The details are too laborious to mention, and quite frankly, after the ordeal I had earlier this evening, I don’t want to relive it now. One fact I do need to mention is that the supervisor I last spoke with assured me that my claim would be investigated, the recording of the phone conversation between myself and the representative who sold me the policy would be pulled from their archives, and that, after the investigation, if it was discovered that the representative misled me, that I would be reimbursed the entire cost of having Ann’s car towed. But here’s the rub: Ann and I don’t have two or three hundred dollars to cover the initial towing cost, nor is the reimbursement guaranteed because whoever the adjuster is who is investigating my claim, he or she may find some loophole to say that I am in the wrong no matter what the representative told me, probably because I did sign all the forms she told me to. But who reads all the fine print? However, I did hang up the phone with this supervisor fully confident that this matter would be resolved in our favor. For once the little guy would win.
Then I called Ann to tell her what had just transpired. She practically blew me off. She told me we’d never see the reimbursement. She told me no insurance company would reimburse us one hundred percent of the towing cost for a tow that was not specifically agreed upon in the original policy. I tried to explain how understanding this supervisor was, how he listened to me and told me he understood my predicament and how he assured me that he would personally handle this. He told me he was on my side and that he would fight to get my claim heard and reconciled in my favor. I’m telling you, this guy I talked to was nice. But even though Ann didn’t specifically say this, in between her words she was telling me that that is what he gets paid to do and that he’s very good at being a snake in the grass.
So I hung up with Ann dejected. Only a few minutes ago I was quite satisfied with what I thought was going to be a reasonable resolution. But after thinking about it over my burnt pizza which I left in the oven too long because I forgot about it while I was arguing with people at the insurance company, I realized that this is exactly why I married Ann. She sees things through different lenses than I do. And in this way we complement each other. She’s not as naïve as I am about certain things, and vice versa. In this specific instance regarding our problem with the insurance company, she was looking at things realistically while I had on my rose-colored glasses. In the past I probably would have poo-pooed away her opinion on the matter and I would have had the car towed, completely ignoring her input and doing what I wanted when I wanted and how I wanted. But that’s not how I operate anymore. I’m listening to her and meshing her opinions with mine and making better decisions because of her. I just wish I would’ve realized all this a long time ago. I guess I just needed to learn all this the hard way. I just hope I didn’t learn it all too late.
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Ann’s car broke down—again. Her car is newer than mine and with a lot less mileage, yet we have more problems with her car—a 2002 Mercury Cougar—than mine—a 1998 Ford Escort. Go figure. Anyway, she called me from her job and asked me to make arrangements for a tow truck and whatnot, which turned out to be a huge endeavor. To make a long story short, I spent about an hour and a half on the phone with the insurance company, trying to resolve a major miscommunication I had with the representative who sold me the policy, her boss, and her boss’ boss. The details are too laborious to mention, and quite frankly, after the ordeal I had earlier this evening, I don’t want to relive it now. One fact I do need to mention is that the supervisor I last spoke with assured me that my claim would be investigated, the recording of the phone conversation between myself and the representative who sold me the policy would be pulled from their archives, and that, after the investigation, if it was discovered that the representative misled me, that I would be reimbursed the entire cost of having Ann’s car towed. But here’s the rub: Ann and I don’t have two or three hundred dollars to cover the initial towing cost, nor is the reimbursement guaranteed because whoever the adjuster is who is investigating my claim, he or she may find some loophole to say that I am in the wrong no matter what the representative told me, probably because I did sign all the forms she told me to. But who reads all the fine print? However, I did hang up the phone with this supervisor fully confident that this matter would be resolved in our favor. For once the little guy would win.
Then I called Ann to tell her what had just transpired. She practically blew me off. She told me we’d never see the reimbursement. She told me no insurance company would reimburse us one hundred percent of the towing cost for a tow that was not specifically agreed upon in the original policy. I tried to explain how understanding this supervisor was, how he listened to me and told me he understood my predicament and how he assured me that he would personally handle this. He told me he was on my side and that he would fight to get my claim heard and reconciled in my favor. I’m telling you, this guy I talked to was nice. But even though Ann didn’t specifically say this, in between her words she was telling me that that is what he gets paid to do and that he’s very good at being a snake in the grass.
So I hung up with Ann dejected. Only a few minutes ago I was quite satisfied with what I thought was going to be a reasonable resolution. But after thinking about it over my burnt pizza which I left in the oven too long because I forgot about it while I was arguing with people at the insurance company, I realized that this is exactly why I married Ann. She sees things through different lenses than I do. And in this way we complement each other. She’s not as naïve as I am about certain things, and vice versa. In this specific instance regarding our problem with the insurance company, she was looking at things realistically while I had on my rose-colored glasses. In the past I probably would have poo-pooed away her opinion on the matter and I would have had the car towed, completely ignoring her input and doing what I wanted when I wanted and how I wanted. But that’s not how I operate anymore. I’m listening to her and meshing her opinions with mine and making better decisions because of her. I just wish I would’ve realized all this a long time ago. I guess I just needed to learn all this the hard way. I just hope I didn’t learn it all too late.
posted by terriamachine | 9:05 PM
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