"We have returned $50 million in premiums to our customers".....(Insurance company, knowing full-well their cars are standing idle, not needing liability insurance) "We are extending payment times as we acknowledge our customers' current financial plight"......(They know the customers are incapable of paying) We and all the other hundreds of creditors, lenders, Realtors (waiving commissions), all businesses a part of the "Great American System" are ALL HEROES of the public, if we are to believe them! The public foolishly fails to see the hand-over-fist advantage ceded to their creditors by their staunch adherence to viral-induced fear and changes seen........ Frank
Yeh, Allstate returned me a pittance. But between all the "We celebrate COVID-fighters" and "We stand against racism!" hype, I just want someone to sell me something without prostituting current social upheavals. They are not my friend...they are merchants. They ain't coming over for Christmas dinner. And I agree with your general position. I don't mind the sheep until the rest of us get caught in their stampede. Now I see why cattle ranchers loathed them.
@Bill Boggs Fair, I guess. Certainly a new existence compared to my care-free one 7 months ago. Frank @Shirley Martin Hundreds of businesses, big ones, many insurance companies that must pay out huge benefits to policy holders for liability settlements, now have no such obligation: people cannot freely mingle about wreaking their usual havoc of accidents on the highway, as well as various other means of inflicting claims on companies, not only insurors, but suppliers of product: foods, medicines, tools, building materials, the likes of which may be imperfect or unusable, because SUCH CLAIMS are gone! Folks aren't, and can't, be a'buyin'!
Frank said, ' Fair, I guess. Certainly a new existence compared to my care-free one 7 months ago. Frank, that happens when you're going down hill. One day we're in control, everything maybe not perfect but okay and you are still in control. Then you're slammed by a medical emergency or a martial emergency, or some other piece of bad news tbhat bowls you over and wham! Keep [up the good fight.
My insurance company sent me a refund check and then promptly raised the next six month's premium almost the same amount. Wow, such generosity......
You just gotta love them being so blind to the optics. How could anyone not feel that it's an intentional slap in the face? For the longest time Allstate sent me reminder emails that I had not filled out the Customer Satisfaction Survey. They know that I have filed no claims. Exactly what am I supposed to evaluate? Well, something finally came up I could measure performance against. I called their customer service center to get the rate lowered on my truck, which is driven about once a month to take my trash to the drop off center (I'm in the country.) While we were on the phone, she mentioned an Umbrella Policy for my homeowner's insurance. They've raised this before, but I've declined. She pointed out that with the high coverage I already have on my vehicles, the incremental cost will be minimal. So I executed the online contract. Fast-forward 6 months or so, and I get another email from my agent trying to sell me an Umbrella Policy! So I replied that Allstate already sold me one, and I attached a copy of the online contract I signed. I got no reply. No "Sorry, I'll look into it." No later communication after he found out what happened. No nothing, except a bill that suddenly showed up for the Umbrella Policy premium!! You better believe I went in and filled out that survey.
@Mary Robi Was this coverage of a nature that no claim could be paid during the Pandemic constraints? Frank
I'd certainly never go for that..... No, what I'm getting for the next six months is the same coverage I had for the last six months (and years before that) except that it's more expensive. Thus the refund is washed out by the increase in premiums.
@Mary Robi I see. IMO, when it comes to insurance, the guidelines applicable to most other services provided for a fee, are "thrown out", disfavoring competitive bidding and bending estimated cost to the company, thus ensuring profit rather than loss. This explains why the Mortality Table, used to pre-determine number of deaths by life insurance companies, was still the 1878-derived tables, in use until late in the 20th. Century......People died much younger in 1878......Feds discouraged such use finally by law. Frank
To piggyback @Mary Robi, the same thing happened to me. Businesses just can't truly give something without taking it back in other ways the consumer has to pay for it. It's beyond saying 'Nothing is free.'