Letters

I wrote a letter to the newspaper:

I was almost home when my car was struck by another driver.  The driver was not looking forward at all, ran a stop sign and totaled my car.  At least that’s what her insurance company deemed it--totaled.

I pay my insurance premiums each and every month.  My insurance company works for me and now I am forced to work with another insurance company.  They tried to trick me and swindle me and eventually gave me a price for my car that was not acceptable.  Of course if I stop paying my premiums, my company would drop me instantly.   But what happens when it is their time to pay?

I have never been treated so disrespectfully in my life.  The insurance company yanked away the rental car they had provided me the day I picked up the check, the day before Thanksgiving.  I cannot afford a car payment and so now I am forced to buy whatever used garbage I can find for the measly amount paid to me by the insurance company.  And in a hurry. 

I took care of my car, inside and out and in a single second, all that was gone.  We work hard for the things we have and the insurance companies take it all away with one trick, one signature, one lousy dollar amount.  It is an industry fueled by greed and perks. 

As a nation, as hard working folks who pay their bills and do everything they're supposed to do, I say we band together and join forces to see that something be done about the legalized swindlers.  Occupy Insurance Companies.  Now there’s a worthy cause.



I also am working on a letter the insurance adjuster.  I haven't sent it yet & may revise it but you get the idea: 

Dear Ms. Jensen,

At some point in our conversations you said to me, “I’m not that kind of person,” implying that I was accusing you of something underhanded.  Apparently you are.  In our veryfirst phone conversation you tried to trick me into having the car released, knowing that was my only bargaining chip.  And I should not have to bargain for the price of my car.  I have always paid my own insurance premiums but when it comes time for the insurance company to pay up, we customers always are forced to take the short end of the stick.

Your first offer was a downright insult.  And you pulled the rental the day I picked up the check, the day before Thanksgiving.  How vindictive of you.  I am assuming you did this because you found me rude.  I was not going to allow myself to be treated as doormat.  I had to fight for a second offer that I was not happy with and as far as I am concerned, you were just as rude to me as I was to you.

You cannot tell me that you don’t receive bonuses.  Why would such a large company fed by money expect you to save them cash if you were making an hourly rate?  I’d expect that you see many perks and incentives to do your job well.  And in their eyes, I suppose you do.  Well done.

As I write this, it is Thanksgiving Day.  I have no car and not nearly enough money to get a decent one.  I cannot afford a car payment so I am forced to buy whatever I find for under $8,000.  I do not even have the time or the means to shop for a car and this is all because one young lady could not look forward while driving.  It is also because insurance companies spout out a ridiculous number & we are forced to take it.

You people take away everything that is owed to a person with a single signature.  You trick people and swindle them and somehow it’s all legal.  I don’t see how you people wake up each morning and feel good about yourselves.  And you expect us to trust you!  That’s the most laughable thing I’ve ever heard.

I wish we had never met and I hope we never meet again.  I also hope that someday you are in a position similar to mine and you have to fight for everything you have and someone else is sitting at a desk, ready to take it away.  Perhaps then you will learn the meaning of the word “empathy”.