persistantthug

Its getting late and I don't wanna read anymore,

so let me break a few thing down for you people quick as possible,

Insurance guys are scum and it is their job to screw you over as fast as possible AFTER an accident takes place.

If you get into an accident you should IMMEDIATELY...IMMEDIATELY GO TO THE HOSPITAL and Try and stay the night.....VERY IMPORTANT.

You'll notice that soon after the insurance will be wanting to talk to you with an "office visit"....DONT GO.

Get a lawyer....at the very least, your lawyer should get you medical money back to you and assuming you had medical insurance, It will then become YOUR option on what you do with the "medical payment".


There's more, but I'm tired.

gianf

Ahh, the perspective from the insurance guy. "To pay what's legally owed" and "subjective soft tissue" injury, can be construed as saying "you're not really hurt, and unless you can spend megabucks to prove it, we're not going to pay squat. Forget the fact that you've paid out the butt for good insurance coverage. I guess you lost me at, "get off your lazy *** and get back to work."

Let no one forget; the real goal for insurance companies, just like any other company, is to make as much money as they can. This is done by charging high rates and paying as little for claims as possible. If car insurance wasn't mandatory by law, rates and service would be totally different. Insurance companies would have to provide personal, quality service to their customers, in order to keep them, instead of being the impersonal, adversarial entities they are now.

One can see there are millions/billions to be made by the sheer number of insurance companies clamoring to get your money. They promise great, quality coverage, then they bury you in exclusionary fine print. Interestingly enough, I'm a satisfied car insurance customer, who works his *** off every day but suffers from "subjective, hard to prove" soft tissue injuries. It's only been about six years ago when the accident happened, and it only took about a year for the insurance company to settle, but the injury could very well be with me the rest of my life.

Once again, the final goal of insurance companies is to get, and keep, as much of your money as they possibly can (I know I said this twice in a very small post, but it bears repeating).

Steve

QuickShortBus

gianf - I work in the insurance industry also, most companies do NOT make money on personal auto insurance at the end of the year. They make money from investments. If you don't believe this read the financial reports from a few large carriers. It's hard to make money when they pay out 60-70% of what comes in for claims; the rest is needed just to operate and pay salaries.

Before making incorrect assumptions about insurance, do some research and learn how insurance companies make money. It's not from premium, it's from investments. The majority of companies will pay out more in claims than they take in. Everybody thinks they pay in $1000 a year and never file a claim; but when you pass that wreck that a both a new Navigator and a new Mercedes have both been totalled, think about how many people like you it takes to pay for that wreck. Oh, and keep in mind at best only $500 of your $1000 is used to pay claims the rest is for operating expenses.

danalor

Sounds well and good, but we all know the insurance companies rake in the profits and are some of the most lucrative businesses in this country. I think what insurance companies pay out for claims is probably pretty small in comparison to what they are collected in premiums. I'm sure the number of people who actually file claims is quite small to the number of people who have insurance and since having insurance is a law, I'm certain of this.

SonicStanGirl

Yay! I got my GT back last night!

Turns out the body repair bill is $871. That includes body panel repair in the center of the bumper area directly behind/above my license plate area, replacement of the air duct in that center piece, replace the license plate lamp assemply, and replacement and paint of a new bumper. Car looks great, they did a good job, thank God!

4wheel - Here is a little more insight into my accident. I am 38 and this is my 4TH neck injury. I have had one whiplash from another car accident in my 67 mustang 10 yrs ago and two sports related ones that were further back than that. So that is probably why I was more messed up than the average Joe or Jane having their first accident. The soft tissue damage is far less severe than I have experienced before, however, I was still more messed up than the average person would be with no previous injuries.

I work on a computer and a phone at my desk for most of the day and during those 9 days I was off... I could not sit in a chair and look at a computer with out a ton of pain. I'm back at work now (the first week back was hell, had to use a damn cervical collar off and on to alleviate pain). Now I'm doing OK with out it and am almost done with my PT treatments. I've only had about 10 or so and my Doc is a very conservative and honest guy. Isn't overtreating me. I think I'll be done this week (crossing my fingers).

Thanks for all the detail about insurance stuff. I appreciate your viewpoint and insight.

QuickShortBus

As I stated before, insurance companies make money from INVESTMENTS; for the few companies that profit from premium, premium represents a very small portion of profit. I never disputed the fact that insurance companies are profitable, if they weren't they wouldn't be around very long. Many companies actually lose money on premium but make the money back from sound investments. If you don't believe me, do some reading, check out the financial statements from a few large insurers and see how they really make money.

4wheelkillr

with the exception of last year...allstate was operating at a 1.1 combined ratio...meaning they were losing 10 cents on every dollar they were earning...this went on for about 4 or 5 years straight...statefarm was in the same situation for a long time...
Insurance companies are like ANY big nationwide company. The CEO's make millions, the res of the company makes an average salary, the shareholders get 10-40 cent dividends every year and they make the right investments.
Business is such to make MONEY, if you're losing money what's the point?

4wheelkillr

I don't know if your comments are all sarcastic or you're being truthful...
so...
ask Sleeper05 if he thinks insurance companies go wrong by investigating claims and making sure payments are paid appropriately. The initial source of income is policies. If insurance companies are careless of what they spend they need to recoupe that cost somewhere...YOUR pocket, MY pocket, everyone's friggin' pocket. It's ridiculous to think that ANY business, insurance or not is being dishonest by attempting to curb expenditures.

I think a lot of this comes from before my time, back in the 70's or 80's when the insurance industry was largely unregulated. Today the Dept of Ins. makes all the rules for what insurance companies can and can't do.

It is true that companies do attempt to rush out and meet with ALL injured parties. But it's not to scare them into signing a release, in fact in CO. there's a law that says they CANNOT be settled w/in 30days after an accident if they're treating. The main reason it's done is to establish rapport-and much research has been done in this area. If a company is able to establish good rapport with a person, put a face to the person behind the phone, then those claims settle much much more quickly and people are less likely to hire an attorney because they begin to know and trust the adjuster. The major problem with attorneys is time-frame. Most attorney-rep cases take 6months to settle. By law insurance companies must take a proper "reserve" in a separate account that must be held to settle all claims injury or property damage. The longer that money sits in reserve, the more investment and income potential is removed from the equation. That money needs to be freed up quickly to reinvest so that profits can be maintained.

Hire an attorney, don't hire an attorney, personally it makes no difference to me. Your claim is worth what it's worth and an attorney is not going to scare me into paying more.
Some people (possibly yourself included) run out no matter what and hire an attorney.
Two scenarious VERY often happen:
1-your claim is minor, you get paid the same amount anyway and lose 33% of it to your atty.
2-(and I personally have honestly told people to think REAL hard about hiring an atty and this is why)....I've had it a number of times...a major injury, head trauma broken bones. The policy limits are state minimums like $25k in CO. If you break an arm or leg YOU'RE GOING TO GET PAID LIMITS...that's $25k. Hiring an attorney is completely foolish!! They attorney KNOWS damn well you're going to get limits...all he has to do is sit back and collect $8250 of YOUR MONEY!! You would have gotten all of it had you not hired an attorney...happens A LOT. Even when I try to be as candid as possible (like I'm doing here) and tell people flat-out , people still inherently distrust what I'm trying to do and end up losing in the long run.

You DO NOT have the option to keep the money you get from an insurance company if your health insurance pays the bills. All (or almost all I would think) health insurance policies contain provisions for 3rd Party liability reimbursement. You think your health insurance is going to pay the bills, then sit back and let YOU collect the reimbursement for those bills without having to reimburse your health insurance? That's just ignorant. However, in some extreme cases courts have decided with severely injured party that the injury settlement they received from the at fault carrier should be considered as pain/suffering and not bill reimbursement which means they wouldn't have to reimburse their health insurance. But only a court can decide the contractual dissemination of funds.

In most states, workers comp, medicare, medicaid and ER/Hospitals (not dr. or general practioners) have 1st right of recovery liens. Which means the insurance company either A: must pay them directly once a settlement is reach, or B: include them on the check. So again, you don't have a choice in that case how your bills are paid. Problem?...write your congressman because it's state law.

4wheelkillr

I don't understand how this doesn't make perfect sense..even from an insurance perspective. Look up some NICB/NCIC stats. Billions and billions are wasted on insurance fraud. Whether you claim damages that aren't part of the accident or suggest injuries that may or may not be there...it's still insurance fraud. Why should any and every single claim that anyone ever makes just simply have money thrown at it? You think that's legit? or fair? Tell that to the policyholders or shareholders whose money is being thrown away and whose rates are on the rise.

Obviously any business is there to make money. But I completely disagree with you on the state required insurance laws. If it weren't required and penalized under law then many many many MORE people would go without insurance. And many more good honest people who pay for insurance would get screwed. Ask someone that's been hit by an uninsured driver and ask them if they think there should be mandatory insurance laws. Hell there ARE mandatory insurance law and still tons and tons of people without insurance.

There are dozens and dozens of insurance companies out there that ALREADY strive for your business by offering the best rates and service (or saying they offer these things).

Thanks Steve.

I think 1quickshortbus mentioned this but again.
You are right. There are many many more people paying insurance than there are filing claims. 1 moderate accident, $5k in dmg to each vehicle and say 2 injured parties, even minor soft tissues injuries. Insurance just paid $20,000 or so to resolve this claim. How many policies does it take to cover the cost of this one claim? True some claims are very minor and only cost several hundred or even $1,000 or so to resolve. But there's also a huge number of claims that cost tens or hundreds of thousands to resolve. I can't tell you how many liability limits I have paid over the past few years. $25k, $50k, $100k checks written and flying out the door on a DAILY basis.


Damn my neck and head hurt from typing all this crap....any have an Excedrin?

mattblasi

I agree dont run out and hire a lawyer because you had a small fender bender but dont be an idiot either, asses the situation, consider your future I was in an accident and can no longer golf, have a hard time drawing and painting (hobby of mine)l, have a hard time working on my car (can barely change my own brakes now) and cannot 4 years later run anywhere (doc orders) and am still on pain meds. I would not have thought 4 years ago when I had my accident that I would be this way honestly but this is why MY lawyer prolonged things.

They wanted to get a definitive answer to my long term disabilities.

Also a lawyer can help set asside doctors bills so you dont have to pay them untill settlement

They have spent years studying the law and working with it (how long have you?)

They know the legal limits, filling times, procedures and all that wonderful stuff I know I didn't

I settled my case for $498k now yes my lawyer gets his 30% who cares, the opposite sides first offer was only $125k and that barely covered medical bills, leaving out future bills, perm disabilities, continuous pain meds, time off work (almost 3 months which turned into me loosing my job because of a ****ty company policy about long term disability)

And yes if YOUR medical coverage and auto insurance pay anything out during the cost of this they legally CAN and Will want to get reimbursed for what they spent.

Just be smart about it and don't just go get a lawyer because you saw a wonderful commercial but if you are injured badly it is more then worth it.

as to insurance companies and how they make money my claim alone settled for $498k how many years would it take you in your current premium to pay that? for me about 249 years alone, is it the insurance companies fault? did they cause your accident? no and in reality they persona that did in their life would not pay back this on his premiums.....so they dont make as much as you think from your dollar. wouldnt it be nicer to get this straight from the guy who caused it? yea sure but oh he dissapeared and no on has seen or heard from him, he never even tried to defned or explain what happend.

On another note yes the insurance compaies will try to low ball you why its their job just like you have yours they have theirs, a car salesman will try to add things to the cost to get a commission, the doctor will pad his bill, the electrician will take a bit longer, it hapens the world is full of greedy bastards and the funny thing is that everyone makes money getting over on someone else so stop being a hipocryte and live with it.

Tell me your job and I will help show you who you are getting over on...

not tryin to flame everyone i just get annoyed with crying about things your not going to change