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"How to Get-Even with Insurance Companies"

Insurance Companies like individuals have all types of different characteristics, attitudes, beliefs and some are just difficult to work with. However, the only reason you take out insurance coverage is to protect your financial well being. You need to have some comfort in the fact that when you have a loss, most if not all of it will be taken care of by your insurance carrier. Meaning you will get to replace the loss with cash to buy another, whatever, ie; car, boat, motorcycle, home or (whatever). Anyway, sometime you might encounter an individual that has an attitude which may hamper the recovery of your loss. This has happened many times. The solution is to try and negotiate with the adjuster to a satisfactory settlement. If that doesn't work, you might enlist the help of your agent. He/she should be able to go to the insurance carriers' claims manager and work out a settlement. Let's suppose that doesn't work and everything is heading south on you. Before hiring that attorney, submit a complaint to the insurance department. I've attached an Oklahoma Complaint form. This is a non-litigious way of seeing if the insurance carrier truly is putting smoke and mirrors up to not pay your claim. You fill out the form telling the insurance department your side of the story. They send your version to the insurance carrier that has to respond in so many days as to their side of the story. You get a copy of their response. If you're still in disagreement, you write another letter to the insurance department. This time they may or may not have a sit-down session with you and the insurance carrier. If the department agrees with your position, 9 times out of 10 a settlement will be forth coming. However, if they don't, then belly up to the bar and hire your own gunslinger (attorney) and duke it out. A non-interested 3rd. party legal eagle will decide, the JUDGE! Rest assured, this happens a lot but mostly insurance companies would rather settle than pursue the gunslinger mentality. This is the method I would suggest to "Get Even with YOUR insurance carrier". (http://www.oaktreeagency.com/Forms/RequestForAssistance.pdf)
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How To Stiff Your Insurance Agent

This entry is just me blowing off a little frustration. I'm in the business to try and help people with financial concerns. Most of what I do for others really helps them to save money, time and frustration on their part. However, there are those that are subtle thieves. They come to you in sheeps clothing only to ravage you in their lair. Here's what I mean. Recently, I had a home health agency call on me to help them out with their workcomp mess. They had found me via the internet. They wanted to know if I could save them money and get them away from the state insurance carrier, the state workers compensation provider. The next delimma was, I only had 5 days to accomplish this task. Well, the ladies I worked with were great in providing the information needed to get their workcomp priced out. However, I was led to believe I was working with a decision maker. That was a false impression on my part. The CFO I was working with was not a decision maker. The owner of the health agency was the sole decision maker. He had his agent using my information to help her retain his business. She had told the owner, she had already approached the same insurance carrier I used and they would not quote it for her. I had the price in black ink. Kind of got egg on her face. Didn't matter, though. She retained the business with the state carrier. The agent had the audacity to tell the client that they didn't make a commission with the carrier and had to charge a fee in lieu of a commission. The state carrier pays commission on all accounts that have been in business for 3 years.

Bottom line here is this: (1) The insured wanted to get away from the state carrier and couldn't get this accomplished with their current agent. We accomplished this for them. (2) The insured wanted to know why they were being surcharged 2.55 times the normal rate with the state carrier. We told them that they should be surcharged 1.21 times the normal rate but that the state carrier can pretty much do what they wanted. It was their current agent telling them they had a 2.55 experience surcharge factor being applied to their workcomp rate. Still, they wanted this agent. (3) They wanted to save money. We accomplished this by using the 1.21 experience surcharge in lieu of 2.55. We applied the deposit premium against their annual premium. The state carrier keeps the deposit in a side fund and does not apply it against your premium. Wish we could do that. Hmmm.... $1,000,000,000 at let's say 3% is, oh $30,000,000 a year in interest????? Not bad!! Our total savings for this insured would have been around $70,000. (4) The insured is waiting 30 days to give their agent an agent of record letter. This allows their agent to take the program we developed and there by steal our work for themselves and their clients benefit. They walk away with the business and we get stiffed. We had also set up a loss prevention program designed to reduce claims substantially. This would have driven their 1.21 surcharge down further. Saving them more money. That's the American way today isn't it? Wow, that feels better, just expressing myself! Fortunately, there are more good clients than thieves out in the business world. http://www.oaktreeagency.com