Picking up the pieces...again
City and county planners can also step up to the plate and stop allowing concentrated residential and business development in areas that are regularly slammed with mudslides, floods and hurricanes. [Please see National Geographic's October 2004 article, Louisiana Wetlands.]
In the meantime, we Americans will do what Americans keep doing: pay their taxes so state and federal agencies can pay for damages, and donate money to organizations such as the following that provide goods and services to those in need:
American Red Cross
1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) English
1-800-257-7575 Spanish
Second Harvest
The nation's largest foodbank
Noah's Wish - Rescuing and Sheltering Animals in Disasters
LSU Vet Medical School of Vet Medicine Shelter for Katrina Pets
American Veterinary Medical Foundation
Animal Photos of Pets Lost/Missing/Found due to Katrina
Message Postings of Pets Lost/Missing/Found due to Katrina
posted by Melissa at 6:10 PM
12 Comments:
"Why don't the governors of states whose regions are subject to flooding where insurance companies have refused to write flood insurance coverage do what Hawaii has done in the case of fire coverage: Pull the plug on insurers who refuse to cover flood damage, just as Hawaii did to insurers refusing to cover fire."
I have a problem with this. If insurers did cover this, it would be so expensive that no one would use it anyway and we'd be right back where we are. ---Karen W.
I hear you. Just keep in mind ALL the premiums collected by insurers for ALL their products, and then factor in the market value of ALL their properties and investments and executive perks and, well, need I go on?
Of course, insureds and tax payers should not have to keep footing the bill over and over and over again when people rebuild in established destructive storm tracks (as viewed over time, not just the most recent part of the cycle), or mudslide areas, etc.
That also means the local governments need to put the brakes on permitting development in these areas, too, rather than just seeing plan approval as a way to increase their tax revenue over the short term.
Insurance companies are evil. EVIL!!! May they all rot in hell. Along with the spammers who pollute our blogs with the Spam Comments. BLECH!
Before you go shouting that insurance companies are evil let me ask you something? Do you drive a car or live in your own home? Are you making payments on those items or are they all paid off and you own them outright? Well the majority of people are going to say they are making payments. Do you think there is any way a bank is going to loan someone $100,000 for a house if they aren't guaranteed they'll get their money back if it burns down or a tornado hits it?
Insurance allows the poor to live like the rich so keep that in mind when you walk into your house this evening. No insurance, no house or decent car unless you're rich to begin with. There is more to insurance than just you paying your premium and not immediately getting anything in return.
Rob, while I appreciate your lecture on the social and economic benefits provided by insurance companies, you should probably know that I worked in the industry for 18 years, and for the last 15 years (that would make a total of 33 years) I have watched with interest insurance companies busily trying to renege on the implied agreement with their insureds by denying their legitimate claims, forcing claimants into expensive trials, wherein insurance companies use YOUR premiums to fight having to pay your co-insureds. I have seen health insurers do it, I have seen auto insurers do it, and I have seen property insurers do it.
Hey! As in all things--all industries and professions--some insurance companies are better than others in how they respond to claims. But the bottom line is that insurance companies are hugely profitable because in aggregate they pay out as little as they can compared to what they rake in every year.
They gamble that there will be only X% or $Y losses--property destroyed, lives lost, acute vs. chronic illness.
As for insurance companies allowing "the poor to live like the rich", how long have you been poor? None of the people I know who are struggling at or below the Federal poverty line (and don't even get me started on that construct) live like the rich people, or even the moderately well off, people I know.
Dear GOD, Rob, you must work for an insurance company! I've never made a claim on insurance in all my 41 years of living, despite paying and paying and paying. We keep our deductibles sky-high so as to keep rates as low as possible. Insurance is a necessary evil.
My driving record is pristine, I might add. Btw, did you know that small-ca drivers such as myself subsidize the rates of SUV drivers? God forbid the insurance should piss off wealthy SUV owners by raising their rates to where they should be, given the track records of SUVs in accidents. (You want documentation on that, I'll go dig it up.)
I am married to a lawyer who has many stories to tell about insurance companies not honouring legitimate claims until they are forced by the courts to do so. Would you like a list?
You would think that insurers WOULD honour legitimate claims, but they often don't until they are dragged into court. Oh good grief, don't get me started. And never mind how they fight over every niggling detail of a claim. Essentially, isnurers believe you are a liar unless you prove otherwise, often with the not-very-cheap help of a lawyer.
Insurance companies are evil. Period. And they try to pass themselves off as all lovey-dovey and "we'll put a safety blanket around you after your house burns to the ground and be there to wipe up your tears." My ARSE. They care about money, period. They should just be upfront about that. Their mission in life is to collect as much money as possible and pay out as little as possible and if you believe anything else, you're naive. They aren't there to hold your hand or wipe your tears or help you when you are in trouble.
Naturally an insurance company is a business and needs to make money to survive, but puh-lease. Most insurance companies are bastions of greed!
And incidentally, Rob, I do own my car, and most of our house. I am by no means poor. We live within our means. And we don't mind making house insurance and car insurance payments. What I mind is when the insurance bastards gouge me, or refuse to honour a real claim. It pisses me off when they make a killing on the stock market, then raise my rates exorbitantly when I've been claims-free for my entire freaking life.
You miss the point entirely. Insurance companies are a necessary evil, but they're still evil! Of course we have to insure our homes and cars. Insurance companies do that nicely. It's the rest of what they do that drives me crazy.
"allow the poor to live like the rich"
Bad choice of words. I was only quoting a common saying in the industry. It should have read
"allow the less wealthy to live like the wealthy".
No, I don't work for an insurance company I work for an agency and rarely do I see a company deny a legitimate claim from one of our clients. I will take into consideration that maybe it's the particular companies we have chosen to represent that don't seem to be as bad as you guys indicate about denying claims, though.
I just get sick and tired of seeing people indicate how horrible insurance companies are. Really I guess I should change that and say I get sick and tired of hearing people complain about insurance in general. Often independent agents are grouped with companies and we all get a bad rap.
Anonymous said:
"I've never made a claim on insurance in all my 41 years of living, despite paying and paying and paying. We keep our deductibles sky-high so as to keep rates as low as possible. Insurance is a necessary evil."
Lose your house to a fire and you'll have a change of heart.
I will say I whole heartedly agree companies exist to make money but I also believe there are those whose goal is to make money but at the same time improve people's lives. Maybe I am naive with regards to how bad the majority of companies are because of my limited experience in the field. Okay, I'll admit that.
Just keep in mind it's not all that way. Just like pet stores there are a few that are really, really good even though the majority of them suck! Right, MK? Now I know how those employees feel sometimes in the reptile forums.
"Lose your house to a fire and you'll have a change of heart. "
Why would I have a change of heart? I just said that insurance is a *necessary* evil! If I lose my house in a fire and if they actually compensate me as they should (fat chance), I'll be happy I was wise enough to buy insurance, but I'll still think insurance companies are evil. The concept is fine, but they are still greedy bastards who resist paying out whenever possible.
Hey, I do all the things I can to lower premiums, like installing smoke and CO2 detectors in the house, not getting traffic tickets, yadda yadda yadda. I don't even mind paying premiums, although I do get tired of subsidizing the bad driving habits of others.
I'm not stupid. Of course I buy insurance! This is not about the concept of INSURANCE being evil. This is about insurance companies taking your money, then fighting tooth and nail to keep it when you do have a legitimate claim.
I expect them to take reasonable precautions against insurance fraud, but they go too far. Good grief, I have had many friends who have had to fight with insurers over some piddly claim, and often the only time insurers back down and pay out is when they are threatened with legal action. That is pathetic.
On more than one occasion, my husband (the lawyer) has helped friends fight an insurance claim refusal, and it often doesn't take much more than looking up a previous case where they were taken to court over a similar issue, and lost. They back down pretty quick when you dig out facts like that. "Oops! You found us out! Here's your money."
The world runs on greed, and insurance companies are prime examples. They are worse than banks (who now charge you for the pleasure of withdrawing your own money, unless you have a service plan or keep a certain balance in your account.)
Oh wait. Maybe insurers are only evil in Canada, not in the US. Yeah, I'm sure that's it.
>>>Bad choice of words. I was only quoting a common saying in the industry. It should have read "allow the less wealthy to live like the wealthy".
Rob, Rob, Rob, you need to get out there more. You know only the population able to afford to buy insurance. Believe it or not, that is not the entire population.
I remember the days when I was comfortably well off - not rich, but not having to count pennies every month, wondering if I would be able to afford that tube of toothpaste or Tampax I needed. How many of your clients were in that position? (Okay, you can switch Tampax to toilet paper, if that helps…) At that time, I had health insurance, homeowners insurance, and car insurance.
Now, all I have is car insurance, no renters insurance or health insurance other than Medicare (which isn't as great as most people think - see my Alternate Realities). During the last 10-15 days of the month, I am counting those pennies.
I have car insurance because by law I have to, and pray that my auto insurer won't try to screw me out of settling according to the terms of my policy if ever I am in an accident that results in the car needing to be fixed or totaled. But when I have to withdraw money from my dwindling savings to pay for my monthly maintenance meds plus the various treatment protocols (not covered by Medicare and most probably not by any state or Medicare-approved drug plan in the future, subject of a future blog), paying $100+ a month for renters insurance just isn't possible.
>>>Lose your house to a fire and you'll have a change of heart.
I did. Our house caught on fire one day in what became known as the August From Hell (1st Wednesday: my mom gets hit by a car while jogging; 2nd Wednesday: they take out half her left lung after discovering the cancer that wasn't visible during her April physical; 3rd Wednesday: our house catches fire in the morning right after I leave for the hospital, thanks to a Black & Decker rechargeable appliance that overcharged and a circuit breaker box that failed to do whatever it was supposed to do). If I didn't already know the lingo, hadn't poured over our homeowners policy with a strong magnifying glass, and know that everyone has a boss, the insurance company would have done what they were obviously used to doing: underpaying the insured.
Oh, my husband's insurance agent? They did nothing but collect their commission every year when he renewed. He trusted them to look out for his interests; all they looked out for was the automatic income.
Anyway, having dealt with my husband and his agent, the insurance company was confident that they could easily screw us. When I inserted myself into the equation, however, that changed.
I heard later that the insurance company's local VP hand-delivering the largest advance payment ever made in our region for replacement costs and the first month's payment for temporary living quarters equivalent to what we had been living in was highly unusual. And certainly would not have happened if my "well, they're the insurance company, so they must be right, right?" husband and his lackadaisical "huh? We're supposed to work for our clients?" insurance agent had been allowed to continue to accept what the insurance company was shoveling.
So, I did have a change of heart: I expected both the agent and the insurance company to do the right things, and they did not.
>>>Maybe I am naive with regards to how bad the majority of companies are because of my limited experience in the field. Okay, I'll admit that.
Good - because that is the first step to learning.
Please understand that I've had other experiences with large insurance companies, attending conferences and symposia with their best and brightest. What they say amongst their own is going to be different from what they say when they are wooing agents and agencies to sell their policies and marketing directly to consumers.
I am sure that there are insurers and agents out there with a strong moral compass who effectively combine earning a living and making a reasonable profit with taking care of their clients and insureds. But, as with pet stores, there are far more who are not and do not. And that's why the industry as a whole gets a bad name.
I've had this discussion with pet store owners before. Yes, it may be unfair to paint the entire pet trade industry with the same brush, but until the few good people and companies in the industry take steps to change the entire industry for the better, they are going to get slapped with the same stinky paint.
The same goes for the insurance industry and its local representatives, the independent insurance agent.
>>Now I know how those employees feel sometimes in the reptile forums.
LOL!!! It would be nice if there were no windmills needing to be remodeled to improve the baseline quality of lives. Alas, as far as I can see, there are windmills dotting the landscape.
But now, at least, you know that I am capable of tilting at a couple of different ones instead of the same one all the time.
I MYSELF A VICTIME OF HURRICANES FRANCES AND JEANNE AND THEN MY ATTORNEYS, I RECIEVED NO HELP, NOR WAS MY INSURANCE COMPANY MADE TO PAY. I AM STILL HERE IN MY HURRICANE DAMAGED HOME. DYING A LITTLE AT A TIME. AND STILL NO HELP. ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS? MY INS CO IS BANKRUPT, MY ATTORNEY WAS CORRUPT AND FEMA HAS POISONED TRAILERS. I NEED SPECIAL HOUSING NOW TO ACCOMODATE MY DISEASES.>>> HELP!!!!
MORTGAGE COMPANIES AFTER HURRICANE ANDREW PUT A CLAUSE IN OUR MORTGAGE DOCS THAT GIVES THEM FULL CONTROL OF YOUR INSURANCE PROCEEDS IN THE EVENT SOMETHING HAPPENED. THEY TAKE THE MONEY AND YOU ARE STUCK WITH YOUR DAMAGED HOME. IT HAPPENED TO ME AND TO MANY OTHERS. THERE ARE SUPPOSED TO PUT IT IN AN ACCOUNT WHILE YOU REPAIR, BUT NOT WHAT MINE DID. THEY TOOK IT. I PAID FOR IT, WHO GIVES THEM THE RIGHT. NOW I HAVE A DAMAGED HOME AND NO WAY TO FIX IT. STILL DYING IN IT....
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