Insurance Pet Peeves

Sometimes it's tough being in the insurance industry - since I am a CSR (customer service representative) I handle all the phone calls. And there are days when it seems all our clients do is call me up and complain about the rates!

I don't like price increases either - after all, I have to carry insurance on my house and car too! I don't get a break just because I work in the industry! And it's very frustrating to me as I feel like I talk to these people till I'm blue in the face and yet the final outcome is not any different than when they called me - I don't have the power to change the rates!

There are a couple of things that really irritate me about people - I can't tell you how many people call in and wonder why their policy cancelled? Well, if you don't pay your bill, your policy lapses - but I never got a bill they say - right, that's as bad as the check is in the mail! Besides, if you didn't get your electric bill, would you just NOT PAY and expect your service to continue?

My other major pet peeve is people that live beyond their means, yet it's MY fault because their insurance is too high!! I don't have much sympathy for someone who calls in and complains about their rate when they're driving a brand new car - get real people - if you buy a new car, expect your rate to increase! If you don't want higher insurance rates, DON'T BUY A BRAND NEW CAR!!! Glenn and I DO NOT buy new cars - we buy used cars - and yes, the insurance rates are LESS! Wake up people - this is simple math!

A few weeks ago one of our clients called in complaining about her $150 rate increase for a year on her homeowners policy. Yes, that's a lot I agree. But again, I don't set the insurance rates. She actually started crying on the phone, saying she just couldn't afford to pay it because they were on such a strict budget. Of course I felt very sorry for them - I know what it's like to not have enough money to pay your bills and I sympathized with her. But we have a new homeowners policy that we are transferring a lot of our people to if they are elgible, and the rates here in our county make the premium even LESS than what they were paying before the rate increase! They qualified - I was thrilled - she thanked me over and over! Next step of course is to offer to write their autos as there is a substantial discount for having your autos and home with the same company. She said yes, I could quote them but she doubted I could compete with their current company (and she was right, I couldn't match her current premium). But I was absolutely dumbstruck when I took down the info on her autos - they had 2 BRAND NEW 2008 VEHICLES and a $46,000 MOTOR HOME! Gee, for some reason, I didn't feel so sorry for her anymore - and I wonder today how she is coping with the gas and grocery increase - is she CRYING to them?

Wow - that was a lot to get off my chest this morning! In all fairness, I love my job and most of the people I deal with are wonderful! After working here in the agency for 18 years, I KNOW most of my clients by name and can greet them when they walk in the door! I work hard to provide them with each and every discount I can possibly give them, and they KNOW that I do that for them - that's why they stay with our company - we may not be the cheapest in town but I can guarante that we have the BEST policy service!