So, I have to go to physical therapy for my busted arm, three times a week, for at least six weeks. I go to my insurance company’s web site, print out a few near my office that take my insurance; call my doctor and get a referral. I call “Ow My Arm Hurts Physical Therapy and Psychic” and get an app’t. for tomorrow at noon. They call back few minutes later: “Sorry, we don’t accept Grift-Graft-Spiv Insurance, you’ll have to find someplace else.”
So I call Grift-Graft-Spiv, fully expecting a runaround or, “Wellll, we can book you into a phyiscal therapy place in East Assboink, Idaho, but nothing actually in your time zone.” So what happens? Kevin at Grift-Graft-Spiv puts me on hold for three minutes after hearing my tale of woe, gets “Ow My Arm Hurts” on the phone, gets right back to me and says, “it’s all worked out, you’re covered.”
Jiminy. How often does that happen? Even their hold music wasn’t bad . . . I’m scared . . .
I’ve had a very good experience with my insurance company recently as well. The company also provides mortgages and very carefully went over all the ins and outs of how to sign my life away so that I can have a house of my own. No fuss, no muss. No trying to sell me on some twisted scheme with multiple closings and buy-down poiints and vodoo rites and child sacrifice. “Here’s the rate. There’s no application fee. No origination fee. We can take the application over the phone.” Next day, “You’ve been approved for the loan. Please provide us with the name of the closing attorney. Thank you for your business. Is there anything else we can do for you?”
If insurance companies are going to suddenly start turning helpful and accomodating, then . . . Everything as I know it is spinning to an end. We have entered Bizarro World, where ducks meow and cats go quack quack.
Two years ago, a dying tree let a huge branch crash onto the corner of our garage roof. (I was home alone at the time - it scared the bedoobies outta me!!) I went out and took a bunch of photos - just in case. The next day, the insurance guy came by to have a look. I don’t know what he based his estimates on, but not only was the repair and tree removal fully covered, somehow we didn’t have to come up with our $500 deductible! And we’d just been in the house for a month, so we’d only paid the first 3 months’ premiums!
Our homeowners insurance co. was so nice and helpful when we had a break-in a few years ago that I wrote a letter praising them! Full coverage of all items taken – they only paid $13/CD stolen but full retail price for all electronic equipment taken, with no depreciation, either. Got the check 4 days after we reported the incident.
I won’t get into my HEALTH insurance company, though, who, after I had a miscarriage, called and asked why I wasn’t going to my prenatal checkups…