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Thursday August 14, 1997
Dear Brefni
I view your site with interest from time to time. As an insurance broker, I am somewhat dismayed by the apparent intended direction of the site and the lack of positive comment.
I do not dispute for one moment the validity of the facts which you have stated regarding your claim. However, I must state that your experience is not the norm. The majority of claimants in Canada who have claims such as yours for the first time, are in absolute amazement at the care, concern and generosity offered up by their insurers.
Those people however, seldom publicize their delite as it seems that for many people it is much more pleasurable to complain than compliment. I would venture to say that if you had an Email from all of the happy insurance claimants in Canada, you would need to buy a few more servers to handle the volume on your site. I have dealt with upwards of 10,000 individuals in my 30+ year career and other than the occasional difference of opinion on values of certain items, I am pleased to report that I have had very few unhappy clients.
Those that were unhappy were generally those who misrepresented their situation at the time they applied for insurance and found out later that honesty and full disclosure of facts by the buyer are paramount to the success of any insurance contract. Human beings tend to want to "get a deal". The "what they don't know won't hurt them" theory of business does not work with insurance.
One of the basic and mandatory tenets of insurance is "utmost good faith", both by the buyer and the seller. When one of them breaks that rule, the process deteriorates. I am not suggesting for one moment that you are guilty of violating the "utmost good faith" rule, but I am willing to suggest that a good number of unsatisfied claimants are.
Since I am very proud of the Insurance Industry and the good value that it provides to both Canadian individuals and the Canadian economy, I am going on record to state that Insurance Companies are not bad...They are good! They save thousands of Canadians from bankruptcy every year and keep hundreds of companies who would die without claims settlements on their losses from going bankrupt. Hence, they keep roofs over the heads of individuals and they keep others gainfully employed by allowing companies to stay in business after their businesses burn down, blow up, or get washed away in floods.
Think what would happen if lets say, an auto manufacturing plant in Ontario blew up , or a sawmill in BC burned down...Where would the employees go to work if there was no insurance? Remember the Exon Valdeez oil spill. Who paid for the clean up?... An insurance company. Remember all of the hurricanes all over the world? Who pays for the damage?... Insurance companies do! Hospitals all over the world are full of people injured in traffic accidents with an insurance company standing solidly behind them paying the bills. Billions of dollars are paid out by insurance companies every year for events that would have disastrous results for victims without the benefit of insurance. The rotten sods. How dare they do these good things without getting any good publicity for them?!!
Getting back to your specific problem, I suggest that something went awry. However, we have only heard one side of the story. If in fact everything you say is absolute fact, you need a good lawyer. An insurance policy is after all, a contract. If the contract is broken, the issue can be resolved in a court of law. If a judge or a jury of your peers feels that you are right and the insurance company is wrong, then you win. There should be no problem, based on your statements.
You might want to have a chat with your broker about his involvement as well. If one of my client's claims starts to go bad, I take over from the adjuster and get the thing settled. I get paid by my clients to provide a good product and I expect that client to get good value. If he /she doesn't (get good value) I become quite annoyed and pull out all of the stops. That is the mark of a professional broker and one who has earned his commission.
Please don't misconstrue my comments. If in fact your side of the story is the only correct side, then you deserve satisfaction. My point is simply that Insurance Companies are generally solid, upstanding businesses who deserve a good deal of respect and gratitude.
David Romfort, Insurance Broker
not for publication
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Brefni's Response
Thanks for your input. This site will have a diminished value if it becomes simply a complaints forum. Input from people who are delighted with their insurance claims experience would be most welcome and I would be happy to deal with as much input as I can within my limited resources.
It would be far more preferable to deal with an insurance company, broker, adjuster, contractor, etc. that will provide satisfaction. No one needs added problems when they are faced with disaster of any kind.
As a general observation input from brokers seems to be that there is a high level of satisfaction among consumers, yet the input from consumers is that they are not satisfied with their claims experience.
Information on this site linked to individual insurance companies and service companies shows a wide range of satisfaction. Some companies are highly regarded and others have a very high level of consumer dissatisfaction. Consumer feedback would indicate that there is a difference between companies, that there are companies that are likely to deal fairly and others that are not. Again thanks for taking the time to add your input to the site.
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