The entire insurance industry is based on the simple premise that there are any number of ways to rob somebody without sticking a gun in their face. Over centuries of thievery, insurance people have mastered every one of them. To call insurance companies shysters is an insult to shysters everywhere. Here are a few things everyone should know about insurance.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I’ve had insurance in one form or another for most of my life, so I am well-versed in the wiles of these swindlers.
Insurance Agents — These are magical people who are literally everywhere when they’re trying to sell you insurance but suddenly vanish off the face of the earth after you buy it.
The Policy — This a mind-baffling 60 page document written by a cabal of blood-sucking lawyers. (No, not all lawyers are bloodsuckers, but the 99% who are give the others a bad name.) Its express purpose is to legally deny everything the salespeople (agent) ever said to you — including “Good morning.”
Deductible — This is a sneaky way of saying “We’re always going to keep some of the money we owe you, because — uh — we can.” Nobody has ever given me a satisfactory reason why the “deductible” even exists. What is its actual purpose? Or how do I, the customer, benefit from having a “deductible?” Want some serious John Oliver grins? Phone up your insurance company and ask them to explain the “deductible” to you.
Claim Form — This a mind-baffling 60 page questionnaire written by a cabal of blood-sucking lawyers. (No, not all lawyers are bloodsuckers but the 99% who are give the others a bad name.) Its express purpose is a) to prove you’re a lying, cheating criminal or b) to frustrate you to the point of gut-splattering suicide.
The Payout — Should catastrophe actually befall you, get ready for a trial by fire. This ordeal will include (but will not be limited to) a mountain of paperwork, months of argument, 19 emails, 27 telephone calls, 8 hours on hold, a letter to your political representative, a formal complaint to the Board of Trade, and thousands of dollars to your own blood-sucking lawyer. Then, at the precise moment you’re seriously contemplating homicide, suicide — or both — the insurance company will offer you a minuscule amount of money (minus the “deductible”) for your trouble. This will be an insulting fraction of what they promised you when you bought the damn policy, but a word of advice. Take it — or they’ll start the whole process all over again.
So what’s it all about:
What is Insurance? — Insurance is a bet you make with a nameless, faceless, soulless corporation that something terrible is going to happen to you. Every month, you ante up a sum of money (called the premium.) This “premium” is held by the insurance company, and if you happen to avoid disaster for 30 days, you lose the bet and the nameless, faceless, soulless corporation gets to keep your money. This little exercise is repeated — month after month, year after year — until you either go broke, get sick, die or your house burns down. Thus, weird as it sounds, every month that life is good, you lose the bet and lose your money. But if your life does go to hell and you finally win the bet — you still lose!
DISCLAIMER: This is satire, and I am sure that there are plenty of insurance companies out there who are honest and trustworthy — but like unicorns, leprechauns and howling banshees, I’ve never seen one.
WD Fyfe 
You forget The Aftermath. If you should successfully get to the payoff stage, they raise your premium to make up for the portion of your money they gave back to you.
Exactly — they are a cunning lot!
🤣 Oh, my…
My mother used to work for an insurance company (retired now).
She would agree with you on all points. Actually, she’d say you were rather nice about it.
Here’s her advice: Find yourself that one in 1000 agent who’ll strike a balance between your needs and her/his income. It’s harder than finding the perfect spouse, but in the long term infinitely more satisfying.
Then stick with them. Even if a year or two down the road someone offers you a better deal. Companies are more inclined to cough up money for faithful long term customers than people who switch every time someone else is 5 bucks cheaper.
Try to consolidate. The more policies you have with one company, the more likely it is they’ll want to hold on to you. It’s also a good tool to negotiate some rebates.
Doesn’t always work. But I doubt I’d have gotten that “Goodwill” $700 from my liability insurance when kiddo damaged the neighbor’s car if I hadn’t pointed out I’ve been with them for 10 years and never asked a dime. Because strictly speaking, that particular incident wasn’t covered. Took only 5 phone calls and 8 emails, too.
5 phone calls!!!! Lucky puppy!
It helps having a mom who’ll tell you exactly what to say. 😁
They can smell their own, even if it’s just offspring being coached.
Insurance is a bad word – until you need it – then it’s a stressful word, with a string of adjectives of various colours attached to it.
Looking forward to your next blogpost about unicorns, leprechauns and howling banshees ….
Kind regards,
At the Teyler Museum in Haarlem, Noord Holland they can tell you more about unicorns, leprechauns and howling banshees ……
Interesting commentary, and I read the satire line at the end however being one of those agents you can trust I have to comment. I’m willing to bet 99% of america couldn’t afford to replace their home in the event of a total loss or any loss over the deductible for that matter, or their car, or provide for their family on their savings alone in the event of an untimely death, dismemberment, disability, etc. Insurance companies are the only ones that do that. Ok, you pay a little more premium if you use it (auto only in my state). Take a look at the average roof claim (we have tons of wind/hail losses in my area)….$10k+, with premiums in my area averaging $650 a year. In most cases we will never make back up the money spent on fixing your roof because you will change companies or file another claim before we ever make up from the first one (I have stats for this). I hate to hear people having such negative experiences, guess I’m the unicorn but I can promise you we are out there.
Another frustrating thing about insurance is that you are more likely to be sued if you have it. If you don’t have insurance, and only modest personal assets, the lawyers will leave you alone.