Last night we were robbed. It’s horrible. It sucks. I hope it never happens to any of you, but unfortunately it might; and so you probably have renters or home owners insurance. How good is insurance though? Good enough that the first thing you discuss in your blog is how fantastic your insurance company is, before even mentioning something bad happened? Or so bad that the first thing you think to write is “Who is more criminal? Liberty Mutual, or the man that robbed us?”
I just got off the phone with Russell Jackson, who apparently is of the belief that Liberty Mutual is the great light guiding the way of insurance companies everywhere. Russell Jackson is our claims agent at Liberty Mutual. Laura had spoken to Russell shortly before I had for a least 30 minutes discussing the ins and outs of our work lives, the robbery, and items taken from our home. By the end of the conversation we both felt more violated and taken advantage of than we had felt all day. Russell told us that if anything that was taken from our house was used in any part for business use, there is a cap on how much they will cover in cost. Why does it matter what something is used for? The only answer I can come up with: it’s just another way for the insurance company to get around giving out a claim.
Society has come to understand that insurance is a way of life. And with that, we have come to understand that the rules the insurance companies make are the ones we have to live by. We don’t have a say in the rules. The political representatives don’t have our best interests in mind. And this is just the way it is, so deal. Last night we were robbed. The past week or so it has been above 90 degrees. So last night at an attempt to keep cool, we decided to sleep out back in our tent. As we slept not 20 feet away from our back door, someone entered our home and stole two laptops, a camera, two bags and a purse — plus various other things. All of which had considerable personal value to them. We’ve barely slept in the past week and now feel unsafe in our home. The only place we really had to turn to bring our lives back to normal was our insurance. And in the off chance that you really need your insurance to come through, do they? Absolutely not.
Liberty Mutual has “language” in their policy that states that items used for any business related use have a cap on them for claims. This means that because both Laura and I use our personal laptops for work related things — on any level, we are unable to receive the full amount allotted for the items stolen. Regardless of if a business owns the computers or not, we are unable to receive our full claim. Could someone please, in non Sarah Palin logic, explain to me how this makes any sense at all? Why does it matter what I use anything for!? The only logical explanation I can come up with is that it’s a loophole so that the insurance company doesn’t have to hold true to the claim. That is the only thing that makes sense to me and it makes me feel far more taken advantage of than someone stealing from me. At least I wasn’t paying the thief to watch my stuff. I’m also guessing that the robber was stealing for survival and necessity; whereas the insurance company is refusing our full claim due to greed and laziness. Laziness because they are unable to properly run a business that doesn’t require them to screw people over by default.
So, long story short, I feel more wronged by our insurance company than that man that robbed us. It’s probably due to the fact that I’ve had a day to reflect on the robbery and have had the ability to have (part of) my peace with the silhouette of a person that robbed us. But I highly doubt I will gain any peace with our insurance company. We’ll just have to forget about them. I can tell you this, I will never trust Liberty Mutual if things continue as they are. They have behaved exactly as an insurance company is expected.
Do not blame Liberty Mutual specifically. The language on what is covered and in what manner is same on all unendorsed Homeowner’s policies.
Why do you say you wont trust Liberty Mutual? In what manner have they gone back on their word?
JUst checked my policy. It says, “Any stolen items which support livelihood, or from which you derive a sense of joy, or any items which are deemed to be interesting, useful or of a value greater than that which is considered reasonable to us for any reason will be refunded at 3.6% of their monetary value on e-bay, minus any shipping and handling costs.”
bastards.
Tim,
You are entirely correct that Liberty Mutual’s policy is very clear, and that they have NOT gone back on their word.
The problem isn’t that their word isn’t any good. The problem is their words. I understand that our policy specifically covers items based on their “use” when it comes to business related items. I also understand that this is fairly standard among insurance agencies. However, that does not mean those standards hold any degree of integrity. The language is specifically there for the insurance companies to have a back door to slip out. It creates ambiguity in the contract that the insurance company uses to its advantage. And the fact that they all use the same language provides a hidden monopoly of corporate power where the consumers have no voice and no power. Yes, I am glad we had any level of insurance rather than simply being robbed. Does that mean I’m happy with the system that exists? Absolutely not.
So please, forgive me for saying that I will never trust Liberty Mutual. I completely trust that Liberty Mutual will use every loophole and vague aspect of their contract to its own advantage. I trust Liberty Mutual to stand by its “standard” contract. I should never have said I will never trust Liberty Mutual. Instead, I should have simply said that Liberty Mutual lacks integrity.
For those of you who couldn’t guess, Tim Watterson works for Liberty Mutual.
Seems a little odd that shortly after making our insurance claim someone from Liberty Mutual, who I have never heard of or talked to before, is commenting on my website.
You do have to appreciate that he left his real name, although he did use a personal email for the comment when it’s pretty safe to say he was visiting the site for “business use”.