Business, for about the past 12 months, has just sucked donkey balls. Part of it is that the weather has been exceptionally mild, other than hot Summer temperatures. Part of it is the economy. We're doing enough business every month to keep afloat, but right now, the insurance adjusters we work with have been absolutely horrific about cutting checks.
If there is one thing I could advise a person shopping for insurance for their home or auto, it would be that the cheapest policy is probably the cheapest for a reason. You want to save money, but the reason you have insurance is so it'll be there when / if you need it.
There's a vast difference between insurance companies on how they handle claims. So, what does that mean for a policy holder? It means that your insurance company may demand that whoever repairs your car or home does a crappy job just to save the insurance company money. It may even mean that they'll decline your claim, altogether.
Now, demanding substandard repairs is illegal, but frankly, it happens every day. I work on houses and I have an uncle who owns a body shop and works on cars. In both cases, on a regular basis, adjusters will demand discounts, will instruct us not to perform complete repairs, etc. Yes, it's against the law: the law requires that the adjusters pay reasonable and customary rates for necessary repairs.
They get away with it because scrupulous businesspeople like my uncle and me will not do a substandard job just because an insurance company demands it. We do the full job. Trouble is, we only get paid for the crappy job the adjuster was demanding.
So, if you're lucky, you hired somebody like us who will do quality work for the cost of a slipshod repair. If you're unlucky, the company or shop you hire will do only what they're being paid to do and you'll have problems with your house or car.
For whatever reason, the difference in adjusters is astounding. Some companies are great about paying claims. They still look the bill over and will ask for adjustments (hence the name "adjusters"). But for the most part, they settle the claim quickly and fairly.
However, a lot of insurance companies don't. They're just flat out bullies, criminals and I encourage people to file complaints with your state's insurance commissioner when they start pulling their crap.
We have a lot of adjusters who, 30 or 60 days after they have been given all necessary information, still aren't cutting their checks. Their usual excuse is that they're too busy.
That works for everybody, right? You just chose not to pay your bills when you're busy. Or if you're behind in your job, you just start missing deadlines left and right because you're busy?
In any event, it's causing problems. Lots of problems. If they don't start paying their bills soon, I honestly don't know what I can do other than shut my doors. We have more outstanding A/R than we ever have in the history of my business, including times when we invoiced twice as much overall volume.
Part of this is that when insurance companies' investments don't do so well, they start paying a lot slower and slash their payouts as much as possible. Again, technically illegal. Not all companies do it. Just like individual citizens, you have some who are highly ethical. You have some who do what they have to do to meet their legal obligations. Then, you've got a lot of them that will break the law as much as possible and screw people over as much as they can if they can get away with it.
So, again, as a consumer, I'd advise that you shop carefully for policies and find the companies that have the best track record of paying out quickly and fairly on claims. Otherwise, you might save a couple hundred bucks a year, but when something bad happens to you, your car won't get fixed (or it'll get fixed badly), or your house will be hosed while some adjuster wakes up every day trying to decide whether you can force them to obey the law or not.
Again, it's not all insurance companies. There are insurance companies out there who are a dream to deal with. They're the ones I have my policies with. Also, one of them is one of the lowest cost in the industry. The other is on the pricier side, but I've dealt with their adjusters and they're the ones I want to deal with if the fit hits the shan.
Honestly, I can't think of much else these days. Like a lot of small business owners these days, just staying in business has been a trick. I still farging hate that we bailed out the bankers who ruined us, and that all they did was use the money to cushion their nests, leaving the rest of us to rot. I hate our pansy president who came in on a platform of hope and change and who turned out to be another "save the rich" jerkoff who isn't interested in anybody who doesn't work on wall street or belong to a union. I also honestly wish they'd start revoking insurance licenses for insurers who are not living up to their obligations to their policyholders.
I'll feel better if this A/R ever comes in. God only knows when that'll happen. Profitable businesses go out of business every day due to cash flow issues. Thanks to lazy, dishonest and unscrupulous insurance adjusters, I don't ever get to have a good night's sleep.
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