Posted On: August 17, 2006, 5:54 pm CDT

Posted By: Jacqueline

Thank you, Jim. The other agents here in my area have had the same experiences that you have had, too.

So, unlike what Sassy claims in her insulting post, there are plenty of "professional" agents who obviously DO know how to sell policies but the bottom line is that people are just too damn cheap.

If the government wouldn't force their hand, they wouldn't buy auto insurance either. In the era of ridiculous lawsuits, people always look for a way to strike gold by finding a lawyer willing to take their case and sue for astronomical amounts of money. Just look at the McDonald's coffee incident. Ridiculous!


With the non-profits that I referenced who pay for the auto insurance of welfare mothers to help them as they transition from welfare to work:

If one of those women gets in an accident caused by an uninsured/under-insured motorist and they or their kids are in the car and get hurt and without the UM/UIM they end up stuck with exorbitant medical bills, guess who those welfare moms are going to go after once a lawyer gets a hold of them! And they will say in court (looking as pitiful as they possibly can), "I didn't know....my agent didn't offer me that UM/UIM...." even if that's a total lie because the lawyer will tell them it's their word against the agent's word, regardless of what forms were signed. The judge and jury will probably side with the poor welfare mom over you as the agent because as the "licensed professional", they will say you should have known better than to allow the victim to be inadequately covered. You the insurance professional has the knowledge and expertise that the public customer does not. It will not matter that they chose NOT TO spend their own money for the appropriate coverage because that wasn't going to be paid for by the government (i.e. the working taxpayers). Like I said before, these are the same people who always find the money to buy their kids' expensive X-Boxes and Play Stations and $180 sneakers but can't find $2.83/mo for UM/UIM coverage.

If Sassy thinks I am being racist, too bad. I am not going to risk my license and livelihood and all I have worked to build thus far over inefficient welfare program guidelines and cheapskate customers who have several hundred dollars for satellite dish TV, X-Boxes and Play Stations but refuse to pay what amounts to less than $3/mo for UM/UIM at state minimum levels. Those welfare caseworkers will still receive their comfy salaries and bennies in their welfare department jobs whether that welfare mom with a bare-bones policy ends up devastated because of not having the appropriate coverage and whether or not the professional insurance agent working for an honest living gets the shaft for writing such a policy.

I myself am disabled. I am also a minority ( so much for the "racist accusation). This is not a racist issue - it's a common sense issue and a defensive business practice issue. I KNOW the value of UM/UIM. I wasn't one of the lucky ones that had a good job when I was 24 where health insurance was offered. I couldn't afford it on my own back then when I was 24 and just starting out when an uninsured judgment-proof driver hit me and left me with permanent disabilities, taking me out of the workforce for over a decade. So UM/UIM was definitely worth every penny to me!

If a customer has health insurance that will cover them, fine. I request a copy of their health policy so I can make the appropriate documentation in addition to a plain language Rejection Of Coverage acknowledged and signed by the customer so that NO ONE can come back and sue me which would put me, a disabled middle-aged woman, out of business and unable to earn an honest living to support myself. I simply refuse to take that kind of foolish risk because I know I could never recoup after losing everything - and I am not counting on winning the Powerball Jackpot.