Noting that a National Women’s Law Center poll shows women are more concerned than men about economic security, MarketWatch columnist Darrell Delamaide recently wondered if Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ eight years as an aggressively pro-consumer Kansas insurance commissioner “could tip the scale in her favor” in the Democratic veepstakes. “After all, insurance is all about financial security. During her tenure as insurance commissioner, Sebelius often stood up to the insurance industry, as when she blocked Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas from merging with an Indiana company, arguing that it would raise health-insurance premiums in Kansas.”
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Back during Sebelius’s tenure as Kansas Insurance Commissioner, my car was damaged on the “Texas U-Turn” by a driver going the wrong way. Dumb. Although the driver said they had insurance, their insurance company then canceled AFTER THE ACCIDENT because of to many accidents.
I wrote a lot of letters to Insurance Commissioner Sebelius protesting and asking for help dealing with their insurance company.
Sebelius response? Forwarded my letters to the insurance company timidly asking them to do what they could for me.
NEEDLESS TO SAY THIS APPROACH RESULTED IN NO HELP. SO YOU JUDGE HER EFFECTIVENESS AS KANSAS INSURANCE COMMISSIONER.
Of course more women are concerned about economic security, because we make less to be secure about.
Money is always an issue for women and hard working lower middle class families and the poor. Since women make up the bulk of that segment. “women’s work” should be valued as much as men’s. But in our culture it isn’t.
Kathleen Sebelius was a DISASTER as Insurance Commissioner.
Sebelius increased mandates, which increased the premium prices.
Sebelius slowed premium increase approvals to a crawl, making it impossible for companies to predict cash flows.
Under Sebelius, we had more health insurance companies LEAVE the state of Kansas than under any other Insurance Commissioner in history.
Sebelius is an idiot on insurance matters.
She made things much, much worse in the state of Kansas.
The job of the “Insurance Commissioner” is to make sure that companies doing business in Kansas do not go broke.
The job of the Insurance Commissioner is to make sure that agents are properly licensed and trained.
For Sebelius, the job was little more than a “stepping stone” to run for Governor. She could create a disaster that only insurance pros would understand, and then move on, as some kind of “consumer hero” — She was a mess.
I thought Franklin was a Charlie Brown Character , oh no he’s a RNC hitman with a Rush the Drug Lush mansized Poster over his bed !!!!!!!!!!
Franklin, I think your keyboard may be broken, or maybe your computer needs repair. There, in your last post — three sentences in a row without the “return” key between each. I think the “problem” began during that post. You were going along like always with one sentence, one return, and then BAM, it broke! Good luck with the repair.
As can be seen from the comments of JWink and Paul it is clear that a Comm must tread a very fine line. Do too much to ‘hold the comnanies’ feet to the fire’ and be acused of driving them off. Do too little and be accused of being in their pocket.
Interesting to see the difference between the views of a citizen/consumer (JW) and a representative of the industry (Franklin)
Sorry to hear that JWink, about your run in with another Insurance company.
However, that’s what they make attorneys for. That is, it sounds to me that the insurance company not paying you because they canceled the reckless driver’s insurance is not a legal move.
The insurance company at the time of the accident was precedent to their canceling their clients claim, therefore would be liable imo.
Perhaps one of the attorneys will chime in.
I agree regular. IF the cancellation was AFTER the accident then a Brad Pistotnic (sp?) could have a field day with them. Maybe even some punitives for bad faith?
A lot of people like to trash trial lawyers but who else is going to step in in such cases?
I had an accident a few years ago with a guy doing almost the same thing to me, a Texas U-turn. I was traveling down a city street at 30 mph and this guy did a u-turn in front of me at like 50 miles an hour and lost control.
It turned out the guy was an illegal alien and lied to the police when he told them he had insurance. This happened in Texas a few years ago and of course my insurance had to pay. My car was totaled from the accident.
Another ‘trick’ I have seen is a deadbeat will get one of those ‘monthly-pay’ policies to get his tags and then just quit paying. Bingo – cancelled. And then after he causes an accident it is left to the law-abiding citizen to pay.
I just renewed our car tags last Friday. It had been years since I actually went to the tag office but a new to us car obtained after the notice for renewal was printed made the trip necessary. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. ALL the information — including insurance info — was available to the clerk on her computer. Do you suppose the days of people paying insurance just long enough to get the tag might be coming to an end?
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lindainks55
Posted August 18, 2008 at 9:37 am | Permalink
I just renewed our car tags last Friday. It had been years since I actually went to the tag office but a new to us car obtained after the notice for renewal was printed made the trip necessary. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. ALL the information — including insurance info — was available to the clerk on her computer. Do you suppose the days of people paying insurance just long enough to get the tag might be coming to an end?
——————————
You don’t even have to go to the tag office. I file my electronically. The first year they ask you for a color copy of your insurance card, but after that they take your word and verify with cross checks.
I even pay my car insurance via electronic transfer from my bank.
Minimal muss and fuss.
BTW, I get my new decal about 2-3 days after filing electronically. painless
Been filing electronically for several years, Regular. That’s why this was my first trip to the actual tag office in several years.
The notice mailed to me included a car we traded in and transferred the tag from (actually Carmax did that transfer) so when I tried to use the pin number for the old vehicle to renew the new one I was given a message I would need to appear in person to renew. The clerk at the tag office told me the state prints the renewal notices about two months in advance so if you’re within that window and trade cars you’ll need to go to the tag office to renew. BUT, it was easy!
“Do you suppose the days of people paying insurance just long enough to get the tag might be coming to an end?”
It should be but I doubt it. Once the kid got his stickers he just ignored it all.
“Financial security” means different things to men and women. To men, ‘financial security’ means having a warm, dry place to sleep. To women, it means having drapes that coordinate nicely with the duve’. To men, it means having food to eat. To women it means having place settings and china patterns that compliment each other so the hot dogs and beans taste better. The world would be a much simpler and happier place if men ran it.
However, letters is much more than that. Response are huge and spotless, and there are more than you could possibly visit. There are too many response to list.
Insurance isnt nothing but a racket anyways, they make profits buy taking your money and finding excuses not to pay you whne you need it. When the Mob makes people pay “protection” they go to jail.
Tom
Insurance works when you recognize that there are catastrophic risks that would be relatively rare, for an individual, but predictable for the population at large.
Insurance is a “transfer of risk”.
When I client tells me that they are “not getting their money’s worth” out of an insurance policy, I can tell them:
YOU DON’T WANT TO GET YOUR MONEY’S WORTH OUT OF AN INSURANCE POLICY, IF YOU DO THAT MEANS SOMETHING REALLY BAD HAPPENED!
If your house had not burned down, if you have not had a horrible accident, if you have not died and you have not had a huge medical expense, then quit complaining!
Those who have had those problems would love to trade places with you.
Yeah ask someone who had hail one month and needed to replace a roof, and then had a tornado hit a month later….when their insurance policy got cancelled because of the back to back big punches.
Was it their fault that they had two big disasters that took their roof? Nope- but it didn’t matter to the insurance company I worked for. I personally mailed the letter.