It’s Time For Change
Yesterday I got more bad news from the insurance company. My jewelry is not covered, thereby resulting in a $10,000 loss once you tally up everything that bastard took. But the thing that gets me is this; everything else is “replacement value,” meaning I have to BUY it all again and eventually be reimbursed. Once you figure out the combined cost of my camera equipment, my laptop, my iPod, and other miscellaneous items, we’re talking another $15,000.
I’m supposed to buy $15,000 worth of stuff out of pocket, THEN the insurance company will send me a check.
Now I ask you, WHY THE HELL DO I PAY INSURANCE? Add to the fact that I’ve been unemployed for a while, and it’s highly unlikely that I’ve got $15K lying around burning a hole in my pocket.
My sister-in-law made a comment about a black cloud floating around over my head…. I think she may be right. The obstacles keep stacking up, but I refuse to let them beat me down. After all, stuff is replaceable. The relationships I have with the people who have stepped in to help me are not… and I will always remember the kindness of everyone who has done so much to keep my spirits up in yet another hard time.
But I hope the insurance people get herpes. Or at least a nasty head cold. Or plantars warts. Something.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Your insurance company will pay you the “cash” value of your lost items now and advance you the replacement value after you replace them and supply the documented costs (receipts) to them. Not great but not apocalypse….
February 1st, 2009 at 2:39 pm
The comment above is pretty much on the mark. However, as an insurance professional, I encourage you to drop by your agent’s office and have him/her go over your policy with you line-by-line then get the adjuster to explain why something is not covered and where it shows that in your policy. You have already paid for this “service” with your premium.
Going forward, if you have any significant jewelry like the wedding ring, it needs to be appraised and scheduled on a separate policy rider or endorsement.
If I can help. I will. You have my email.
February 4th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
You know I usually just lurk around your blog without commenting, although i’ve been here since your daughter was a newborn. At any rate, I can’t pass up a chance to bash on insurance with you. If it wasn’t required by my mortgage company, i swear I’d never own flood insurance again. I’d be better off with the premiums I’ve paid over the years in a savings account somewhere. At least then I’d have something to show for them! Best of luck with it and I’m so sorry about the break in.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I just found you via plurkthemes! We were burgled a couple years ago – got a check for the depreciated value of our stuff, then super-fast reimbursement for the things we replaced. I was a notes freak about everything we replaced and put all the receipts into pdf’s and our agent loved us for it. We put everything on our AmEx so we could pay it off and get the cash back later… I’m sorry this happened to you, it sucks so much and our experience with the police was not positive AT ALL. I hope you can move forward quickly and get things back to somewhat-normal as soon as you can!