Sell your soul for Insurance

Julia

Recently my partner and I had our car stolen from our garage, whilst we were peacefully sleeping upstairs. It was horrible, I had to get to work and there I was walking around the garage musing to my partner, “I swear I left it here, maybe it’s on the road… No? Ok, maybe I left it at the train station… But I don’t catch the train.”
But this is not really about the car; it’s about the fact that we now had to talk to our insurance company.

Everybody hates insurance, me especially.

But my hatred is much more of a problem for me. Because, you see, I work for an insurance company. I know them inside out and back to front, I know that they really are, and I am confirming it for you now, blood-sucking, soul-stealing money rapists. I am not going to dish any specific dirt, nor am I going to name the multi-national, billion dollar company that I work for, but I am going to vent right now about how much I hate insurance.

It all began in December of 2006 when I was a fresh-faced young uni student looking for a part-time job that would pay me well. A friend of mine had recently got a job in insurance and was constantly gushing about how fun it was and how great the pay was - so I had a look into it. I got online and did a “Career” search, because Its not just I job – it’s a lifestyle! at this company, and up jumps this perfect, friendly little banner, “You are a valuable asset to our company!” (flattery goes far). Upon clicking on it a smiling employee beams from his perch upon the job offer which exclaims, “Insurance consultant and specialist wanted for policy administration, debtor support and advisory work. Must be out-going, confident and positive.”

Now, if you knew me you would agree, this did not sound like my type of thing. But, what the hell, the pay rate was listed at considerably more than anywhere else could offer me and I only had to work 30 hours a week on top of my uni schedule. Easy!

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

By the time our car was stolen I had been working for this company for over a year, I had sold my soul to this devil, and I knew that, now, I would have to deal with the evil minions that I work with. For, yes, I had mixed my personal life and work life together and insured with this company (I did get a 25% discount).

I called to lodge my claim after the police officer left and from the first, despite being staff I was treated rudely and constantly hit up for more money. When our car was recovered later that day (in Pinkenba of all places!) it was towed, at our expense, to the assessment centre.

From there it was observed by us, the car was well and truly destroyed, and taken on to an auto-mechanics at Brighton somewhere. We wanted it written off (really you should have seen it, it barely looked like a car anymore) but the company and the money-grubbing assessor we had thought otherwise. They said our car was only worth $8000 - we have a limited edition Holden Monaro, don’t ask me which one that’s my man’s domain - but apparently it is worth considerably more than that and Redbook confirmed this.

It went backwards and forwards for weeks, would they repair it? will we settle?, on and on until he finally said that he wouldn’t pay us what we asked so he would fix it. Then more drama began. Apparently the 32 nails which had been driven into the tyres were all our fault, and must have been there before the car was stolen. The cigarette burns in the interior of the car were ours too, despite the fact that neither of us smoke. And the CD player, DVD player, power converter and Playstation II, which had been painstakingly and expensively installed into the dash of the car, we were lying about; those gaping holes in the dash full of severed wires must have always been there.

Four months on we have still not got the car back, nor have we been paid any compensation for the items that were stolen… But we have paid our excess.

For someone who tries to sell car insurance everyday and assures people that “we have a speedy and reliable claims service” this is not settling well. I am disillusioned with my job and I me disillusioned with my employer as an insurer. In fact, I am taking an extended lunch break right now and will work overtime tonight to make it up, even though Thursday is meant to be my day off.

In short, they have screwed us over repeatedly, me who knows all their secrets and could make a great interviewee on Today Tonight or A Current Affair.

I hate insurance.