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I left a good job with an insurance company, not in protest really, but just because I hated the idea of being a part of an industry I despise so much. Unfortun
by Pigo 8y ago
I left a good job with an insurance company, not in protest really, but just because I hated the idea of being a part of an industry I despise so much. Unfortunately my departure didn't shake the foundation of their business, but I'm no longer embarrassed to talk about who I work for.
- Matt3o12_ 8y agoWhy would you not want to take about that? Did the insurance company have a very bad reputation? Because I certainly would not be embarrassed to work for some insurance companies because they can be fair and quite reasonable (while others are not).
- tzakrajs 8y agoAt least in the United States, it's a trope that insurance salespeople and civil litigation lawyers are scumbags. I think it's completely bullshit, we need these industries.
- jakear 8y agoI once agreed. But three months ago I broke my leg in a skiing accident and my insurance (fuck you, Cigna) has refused to cover it because I didn't get "prior approval" for my emergency room visit. Thats right, I was supposed to call my fucking insurance company while lying in agony with a broken leg on top of a mountain waiting to be med-evac'd. On top of that, they've refused to cover my physical therapy, sending me a letter saying that it is their belief that I have full mobility and will not need further therapy sessions covered... while I was on crutches, in a boot. Probably a week or two after I got out of a wheelchair. Fuck you Cigna. Fuck Cigna.
- tzakrajs 8y agoOh wow! Fuck Cigna is right.
- emodendroket 8y agoI think you could probably turn up similar stories about most insurers.
- tzakrajs 8y agoIs it bad that I have this cognitive dissonance of being fine with hating specific insurance companies but not the concept of insurance more generally?
- jakear 8y agoInsurance as a concept is great. “Pay a little every month so that you won’t have to pay a lot when something unexpected happens”. The problem is when they ignore that and expect you to pay a lot when the unexpected does happen, as they look for any loophole available through which to get out of their obligation.
- emodendroket 8y agoThere's that, and also the question of whether private insurance is the right model for healthcare.
- sjg007 8y agoBe sure to appeal. Also file a complaint with the state insurance commissioner. Any ER is covered.
- jakear 8y agoYes thankfully is a lawyer with some experience with this sort of thing. I’m just a college student trying to get through the semester. Edit: typo. “My mother is...”
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- philipodonnell 8y ago> At least in the United States, it's a trope that insurance salespeople and civil litigation lawyers are scumbags. I think it's completely bullshit, we need these industries. We can both need industries while calling out that salespeople in that industry can be unscrupulous. Try asking an auto agent to justify why you need $100K/$300K and collision coverage on a $5K car and listen to the endless emotional stories about people being ruined and kids killed because their auto coverage was depleted after an accident. Him: "Think about how hard it would hurt to have to pay $30K out of pocket!!!" Me: "Honestly that would suck, but the chances of it happening are pretty small, it wouldn't ruin me, and its not worth what you are trying to charge." Him: "Well what about $300K! Don't you want to be fully protected?" Me: "What about $1M?! I can name numbers too!" OK, maybe not that last line, but, using fear to sell someone more coverage than they objectively need is a scumbag move.
- Pigo 8y agoIt's the protection plans from Walmart, the coverages when you buy a car, the countless times big purchases become gigantic impulse buys because you're made to feel you can't afford not to roll the dice. It's not all insurance, but this concept of insurance pervades so much of the economic world. It just sickens me.
- walshemj 8y agoWell the insurance industry doesn't have the best record in some areas. eg screwing over long term customers relaying on inertia to massively hijack up cover costs. Let alone the whole with profits funds sector of the industry.
- dx034 8y agoWhy is it embarrassing to work for an insurance? Most insurances exist for a reason and are vital for most people/businesses. It's often said that insurances can be boring to work for but never heard that the sector has a terrible reputation.
- ntsplnkv2 8y agoHealth insurance doesn't have a terrible reputation in the US?
- dx034 8y agoMost health insurance companies do but not all. And of Non-life insurance companies (property, car) there's generally not such a bad perception. But I'm not based in the US so can't say. At least in Europe, most people are not the biggest fan of insurances but they recognise the need for them.
- scruple 8y agoAllstate and State Farm famously skipped insurance payouts for victims of Hurricane Katrina. More recently, victims of the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, CA are locked in a legal battle with their property insurers. I agree with you that you _must_ have it, regardless of personal feelings or perception, but it's very far from perfect and probably very far from most measures of "good," too.
- dx034 8y agoMaybe it's because I'm based in Europe. It doesn't appear to be the same to me here. Insurances obviously also try to prevent paying out but that's mostly in unclear cases or where there was some fault. All cases I know from friends & family were paid rather quickly..
- sjg007 8y agoI think because in many cases they deny legit benefits on technicalities or by process or negligent actions.
- easytiger 8y agoWithout insurance, much of all business and life cannot be risk managed and is not viable in any way. Pretty silly POV
- murph-almighty 8y agoI don't disagree with you- insurance does perform an essential function in risk management. However, this doesn't mean that individual actors in this space have always performed in the "best" way. Not to mention the nature of insurance in general is adversarial against the customer- if you pay out on too many policies you're underwater.
- xienze 8y ago>Not to mention the nature of insurance in general is adversarial against the customer- if you pay out on too many policies you're underwater. Like any business, “dollars in” has to be greater than “dollars out” in the long term. This seems to be a controversial train of thought when it comes to insurance for some reason.
- murph-almighty 8y agoIt's problematic when you have companies deny claims that shouldn't be denied, or otherwise trying to disincentivize using their services. For example, from a pure dollar-in-dollar-out perspective it's in the best interest of my insurance provider for me to not visit my doctor, because it costs them money out of the payments I make them. If they create a small network of doctors who take their policy in my area, it makes it even harder for me to use their services- maybe the doctor is inordinately far from me, or constantly overbooked, or never in the office (what I'm dealing with right now). The harder you make it to access a service that your customers are paying for, the more money you make.
- goobynight 8y agoI wouldn't say that is overly adversarial. Insurance fraud is a career for some. I suppose if I worked in insurance I'd want to work for the gold standard that pays out and does a good job, while aggressively sniffing out fraud.
- frockington 8y agoDo insurance companies have a bad reputation in other regions? I personally love my insurance company and wouldn't be embarrassed to work there at all
- emodendroket 8y agoI figure he probably was referring to private health insurance.
- FuckOffNeemo 8y agoDuring the Queensland floods in Australia a suite of insurance companies didn't pay out thousands of their customers because they deemed the flood to have been an 'inland tsunami' and not to be confused with a 'flood'. Which no joke, was in the fine print as an exception. This is a 'flood' that caused billions worth of damage that displaced millions out of homes and covered an area that would have covered the majority of Europe under metres of 'flood' waters. It went to court and State and Federal Governments got involved to settle the case. Not sure what happened to it. Nothing further to add here beside to point out. Insurance companies can be fucking awfully deceptive.
- not_real_acct 8y agoI like working in finance. I get the impression that they treat their employees well because nobody wants to work for Evilcorp.