Giving insurance companies an (even worse) name

November 20, 2009 - 10:26 AM by

auto_accidentThis is about as mundane a subject as is out there, but it certainly reflects that the reality of living in Israel has very little to do with the headlines most people read, and more to do with the trials and tribulations we all face no matter where we live.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the hassles of making an insurance claim after being sideswiped in a traffic accident. Well, it all seemingly worked out well, and yesterday – less than two weeks of laying out over $1,000 to fix the car and sending in the claim to the insurance company (Migdal, in case anybody is interested, one of the country’s biggest insurance companies) – I received a check in the mail.

Hurray for a victory over Israeli bureaucracy, right? Not quite. The check was made out for the amount of the claim, minus 10%. An accompanying letter stated that the deduction was due to ‘contributing negligence’ on my part.

WTF? Now, a quick recap. I was driving down a road in Jerusalem in the Romema industrial area. My nemesis wanted to turn right onto my road from a small side street with a stop sign. After stopping and supposedly looking both ways, she turned right and clomped into my right back door as I was driving, minding my own business.

Was this 10% contributing negligence? I think not. Luckily Migdal’s claim manager’s name and number were on the letter, so I called her- and got through to her! I explained to her that I was not even one percent responsible for the accident, and when I asked her to explain her reasoning, she said, “do you even know the traffic rules? Do you know that at any intersection with a stop sign, that the driver with the right of way has a responsibility to slow down?”

I said I was not aware of that rule, and that even the driver of the other car, whom she insures, admitted to being 100% responsible for the accident.

“Well, that’s what I decided. There are some claims I take off 50% for negligence, I only took 10% off of yours,” she said.

“But you weren’t even there. You don’t know what happened,” I answered.

“So what? That’s the way it is.”

I realized that this was a futile conversation and ended it, and also realized it was a pathetic attempt by Migdal to save a few measly hundred shekels by bullying and shortchanging innocent victims of accidents.

So, if you ever get hit by another driver, and think that you’re going to receive complete reimbursement for the damages rendered, you might be better off settling with the driver without involving the cheating, conniving insurance companies.

Tags: , , , • Category: A New Reality, Business, Crime, General, Israeliness, Life 

Comments

3 Comments on Giving insurance companies an (even worse) name

  1. clescercalk on Thu, Nov 26th 2009 3:11 AM

    2. Oh my god loved reading this post. I added your rss to my blogreader.

  2. Mark on Sun, Nov 29th 2009 9:33 AM

    3. I don’t quite understand. Does this mean that if you are 100% “negligent” (i.e. completely at fault), that they don’t cover anything? What if you hit a light pole and incur damage to your car?

  3. David on Sun, Nov 29th 2009 8:49 PM

    4. then you pay a deductible – if you go through your insurance policy.
    but it would be dumb to do that, because then your premium would go up.
    it’s best and cheaper to just to pay for it yourself privately.
    ultimately, through scams and scare tactics, the insurance companies make it impossible for anyone to make full use of their insurance.

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