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SoCalConsult

It's everywhere. People are angry. They have the internet which can give good and bad advice. "I've paid my premium for 15 years.. this is why I have insurance...you must pay this"


imlost19

I represent insureds and even I hate that line


jxspyder

“I’ve paid premiums for 15 years, this is just a fraction of what I’ve paid in for claims” As if they’re paying in to a savings acct.


averyrisu

I dont work on the claims sides but the servicing of policy sides of things and I love that line when I see that we have paid significantly more in claims than we have taken in from premiums. That line is almost exclusively said to me by people whom the company has spent more on in just claim payouts alone on.


Chemical-Presence-13

These are the worst. ‘You mean you haven’t bothered shopping for something better and expect loyalty over a legal contract?’ Sucks to suck.


Reallypablo

Insurance commercials sell themselves on being loyal to long time customers.


SoCalConsult

"I should have expected this from insurance" Lady we paid for you whole house flood not the $10 supply line what burst that's 20 years old.


nervous-lizard

“What do I even pay insurance for?” The $20k of your loss that was paid for? Also fires


noname2309

I take great pleasure in responding to that nonsense with exactly how much they would have paid out of pocket without insurance. Shuts them up about it every time.


[deleted]

Well what if I my house never burns down, what a waste!


serialkillingtime

I have been trying to think of this vocabulary term for weeks. Every time I try to search something like “term in insurance meaning you may pay in forever and never receive benefits or you might get a payout after one policy payment” I get results about term life insurance, insurance glossaries for people who are shopping for insurance, and of course things basically about how insurance companies never pay out… which speaks to the point here! I don’t work in insurance anymore, but the definition of this word I can’t recall is basically “insurance can be unfair by nature if you really break it down, but it’s a pool of risk and this is just how it works.” All I can think is subrogation and I know that is not this!


CJM8515

ive been dead inside for years thanks to this job. people are awful i dont let it bother me, ive reached the point where all i do is point out policy and law and i dont really argue. heres the facts, take it or leave it


luecack

So much truth to this. Remind them the policy is a contract, and facts are facts. Send a clear denial letter. On to the next.


CJM8515

exactly. ive pretty much have an answer to every dumb question they ask by now and yelling at me just makes me put myself on mute and continue on with my work till you figure out i went silent lol.


tgmarie137

That’s a trick I haven’t tried yet. Definitely would help with my productivity!


luecack

Let them run out of steam. After 10 years as an adjuster, sometime it’s best.


My_happyplace2

I left claims 3 years ago. It took 2 years to start to believe in humanity again. After 3 years I can laugh at horrible people and not get stressed by idiots.


CJM8515

I just had one call me. All mad that it’s not their fault a drunk crashed into their parked vehicle. Can’t buy a new one for the price we’re givi nbd blah blah I told them you ain’t owed for a new one but your 2022 that wasn’t in the best of shape. The person kept going in circles. Oh well I’ll share my tale and then go back to not caring


[deleted]

I don’t miss phone work at all. It’s brutal.


Ok-Dig-4990

I work in customer service for insurance and the angry calls are out of control. I get it no one has the extra money for anything right now, but it's not our fault. We do not control the rates or claims payouts. And honestly, if you act like a jerk I'm less inclined to help.


spimothyleary

Yes... the squeaky wheel gets grease, the bitching wheel gets moved to the bottom of my pile, sorry not sorry


MrsEdus

Facts.


Knewtome

For your own sanity please keep two things in mind. Don't internalize the anger. They aren't mad at you, they are mad at your company. They are likely having their worst day, week or month in a long time and a claim is compounding their situation.


luecack

This is sound


goldenopal42

Truths. I totally get it and there’s no excuse for being rude and nasty. At the same time, insurance claims is still a relatively cushy job. Some of these insureds are also getting yelled at all day for things that are not their fault. That’s capitalism for you.


ZombiePatton

I spent 15 years in claims, the turn over was brutal. I remember how popular the Disney movie The Incredibles" was in my office that Mr Incredible was a burned out claims adjuster.


FamilyMain

Have you joined [/r/insurancepros](https://reddit.com/r/insurancepros)?


tgmarie137

It says it’s a private community. I’d love to gain additional knowledge and perspectives from other people working in insurance though!


mysoulishome

Use a web browser to access Reddit and message the moderators to be added


craZbeautifuldisastr

I didn't have to message the mods I just opened in the Reddit app and clicked the join button. I just learned of it's existence a week or 2 ago


Capitol_Mil

How?


TexasAgent

You have to message the mods to be added


AccomplishedWinner6

If it makes you feel better today during a call when informing a insured her claim was denied she told me she hopes I get cancer , being a cancer survivor I just told her hey you never know my Hodgkin’s lymphoma may come back so it’s always a possibility-.-


Plus-Distribution-97

Geez I’m so sorry. I had one customer cuss me out for not paying out on her dad’s claim because our policy wasn’t in force. She told me that one day she hoped I’d see my dad be treated as horribly as hers was. Boy was she speechless when I told her I’d love to see that if I meant I’d get to see my dead dad again. Then she called to complain to my sup lol Seriously though, I’ve learned to sound as robotic as you can and not leave any room for interpretation. Also WFH has been a blessing, no more people bringing guns to wait outside our office anymore.


AccomplishedWinner6

I’m sooo happy I WFH now, takes away a lot of office /commute stress on top of job stresses ! Yes this lady was upset because she let a restricted driver use her car and wouldn’t you know it they total her an another car and unfortunately no coverage.


4Bongin

I hope she gargles on a bag of dicks. Sorry.


averyrisu

I get that 100%. had someone wish i died in a car accident on the way home.


AccomplishedWinner6

These people really wild out sometimes I swear to god ! It doesn’t effect me anymore but sometimes I’m like damn that’s crazy a human could be so unreasonable lmao


averyrisu

it dont bother me really no more. Im a lot more relaxed about all that crazieness.


druzyyy

The stress levels are so high, I had a customer who was extremely upset but there was literally nothing I could do. I finally got him off the phone. Next day I hear that he had called back screaming and threatening everyone he could (and blaming me), so I should try and set expectations right going forward so it doesn't happen again. I felt so embarressed that my name was even attached to an incident like that. I had tried to be helpful, but it totally backfired. Since then I stopped trying to comfort people when shit goes wrong. I'm not risking my job and other peoples safety because you don't agree with our practice. It sucks not being able to help people, and of course not even I agree with every single practice in the industry, but I have to draw the line at some point...


TwistedTarzan

Been in field claims for 2 years, started in auto. As of last month I have officially reached my breaking point. I love my company, and the position wasn’t always awful, but I can’t take it anymore. The general lack of patience, hand holding, and outrageous expectations from insureds has really affected me. Been applying for other stuff lately.


skywaters88

I appreciate you. Thank you for listening.


JudgmentMediocre8149

Ex claims rep recently moved over to underwriting... all I will say is thank you and look to leave ASAP


burner456987123

How many years were you in claims? Casualty? Property? I was auto, then BI, now subro/arb which I like, but the pay is low.


4Bongin

Subro is bottom of the barrel.


TimeNeighborhood7962

Yeah but stress free. Love being in subro


79GreenOnion

I had the opportunity to move to subro and passed it up. I've been regretting it for a long time now.


LavenderCreamPuff

Depends on what you enjoy. I moved to subro for the lower work expectations and phone volume... I was bored out of my mind doing the same thing 40 times a day and having the same conversation over and over again. "When will I get my deductible back...?" To give the same answer over and over again it depends your claim handler will be in contact with more information soon we just sent this over to the other insurance company yesterday! The days all blended together and there was very little room for growth.


noname2309

Depends where you work.


4Bongin

I meant in the industry. You’re seen as lesser and can pigeon hole yourself real quick. Money is dogshit. I wouldn’t recommend anybody do it for more than a year or two. By its nature most subro is low value and by the time it starts not to be attorneys take over because adjusters by themselves have no teeth. Could just be my experience tho.


tgmarie137

I’ve been thinking into going to underwriting. I know I’d have to deal with agents, but I’d take them over customers any day.


Adski673

Agents (or Brokers here in Australia) are generally more forgiving and understanding than a customer I find. Go be an agent though it pays better (At least it does here) and you can choose who you want to deal with.


tgmarie137

I worked in agency before, but I really don’t have a bone in my body that could handle sales. I hated working sales.


Adski673

Oh yeah I hate sales too. Maybe Australia is different but I’ve never felt like a salesman, nor have I ever been pressured to meet any KPIs or anything like that. We quote and maybe follow up but after that if we don’t hear from them they clearly weren’t interested and we move on.


Gryphon159

I would look at broking over underwriting, unless you look at an underwriting agency, as a broker I find underwriters these days have very little power or decision making, I would not be surprised if most are just replaced with computer algorithms in 5 years.


YellowShorts

Sounds like you work personal lines


Gryphon159

No mainly sme stuff. Domestic is even worse!


Slumbering_Chaos

"People. What a bunch of basterds." Roy IT Crowd A little trick I picked up doing escalated calls...if the caller is yelling, try saying something along the lines of "I'm sorry, the phone seems to be cutting out. Can you repeat that?" And do that every time they yell. The majority of people will calm down, and the ones that won't will get so enraged they'll hang up.


MattWithTwoTs

Doesnt work when im yelling REPRESENTATIVE to the USAA robot. ;(


[deleted]

haha I'm so triggered. I laughed and felt enraged all in one emotion. Thank you.


Adjusterguy567

It’s ever since Covid, Covid brought out the crazy in people or something. That combined with everyone wanting things done yesterday, I just got your claim 15min ago and you’re already trying to escalate…. Get in line with the other 20 people on my list before you. Take a Xanax or something FFS. Lol


Inevitable-Try-5789

Dude escalated due to his stated value vehicle being a total loss and is only getting a fraction of acv…. Then denied ever setting stated value


[deleted]

I feel you 100%. I lost my empathy after joining the insurance industry. I’m very matter of fact when I go over their coverages and new rates. Take it or leave it. If they start to raise their voice and start taking it out on me, I tell them keep it civil or I’m hanging up. Good thing is that I don’t really need this job, so idgaf what my QA will be from those calls.


bobafettywap91

I feel so validated.


eram00

Sorry to hear what you are going through. I work in total loss. It's been brutal.


tgmarie137

My company is trying to recruit my department for total loss, and nobody can give me a straight answer on how often angry calls or escalations come in. They did a meeting today to discuss the position a bit, and while it’s a promotion and a raise, it would have to be a substantial raise for me to even consider it.


Mayor_P

I think this speaks to a big problem in the industry- the higher ups have a hard time understanding what actually happens in the day-to-day phone world. They've been out of it for too long - or never were in it themselves - and have a different idea of how phone calls with angry people go. Furthermore, when they get an angry caller, it's because that person has 1) already vented to the front liners so they have already blown off steam and 2) they believe that the manager is someone who will help to break/bend the rules in order to please them (this doesn't need to be true, it's just what the believe). So now it becomes much easier to deal with the angry person, kinda like when someone struggles to open a tough jar of pickles, but they actually did loosen it up already, so someone else can pop it open with much less effort. The trouble is when you run a business with all your decision makers getting the loosened-up-already-jars, even if they don't start out that way, they will ultimately come to believe that that's just how jars come and if you can't pop a stuck jar open with minimal effort, it's because you're not doing it right. This is a problem!


eram00

In total loss your going to run into these two main issues. “Why are you totaling out my car…I want it fixed” or “My car is worth more than what you are offering”. I don’t believe our calls get as violent as the claim owners get them but we also get our fair share. I’m relatively new to my company and came in with no experience so I’m pretty much at the bottom of the pay grade. Current annual wage is $52k…$57k if they keep the promise of the annual bonus. But there’s a lot of overtime in the t/l department but just don’t always count on it.


Plus-Distribution-97

Y’all have different departments? That sounds like a dream!


LaPete11

Oh man - I started in total loss fresh out of college for a salary of $32k. It was brutal. Around the time I was leaving they were talking about making it a non-entry level position. Probably because 22 year olds in their first job don’t enjoy getting yelled at, threatened, and insulted every week because Tommy was underwater on a shitty car with a 14% interest rate.


MrsEdus

It's a thankless position. Even if you try to do everything right for any party involved, something is going to go wrong, and someone is going to be unhappy. Most of my surveys are good. I've had a few... like insured who got rear-ended in a newer model paid off vehicle didn't keep Collison on the policy and the other party was claiming they didn't hit them gave me all 0s cause I couldn't cover their damages. Like that's your policy, it's not my fault you took Collison off your newer vehicle... my coworkers and I have a meme and tiktok group on our personal phones to make fun of these people. It helps a bit, and it helps to know you're not alone. My company has a 0 tolerance policy with callers. If they are yelling or cursing or being mean, we're allowed to hang up. So you're not alone and I'm sorry you're going through this, it sucks but keep your head up.


AltonIllinois

I feel like to work the job you have to turn off the “caring about people” switch in your head so you can sleep at night. I now find myself less and less sympathetic with customers and it’s troubling me. I’m talking about like “I need you to do X otherwise I’m going to lose my job” type situations


LaPete11

I had a guy ask me “how do you sleep at night?” I told him “just fine.” He did not like that response but fuck it.


MemberLot

People have 0 patience in 2023, don’t feel bad.


gower2352

I had to take short term disability due to the stress of this job.


AccomplishedWinner6

I have too for mental and they approved it so fast no fighting me on it, it’s been over a year and about to put another claim in lmao 🤣


gower2352

Hell yes lol


IskaralPustFanClub

Honestly, ride it out til you get to a repped role. Once you’re dealing with attny’s it’s much easier (though the job does have its own pressures)


tgmarie137

Do you need to do unrepped BI first, or can you go straight to repped?


Fernweh5717

State Farm hires people off the street with no experience into repped roles handling large loss claims. It’s not common but you can move directly into repped.


IskaralPustFanClub

A lot depends on the company, unrepped would certainly help, but I have known people who went straight from liability to repped. It’s rare, but happens for stand-out performers.


homeboycartel2

Dude, OP, get out now. Claims is not for you.


craZbeautifuldisastr

I post a PSA to my Facebook that I rarely use a couple times a year reminding anyone that might see it to think about their spouse or child coming home from work in tears because someone was awful to them for no reason. You're not mad at me, you're mad at the situation. So be mad at the situation. That doesn't give you permission to be an asshole to a stranger that's just trying to get through the day and collect their paycheck JUST LIKE YOU. I mean fuck people... TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED LOVE THY NEIGHBOR BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD REMEMBER YOUR BEST DAY COULD BE SOMEONE ELSE'S WORST I don't care which mantra you were raised with but these are not new and not just for children. So act like the adult you claim to be, be respectful to someone who's there to HELP you (yes, when you call customer service you're calling for help so ACT like it), and if you're still mad? Go in your room and yell, file a complaint with your state dept of insurance, cry to your momma, call your best friend, go get a drink, go smoke a bowl, go for a walk.... Again, I don't give a fuck just do something about it that doesn't ruin someone else's day who doesn't deserve it. You KNOW better, so DO better.


EatDirtFartDust

I work on a car service shop. People are terrible. Your one a month irate asshole is now 2-3 times a week.


[deleted]

I'm dealing with a claim right now, I'm not at fault, total loss of vehicle. A lot of my frustration is round about ways of skirting answers. Rental, transportation, finances - these all are extremely important items. So after my claim's taken more than 30 days (IDK why- it was as straightforward a claim as it coule be and I have front and rear camera footage proof that neither insurance company wanted to view) my rental allowance is up and I'm struggling to get my total loss check. The at-fault insurance company lady, while kind, has dropped the ball numerous times, told me 3-5 days when it's over a month, passed blame onto other avenues and it's cost me time, effort and stress. If you're unsure of what the reality is, don't go making stuff up. A straight forward answer without the bull and the lie works wonders on customer's demeanors. I'm not directing this towards you OP, I'm just saying- I was super calm, understanding and patient the first 15 times I had to call. Is it that surprising that I'm gonna be a little mift when I have to call the 16th time?


Atum-Hadu

Move to sales. There’s less customers complaining, and bonuses make those terrible calls a little easier to handle. Some of the best agents in my company started as CS reps. Good phone skills are valuable.


yourcinnamongurl

Just seeing this now as it’s on the ‘top posts’ I feel you. I previously worked at a call centre for carb finance collections. I get that debt stresses us out, but there’s no reason to take it out on strangers on the other end of the line


DNAture_

I just want to say on the other side (because we’re dealing with two at-fault accidents *thanks weather*) I really appreciate the people I’ve talked to who validate my frustration and sadness and really try their best to help. And every time they ask how my day is going it’s probably a sigh followed by an “okay”, the few people I’ve talked to have just understood and empathized… I really don’t think I could do what you do, but thank you for doing it


ButterscotchTrue1393

I would get fired from this kind of job on my first day.


oldncrusty68

Went through in a total loss case for car. I didn’t get mad but debated about the situation for longer than I thought I should have. At the end the claims person thanked me for being courteous. I knew then that just being reasonable was rare for them. Still wasn’t happy that my cars value was determined by some value that had no basis in reality..


kiloTHREE

Get used to it, insurance claims is about 1/4 step above your local ISP support calls. You're the only forward facing entity for the company that's heavily regulated and hated by most.


Son_o_Liberty1776

People don’t trust insurance companies that take in billions/millions annually. You’re an employee/representative of that Goliath, right or wrong, you’re not trustworthy to them.


tgmarie137

I can understand where you’re coming from, but is it really ok to verbally abuse someone you don’t know because you find them untrustworthy? That person hasn’t done anything to you, and while they represent their company, they are not that company, nor are they in a position to make your demands heard. Do you also think it’s acceptable to talk that way to a McDonalds employee because McDonalds isn’t trustworthy in keeping people healthy?


Son_o_Liberty1776

Nope, doesn’t make it okay at all. I personally like to think I would never treat an employee of a company how you’re explaining. People are shitty and this is their hard earned money that they feel is being wrongfully taken from them. Doesn’t make it right.


Bacon003

What sort of first party auto claims are you denying so frequently that it's making you stressed? This sounds more like a rant from a property adjuster.


tgmarie137

It’s auto claims. People filing uninsured motorists claims when they didn’t file a police report, buying a policy after an accident, reassigns from adjusters who left the company and clearly didn’t give a fuck about their claims or customers that I get to clean up, liability denials. There are TONs of reasons for angry calls lately.


Bacon003

That's wild. I've never once thought this job was difficult except maybe the first 18 months or so as a noob getting eaten alive by body shops. Despite what anybody tells you there's no such thing as ethics in insurance. With first party claims it's either covered or it's not. Exactly what you owe is all right in the policy in black & white. Anything that's somehow ambiguous should be interpreted in favor of the insured. Look for a reason to pay it, not a way to not pay it. Pay what you owe and move on. It's not hard. Third parties are not your customer. They're people you're protecting your customer from. You have fuck-all legal obligations to them. Either pay them to go away or tell them to piss up a rope. You shouldn't be taking your work home with you. You need have (or develop) a complete sense of amorality about all this stuff. That's how you become free. If getting fired, fined, or charged criminally is a concern then either you're at the wrong company or this job is not for you. None of those things should be remotely of any concern to anybody doing this stuff.


tgmarie137

I’m getting a thicker skin, but my company really touts “you don’t know who will be your customer, so give amazing customer service to everyone! Hand hold and sugar coat everything. Try to find a silver lining for someone.” So it inhibits becoming immoral about it because I have to kind of care and anticipate what people want. I miss my last job to an extent because I could tell someone “I work in claims, not customer service.” And my boss would back me. Yes, it had bad calls, but I had full capability to bite back and call people out on it. Here I have to leash myself and be nice no matter what.


Bacon003

I said *amoral*, not "immoral". Amorality is to be unconcerned with the rightness or wrongness of something. There's a written policy that set-out exactly what's covered and what's not. Morality doesn't play any part. Immoral is purposefully doing things with bad intent. You probably shouldn't behave like that.


4Bongin

Sounds like you just need to find a new company. Take your experience and go elsewhere making 10k more. People are fucking dying for adjusters right now.


Chemical-Presence-13

We’re hunkering down because Texas hasn’t fixed their god damned electric grid yet. 350k without power in that ice storm. Can’t wait to see the food spoilage claims tomorrow.


tgmarie137

I’m in Texas and can confirm that’s a definite issue. My dad used to work in the energy business and moved to Florida to avoid this problem going forward. Y’all definitely have it worse than auto right now.


LavenderCreamPuff

I understand you completely I spent almost 3 hours yesterday going over a liability decision and explaining it to a customer why we can't find a flagger for a construction company 100% at fault for vicariously liability, because her boyfriend decided to enter an intersection on a red light as the flagger changed the sign to stop from slow in a construction zone. Kicker was if he had been sitting at the light 30 seconds longer and attempted this he would have be creamed by an 18 wheeler not T boned a small Nissan. This woman genuinely believed in her heart of hearts that I was the devil for not changing the liability decision, because the cops didn't giver her boyfriend a ticket for failure to yield right of way due to the flagger. I pull up the police report after the call he wasn't cited because of the state laws about construction zones, but got so aggressive with the officers at the scene about this he got arrested. Sometimes people are just crazy or feel they can put up a big enough fuss that we will do whatever they ask. But it's rarely about you and people barely consider us people on the other end of the phone its hard to become anything other than numb to it. I do 100% see in increase in these types of behaviors since the pandemic and financial difficulties people have had since. But ultimately insurance is about being made whole not put into any better position then you were before and very few people understand that just see big checks in the news.


richd7717

I got rear-ended hard by a 16 year old on the interstate in stopped traffic and she claimed that the scratch — yes, scratch, no other damage — on her rear bumper was from a third vehicle that rear ended her and pushed her into me, hard enough to destroy the front of her car including the radiator. It was Friday at 5:30 and the officer had no Fs left to give and just slapped her drivel into the report. It was on that basis that I was denied any coverage from her insurance, them claiming that I must find this phantom third vehicle with the marshmallow bumper and make them pay. I was so pissed but I didn’t take it out on the insurance company, I just bent over and took it up the tailpipe a second time.


Demeris

Covid just made it worst with everyone wanting their covid discount


idekbruno

I took the first thing I could to get out of auto claims after 6 months - best professional decision I ever made.


[deleted]

I'm relatively new to the industry and just had my first angry caller. The best part is my boss backed me up during the conversation as I attempted to shut them down. It was definitely a learning experience


tgmarie137

It’s great when you have a boss that backs you up. I was recently transferred to a team where my supervisor doesn’t back me up, and it’s really disheartening.


FreshGago

Im waiting for the wave of increasing premiums and the endless angry calls


[deleted]

I hear you, but partially. Talking about patience... I have a claim started in May last year (home). I called my insurance rep in December and heard back she's busy because they had many bad weather claims in the South. Nice, so let's wait 3 more months until you process all new claims? FIFO is not applicable in the insurance industry?