“Act of God” How Far Can Insurance Companies Take This?
Last Fall, I visited a local Home Depot, I will admit it was a very windy day, when my incident occured. I had been in the Barboursville store for nearly an hour looking for the various things I needed, well when I go outside, a cart (standard plastic cart–they are used in grociery stores as well) was directly against my truck’s taillight.
My first reaction was “!@#$ what were they thinking”, then I remember the wind, it would have been a great day to fly a kite. Anyway, cart had actually broken my tallight. I was pissed, scratches are tolerable (and it is a truck) but I have to get this fixed to pass WV’s annual inspection.
I proceed to go back in the store to ask for a manager, I thought it may at least save me from buying a new taillight. I had to wait on the manager for about 20min. and I didn’t even get to speak to a manager, it was an assistant manager. He took my information, gave me a copy (pretty standard) back, so then I waited for their insurance company to call me.
I got the all about two days after the incident, which was a fairly good response time, and the lady asked how it had happed. “Did an employee ram the cart into your truck?” was one question, when I said, no the wind probably blew it, she said “Oh!, well that is “An Act Of God then”. Most likely it will be denied, but we can try.
My question is, if you are a Christian, in most denominatins anyway, don’t you believe that everything is “Ant cat of God”? You got a raise today…because God planned it, Your garage door falls on you vehicle…because God planned it. You drop your coffe in your lap while driving, spilll it and rear-end someone. An Insurance provider will most likely pay for the previou claim.
How far could they take the “Act of God” cop-out? Sorry the deer you hit is considered an Act of God. How is that much different than fixing a car that hs been hit by a deer. The way “I think” Home/Car Insurance should work…You pay for Insurance so when it breaks why ask the client so many questions?
Using some rough estimates:
- During my life I have payed out nearly $30,000 in car insurance (12 years)
- and roughly $2000 (in 3yrs)
I think I have “payed” enough to hopefully secure a new vehicle out of a total loss.
I like how home insurance policies are extremely conditional, “your house flooded, do you have flood insurance, no, well I am sorry”.
I need to tangent back on track here, the idea I wanted to get across is the fact that Insurance companies could start over using the excuse.
This is funny and extreme but it will make you think about how ridiculous this could be: A Family member dies and instead of giving you the life insurance, they tell you, “I am sory sir, family-member-x died as an “Act of God”.
Just something to think about.
August 26, 2006 at 8:24 pm
The way “I think” Home/Car Insurance should work…You pay for Insurance so when it breaks why ask the client so many questions?
You can get “Acts of God” covered by your insurance, but, of course, that raises the premium. Check your declarations. Same thing with flood insurance.
Insurance companies will separate certain charges based on the likelihood of the occurrence and the estimated likely loss. It’s all probability theory — an entire industry built on our ignorance of the future.
August 27, 2006 at 1:05 am
Yes, I know that it is all based on statistics and probability, the point I am trying to make is that you pay enough, as it is.
J-Lo insured her body for x-amount of millions lol, you can insure anything for a price.
What really sparked my interest is that my neighbor just had her basement flooded,and I live on a steep hill, ie in a place you would never expect to see a house flood.
Out of the x-amount of years I have been driving a cart has only damaged a vehicle of mine once, if I had purchased the extra insurance, the cost vs. the probability would be signifigantly out of proportion.
I think these are just the things that make one think “Damn, why do I pay for insurance”. I think that for the most part any kind of ins. is to protect the lean holder and or medical bills from an injury.
August 27, 2006 at 1:07 am
What inspired me to write this article is that I have to pay to have my talil light fixed now when i get my truck inspected. Grrrr.
August 28, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Yep, same goes for health insurance. Last year I paid $100/mo for health insurance, or $1200 over the entire year. I could have used that money to go on vacation or buy myself a night of champaign and hookers at the Radisson. However, even in retrospect, it was still the right thing to do because that’s the price we pay for our ignorance.
Of course, it needs to be tempered. I chose one of the cheapest insurance plans I could get, because I’m young and in relatively good health, the the chance that I would need medical attention was low.
June 24, 2007 at 7:58 pm
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