COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

As the debacle of Chuck Quackenbush comes to its eventual conclusion,

I am unpleasantly reminded of my own experiences with the Insurance

industry.

Earlier this year, my wife settled a claim with an insurance company

for injuries and vehicle damage as the result of a traffic accident (The

fault lay with the other driver, who had turned left in front of her

while she was proceeding through an intersection with a green light.) It

took two years before the other driver’s insurance company agreed to

mediation, during which time she was subjected to numerous doctor visits,

chiropractic appointments, physical therapy, a knee operation, meetings

with lawyers, and depositions -- all the while suffering physical

discomfort and losing time from her job. Her car, which she had owned for

one month at the time of the accident, was a total loss.

What we learned from enduring this whole episode is that, in general,

insurance companies simply consider it part of everyday business to force

accident victims into litigation, or at best, to delay payment of

legitimate claims as long as possible. While awaiting a possible trial,

the company representing the other driver (a commercial operator) hired a

doctor to “examine” my wife and came up with a report indicating her

injuries were “preexisting.” They also promised to hire “experts” who

would testify at trial about her driving habits and her state of mind

while driving, trying to somehow poke holes in her story and mitigate the

fault of the other driver in the eyes of a jury by suggesting she may

have been speeding or not paying attention. None of these assertions

would have been any where near the truth, of course.

Unfortunately, this kind of intimidation is standard procedure. We

were constantly reacting in exasperation and outrage to the ongoing

behavior of the other insurance company. This is the very type of

activity that Quackenbush and his department were supposed to remedy, but

instead, the mercenary attitude and actions of the Insurance Industry as

a whole seem to be flourishing unabated. Despite the millions they spend

on feel good advertising, they are still try to get out of delivering

service as often as possible, and this goes for medical insurance

companies as well.

How long would anyone tolerate going to a restaurant where, after

paying for a hamburger, they were told their order might be ready in a

couple weeks, if at all? And all the while complaining about how many

hamburgers they have to make. Well, that’s exactly the kind of service

these companies are trying to foist on us.

Will there ever be anyone in a position of authority to see that

Insurance companies do what they are supposed to do, and in a reasonable

amount of time? For the sake of civilized society, and those who go

through the pain of a debilitating accident and its aftermath, I would

hope so.

BOB LOZA

Burbank