OMG..Somone''s real life insurance nightmare!

[DMBsGirl]

I have been lurking on a local bride forum to get ideas for my (hopefully) soon to be wedding. I came across this post. I couldn't believe what I was reading! Has anyone heard about anything like this happening to someone???

Ok, long story short, I lost my engagement ring. So I did what any girl would do - I called the insurance company. What they have put me through in the last few months is unforgivable & I just want to give you girls a heads up in case you ever (GOD FORBID) lose your ring.

First off, we are not dealing with some tiny shop, this is Met Life. Keep in mind, THEY INSURED THE RING and I paid my insurance on it. Ok so here are some of the documents they demanded to see:
- My tax returns for the last 4 years
- My bank statements for the past 12 months
- permission to pull my credit
- the appraisal
- police report
- canceled checks/credit card statements showing the purchase of the ring
- original sales receipt for the ring
- proof of the source of funds used to buy the ring
- pictures of me wearing the ring
- a list of people at my bridal shower with their names & numbers
- a copy of DH's bank statements for the past 12 months
- My phone records for the past 6 months
- the names, address and phone numbers of just about everyone I know (my friends, parents & co-workers)
- the proofs from my wedding & my photographer's phone number
- a receipt for the cost of the wedding & proof of who paid for it & where the funds came from
- the HUD statement from the sale of my condo
- a list of any debts I have over $250
- a list of all people who have been in my house in the past year

I GAVE THEM ALL OF THAT and more.

Then they sent a "Special Investigator" to my home to "help me look for the ring." That meant having some guy come to my house, insult me & HOVER over me as I went through all my drawers & showed him the ring was not there. This includes my underwear drawer. I'm not kidding. He also interrogated me for 1 hour & tape recorded it.

ok so then they said they needed me to give another statement "under oath." We now hire a lawyer. I went & gave my f*cking statement yesterday & they asked me sh!t like "do you & your husband sleep in the same bed?" Um, WHAT does that have to do with my ring????? And how is that your business?

They have now completely humiliated me. They have called my family, friends & my work asking people if I am in financial trouble.

Now mind you, DH does very well. He is President of his own company & I work in Private Equity. We do not live in a bad neighborhood and we show no signs of difficulty with our finances. We are not billionaires but we live a very comfortable life. It is NOT A CRIME for me to have had a nice ring. But they are making me out to be a thief and a fraud to the point I have cried several times. I don't know if they think I sold it or if it didn't exist but they are being SO MEAN to me. I actually had to SAY to the "Special Investigator" (aka retired cop with an attitude problem) "can you please stop staring at me like that. You are trying to intimidate me & its uncalled for." He was LEERING at me during the questioning. My lawyer also had to tell them to stop trying to bully me.

We have now been RAKED over the coals to the point that I just want to quit this fight, which is probably what they are hoping for. They obviously do not want to pay the claim. I would give ANYTHING to have that ring back. It meant the world to me!!!!

So just a heads up - if you EVER lose your ring, call a lawyer RIGHT AWAY. Do not even bother with the insurance company because they just want to F*CK YOU. Meanwhile, I'll be over here crying my eyes out.

(Apologies to anyone nice who works in insurance)

SO IMPORTANT I almost forgot to add that the insurance company also did something SO SLEEZY - they called DH's sister (who we don't get along with....) She told them she doesn't talk to us anymore& they said "if you help us prove fraud, we'll give you & your family free car insurance." She told MIL, who told us. HOW F*CKING DISGUSTING IS THAT?????

Ok, so for future reference, what insurance companies do others on here recommend and have worked with? Thanks!

 

[stebbo]

I''m lost for words...

 

[DMBsGirl]

Forgot to mention...her ring is 3+ carats, don't knnow if this has anything to do with the insurance company going bonkers.

 

[Ellen]

This can''t be for real.

 

[stebbo]

Insurance company recommendations? Your own insurance company.

I'm no financial adviser, but maybe that allows me to think with common sense.

It's no secret that insurance companies collect far more than they pay out, so simple logic says you will be far behind in the course of your lifetime.

So for anything that the debt or loss won't cripple you, forget it--invest those saved premiums in your own insurance account. The account builds up, suddenly you find you cover bigger liabilities and can burn more insurance policies.

Disclaimer: Personal opinion only. Please pay to be brainwashed by your financial adviser for independent advice.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 8/25/2007 11:31:45 AM
Author: Ellen
This can''t be for real.

I agree..

 

[pyle112]

where is this post from?

 

[K9]

I have heard a similar (but not quite this overkill) story from a friend, which is why I switched to Chubb! I''ve heard only really good things about Chubb so I can only hope if, GOD forbid, I lose my e-ring, that they would be a bit more sympathetic.

This is so insane it doesn''t even sound true!

 

[Jenn5504]

Good greif, I hope that story is not true. That is rediculious. My engagement ring stone chipped and State Farm didn''t bat an eye, gave me choices of turning over the ring and getting a check, offered to remove just the stone and give me the value of that, they let me decide and were very nice about it. I didn''t have to show them one scrap of paper. Maybe it helps that our agent is a family friend, but I had to go through a different division for what was a "larger" jewlery claim, and we have our jewelry on a personal articles policy. Either way, it was as simple as can be and within a couple of days I had the check in my hands..........

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 8/25/2007 1:11:45 PM
Author: Jenn5504
Good greif, I hope that story is not true. That is rediculious. My engagement ring stone chipped and State Farm didn''t bat an eye, gave me choices of turning over the ring and getting a check, offered to remove just the stone and give me the value of that, they let me decide and were very nice about it. I didn''t have to show them one scrap of paper. Maybe it helps that our agent is a family friend, but I had to go through a different division for what was a ''larger'' jewlery claim, and we have our jewelry on a personal articles policy. Either way, it was as simple as can be and within a couple of days I had the check in my hands..........

Ditto. I first found PS because I lost my diamond ring about a year ago, and was working with State Farm about how to replace it. I got a check from them for over $18,000 without any of the hassles described in the original post. I later found my ring, and returned the check to State Farm.

During the process of working with my insurance company and with my jewelers, I did find out that not everyone does return the money when they find their ring. This is probably what led to the hassles described in the original post. Insurance works best when everyone is honest, and there should be a presumption of honesty. Simply making a claim should not lead to an assumption by the company that the claim is dishonest.

 

[denverappraiser]

What’s going on is that they’ve triggered a fraud alert for some reason. I wouldn’t venture to guess why they were singled out for this treatment but this is not the standard claims handling procedure for MetLife or ANY insurance company, if for no better reason than it’s too expensive and it’s bad for their reputation. Hiring legal assistance was a good idea. If this story is accurate, by interviewing her and her husband’s coworkers about their private business they have surely breeched their own privacy policy and are treading dangerously close to a defamation of character lawsuit in addition to whatever obligation they may have regarding the insurance contract. I'ld be willing to bet dollars to donuts that there's more to this story than is evident from the above.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 8/25/2007 2:37:44 PM
Author: denverappraiser
What’s going on is that they’ve triggered a fraud alert for some reason. I wouldn’t venture to guess why they were singled out for this treatment but this is not the standard claims handling procedure for MetLife or ANY insurance company, if for no better reason than it’s too expensive and it’s bad for their reputation. Hiring legal assistance was a good idea. If this story is accurate, by interviewing her and her husband’s coworkers about their private business they have surely breeched their own privacy policy and are treading dangerously close to a defamation of character lawsuit in addition to whatever obligation they may have regarding the insurance contract. I''ld be willing to bet dollars to donuts that there''s more to this story than is evident from the above.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

That''s what I''m thinking also.
Best bet is a lawyer and let him/her deal with it.
There is a bunch of stuff in the story that is actionable.
Btw the insurance company has no right for someone to come into your house, nor do you have to give them any of that paperwork.
You don''t have too agree too it.
They want too play hardball let them do so with your lawyer.

 

[DMBsGirl]

This post was from a forum called liweddings.com (long island weddings). The woman who posted explained that when she went to the insurance company''s lawyer''s office she passed rooms full of people giving recorded statements. Her lawyer, who said he has seen this happen before, explained that there are law firms that exclusively work with insurance companies for this reason. here is the link to her post with some added details

http://www.liweddings.com/chat/topic-435784-1.html

 

[shminbabe]

This is frightening. I just paid over $600 for my first year''s premimum for one ring with Jeweler''s Mutual...I would hope to God that if I ever needed to make a claim they would do so without a fight. I think $600 is a LOT for one ring and if they put me through even half of what these people have been through (could it really be true??) I ''d be outraged.

Has anyone made a claim through Jeweler''s Mutual? Mine is supposedly insured to cover anything. I asked specifically, "If I leave it accidentally on the sink in the ladies'' room at Nordstrom, it''s covered? If I grind it up in the gabage disposal, it''s covered?" I was assured, it''s covered.

Is it??

jeannie

 

[Pandora II]

Wow, that sounds terrible.

My mother had an antique gold necklace my father had bought her years earlier stolen when she was on holiday. They had it on the house insurance so no separate appraisal and no receipts.

The insurance company sent her to their named jewellers to get a replacement. The guy there was wonderful, looked at the photos and said there was no way they could replace the item as they only sold new jewellery and this was victorian and 15kt. He advised the company to give her a cheque for the value. His valuation came in at over 10 times what my father had paid!

We had a great time buying lots of beautiful old pieces - my mother''s still sad about the necklace though.

I can''t believe how awful it must be to have lost something so sentimentally precious and then be put through all that though!

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 8/26/2007 2:59:13 AM
Author: shminbabe
This is frightening. I just paid over $600 for my first year''s premimum for one ring with Jeweler''s Mutual...I would hope to God that if I ever needed to make a claim they would do so without a fight. I think $600 is a LOT for one ring and if they put me through even half of what these people have been through (could it really be true??) I ''d be outraged.


Has anyone made a claim through Jeweler''s Mutual? Mine is supposedly insured to cover anything. I asked specifically, ''If I leave it accidentally on the sink in the ladies'' room at Nordstrom, it''s covered? If I grind it up in the gabage disposal, it''s covered?'' I was assured, it''s covered.


Is it??


jeannie

I have done several replacements for Jeweler''s Mutual, State Farm, Farm Bureau and even one for JSAA who usually does their own, but it was a Richard Homer stone that they could not source for themselves.

I have never heard of such treatment, but as Neil said, for some reason these folks have tripped a fraud alert. So long as you have not set of a fraud alert you can expect to be treated in a much more courteous and normal manner!

I once notified an insurance company that I felt something was hinky with a claim I was working on. The adjuster notified me that there was, the insured had filed the same claim with several companies and would be getting their next few checks from the penal system... (This was many years ago, just after the computerized claim cross checking software went into affect.)

Wink

 

[Stone Hunter]

As others have said... IF the story is true there must be more to the story. Maybe someone with a grudge called up the insurance company and told them some lies?! Still a terrible thing. But fraud is out there.

ETA: We should now all go have our photos taken with our rings on!!