I wish the article had given us a couple more details…
1. It\’s true there\’s a 30 day grace period. Wonder if it is correct to assume that the \”lapse\” date was actually the ending of the grace period.
2. I don\’t know if Nationwide is a \”write your own\” company. (Maybe some Nationwide agents can respond.) I\’m wondering if the payment was supposed to be taken to the agent, or if the invoice said to mail the payment to a payment address (like a lockbox.)
This is generating a lot of interest – but the \”30-day grace period\” was probably expired since the insureds definitely indicated the policy would lapse on that Sunday. Don\’t forget the federal regulations on rewriting a lapsed policy. There is the mandatory 30-day waiting period.
The big question is why the hell did the insureds wait until the last minute to make the payment? These folks must take responsibility for paying their bills on time! Where is personal responsibility going now? Do you think we should coddle everyone who doesn\’t make payments on time? I don\’t.
I have been in this industry for over 15 years and I tell you, insured\’s don\’t change. They wait until the last minute, they never received their bill, why didn\’t \”you\” the agent call them personally, afterall, they have been with your agency for over 20 years….. Wow! and It\’s never \”their\” fault !?!?
I\’m sure the damage was aweful. But, we now live in a society that is driven by money, no moral or ethical values. Flood policies cancel everyday and are rewritten. But, because of the severity of it the insured saw the opportunity for gain.
Whether the payment was a day over the expiration date or the 30 grace period, if the agent has everything documented and has followed all ethical office procedures, I don\’t think he will really have much to worry about.
I don\’t think the thought process of a typical \”insured\” will ever change. But we as agents have to dot our i\’s, cross our t\’s and highlight important information to not only cover your license you worked so hard for but your livelihood!
I\’ve been in this business for 34 years. My first flood policy was in 1975. I\’ve never seen a renewal flood policy that wasn\’t direct billed by the servicing company. The agent is the last to know that a bill wasn\’t paid. Insured is the first to know.
There is no way to call everyone and ask \”did you send your check yet?\” How annoying would that be if your agent did those kind of calls?
Calling the client after you\’ve received money on a lapsed policy is the minimum action a broker should take to protect himself.
No one is suggesting we coddle insured\’s or alleviate them of their responsibility to make payments in a timely manner. Insurance is a contract of adhesion so the courts are on their side.
Instead of fighting against the tide, protect yourself from it. Don\’t keep money for policies that cannot be reinstated unless you can effect coverage without a lapse.
As someone who was totally destroyed by Katrina, I find my self leaning towards the agents here. Where there may be a problem is in if that agent has routinely in the past accepted payments via the mail slot. It then might be interpreted by the courts as an acceptable method of delivery of payment because of previous practice.
Very Nasty situation
It is typical to jump to determine fault of the agent or for the plaintiffs based on what we read. When it comes to court cases what the initial reading is in the paper is not always and frequently not the whole story. There will be depositions, discovery, evidence presented and perhaps a trial with or without a jury. If there is a jury trial the agent\’s chance of winning is greatly diminished, and that is why most agents errors and ommision cases are settled out of court. Many states and I don\’t know if the one mentioned is one of them, has comparitive negligence where both share in the loss on a percentage basis. What I am trying to say is no one based on an article at the beginning of a case can determine the true merits of the case against the agent.
It would be nice if the responsible party stood up & said something instead of looking for who they can sue!!! There are notices that go out beyond the first bill, but yet the insured (or uninsured) thinks that he/she can pay at their leisure & it should be accepted without penalty.
I am sorry that some people just don\’t get it & think the world needs to bow to their whims, well… this is definitely a wake up call to pay your bill – on time!
If you do not pay or pay your electricity bill late, it gets cut off, same as water, gas, phone, cable, trash pick-up, etc… What makes your insurance any less able to cut you off if you do not pay than any of these utility companies?
you folks crack me up….. going off half cocked with only a portion of the story!
It is now admitted by defendants that the payment was dropped off. It is admitted by them that the payment was timely, they argue that the insured should be suing the \”flood people\” as they are the ones that screwed up! Imagine that, Nationwide is a WYO carrier, who do they think the \”flood people\” are. There was no notice to the insureds that their flood policy was not a renewal but a new policy. After Katrina, they went to their agent, they a got a two sentence letter back that said sorry, you are out of luck. No offer at all to find out what happened, to check on it for them, he now says he sent the payment in as he should but then never did anything for the insureds to find out why the policy was not renewed, he just said sorry!
They have gone over a year and Nationwide now basically admits the claim should have been paid but still, no payment! They want to blame FEMA!
We have updated our privacy policy to be more clear and meet the new requirements of the GDPR. By continuing to use our site, you accept our revised Privacy Policy.
I wish the article had given us a couple more details…
1. It\’s true there\’s a 30 day grace period. Wonder if it is correct to assume that the \”lapse\” date was actually the ending of the grace period.
2. I don\’t know if Nationwide is a \”write your own\” company. (Maybe some Nationwide agents can respond.) I\’m wondering if the payment was supposed to be taken to the agent, or if the invoice said to mail the payment to a payment address (like a lockbox.)
This is generating a lot of interest – but the \”30-day grace period\” was probably expired since the insureds definitely indicated the policy would lapse on that Sunday. Don\’t forget the federal regulations on rewriting a lapsed policy. There is the mandatory 30-day waiting period.
The big question is why the hell did the insureds wait until the last minute to make the payment? These folks must take responsibility for paying their bills on time! Where is personal responsibility going now? Do you think we should coddle everyone who doesn\’t make payments on time? I don\’t.
I have been in this industry for over 15 years and I tell you, insured\’s don\’t change. They wait until the last minute, they never received their bill, why didn\’t \”you\” the agent call them personally, afterall, they have been with your agency for over 20 years….. Wow! and It\’s never \”their\” fault !?!?
I\’m sure the damage was aweful. But, we now live in a society that is driven by money, no moral or ethical values. Flood policies cancel everyday and are rewritten. But, because of the severity of it the insured saw the opportunity for gain.
Whether the payment was a day over the expiration date or the 30 grace period, if the agent has everything documented and has followed all ethical office procedures, I don\’t think he will really have much to worry about.
I don\’t think the thought process of a typical \”insured\” will ever change. But we as agents have to dot our i\’s, cross our t\’s and highlight important information to not only cover your license you worked so hard for but your livelihood!
Be Wise… Document… Document…Document!
I\’ve been in this business for 34 years. My first flood policy was in 1975. I\’ve never seen a renewal flood policy that wasn\’t direct billed by the servicing company. The agent is the last to know that a bill wasn\’t paid. Insured is the first to know.
There is no way to call everyone and ask \”did you send your check yet?\” How annoying would that be if your agent did those kind of calls?
E&O tells you not to call anyway….Also, that is why we have no mail slot or answering machine. Its bad for your E&O
Calling the client after you\’ve received money on a lapsed policy is the minimum action a broker should take to protect himself.
No one is suggesting we coddle insured\’s or alleviate them of their responsibility to make payments in a timely manner. Insurance is a contract of adhesion so the courts are on their side.
Instead of fighting against the tide, protect yourself from it. Don\’t keep money for policies that cannot be reinstated unless you can effect coverage without a lapse.
As someone who was totally destroyed by Katrina, I find my self leaning towards the agents here. Where there may be a problem is in if that agent has routinely in the past accepted payments via the mail slot. It then might be interpreted by the courts as an acceptable method of delivery of payment because of previous practice.
Very Nasty situation
It is typical to jump to determine fault of the agent or for the plaintiffs based on what we read. When it comes to court cases what the initial reading is in the paper is not always and frequently not the whole story. There will be depositions, discovery, evidence presented and perhaps a trial with or without a jury. If there is a jury trial the agent\’s chance of winning is greatly diminished, and that is why most agents errors and ommision cases are settled out of court. Many states and I don\’t know if the one mentioned is one of them, has comparitive negligence where both share in the loss on a percentage basis. What I am trying to say is no one based on an article at the beginning of a case can determine the true merits of the case against the agent.
It would be nice if the responsible party stood up & said something instead of looking for who they can sue!!! There are notices that go out beyond the first bill, but yet the insured (or uninsured) thinks that he/she can pay at their leisure & it should be accepted without penalty.
I am sorry that some people just don\’t get it & think the world needs to bow to their whims, well… this is definitely a wake up call to pay your bill – on time!
If you do not pay or pay your electricity bill late, it gets cut off, same as water, gas, phone, cable, trash pick-up, etc… What makes your insurance any less able to cut you off if you do not pay than any of these utility companies?
Have a great day!
you folks crack me up….. going off half cocked with only a portion of the story!
It is now admitted by defendants that the payment was dropped off. It is admitted by them that the payment was timely, they argue that the insured should be suing the \”flood people\” as they are the ones that screwed up! Imagine that, Nationwide is a WYO carrier, who do they think the \”flood people\” are. There was no notice to the insureds that their flood policy was not a renewal but a new policy. After Katrina, they went to their agent, they a got a two sentence letter back that said sorry, you are out of luck. No offer at all to find out what happened, to check on it for them, he now says he sent the payment in as he should but then never did anything for the insureds to find out why the policy was not renewed, he just said sorry!
They have gone over a year and Nationwide now basically admits the claim should have been paid but still, no payment! They want to blame FEMA!