We are finishing up our discussion of the Consumer Federation of California’s complaint to that state’s insurance department about Geico Insurance Co.’s web-based application. According to the CFC, the app offers certain applicants policies with coverage limits that violate state consumer protection and auto insurance laws. The website asks for information in violation of state law as well, the CFC claims.
We are picking up the discussion from our last post — the discussion about the Consumer Federation of California’s complaint to the state’s insurance department about Geico Insurance Co. The problem, the CFC says, is that the Geico online application’s rating process requires applicants to supply information in violation of state law and then uses that information to discriminate against certain categories of applicants.
We find ourselves making reference to television ads and F. Scott Fitzgerald today. The first appears in the title of the post, which, of course, refers to the Geico ads in which the adorably charming Geico Gecko cheerfully informs us that 15 minutes will save us 15 percent on our auto insurance. The second comes in the form of an observation we are certain others share: California is different from you and me … and Florida.
We were talking in our last post about insurance and traveling and the hassle of dealing with insurance claims for things that happen away from home. Most of us are familiar with the hassle that comes from going out-of-network with a health care claim. Put a few hundred miles between you and your in-network providers, and things get even more complicated.
We are talking about the impact that warmer relations with Cuba will have on the people and businesses of Florida. As we said in our last post, the state is home to the majority of Cuban Americans. This thaw has personal meaning for 900,000 citizens of Miami.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio blasted the Obama administration recently for relaxing restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba. The change in policy, Rubio argued, ignores human rights issues that continue to exist in Cuba. Further, he said, our expanded interaction with the country will not inspire the Castro regime to change its ways. Sending tourists to Havana will not make life any easier for pro-democracy nationals. Lowering trade barriers will not force the Cuban government to curtail its use of violence in dealing with opponents or critics.
There is not a trick to understanding an insurance policy. There is, however, a way to go through a policy that will make it easier to understand.
After our last three posts, you may be wondering what could possibly be left, what other information can an insurance policy contain? We have the insuring agreement, the exemptions and exceptions, the dec page … we know that skimming is a bad idea. What else?
Anyone who has tried to put something together — a bookcase, a model airplane, a tool shed — knows the special frustration that comes from bad technical writing. Sometimes, the problem is a sloppy translation from the original language: “Helping is on the Internet website.” (True story.)
A friend of ours took a speed reading course a few years ago. The trick, the instructor said, was to read the article or book or whatever several times, starting with a high-level review and drilling down to almost a word-for-word reading. All she remembers now is that she was supposed to draw a “Z” with her finger as she read.
