[StBernard] Television Journalist Takes on Insurance Company

[Westley Annis]

Paul Beaulieu: So You Think You're In "Good Hands" Think Again	 

Between The Lines 

By Paul Beaulieu, December 17, 2005 

New Orleans, La. -- The slogan itself, "You're In Good Hands . . .
stimulates feelings of confidence, comfort and coverage. We, the policy
holders with the "good hands" people have all been made to feel secure with
our insurance policies. Well guess what? My experience with this company
tells me the slogan is fraudulent and the company is a liar - guilty of
false advertising. 

In the aftermath of Katrina, when New Orleanians were scrambling to assess
and cover their losses, when we all were looking for "good hands" and "good
neighbors" and other sources of disaster protection, one common theme
emerged from the muck of disaster, heartbreak, fear and anxiety: too many of
us who thought we were in "good hands" were not. 

Since Katrina, I have spoken with over one-hundred policy holders with the
"good hands" people, and the scenario, empathetically painted by each one,
was the same: the "good hands" people dropped us in the proverbial bucket of
you-know what. 

My own personal experience with the "good hands" people engenders this
evaluation: unresponsive! Adjusters would not get back with me to even
discuss damage. I am on my second "good hands' adjuster. Presumably because
I complained so vehemently about the first one. The second adjuster is no
better, lying about when he would get back to me. My policy called for
living assistance. My adjuster denied our claim for this, saying the house
was livable. I live in New Orleans East. Need I say more? Perhaps my
adjuster should bring his mama to my house and see if she could live in it!
Finally after much complaining on my part, my adjuster told me that he knew
he was "low-balling" me. 

My experience with "the good hands" people is consistent with all of the
other policy holders with this company that I have spoken with. This
insurance company is not only not in its policy holders' corner, it is the
adversary of recovery. It is not only insensitive to its policy-holders'
plight, it appears to go the other way-generating reasons why not to pay-up,
why not to keep its end of the bargain. 

A former state senator told me that for years he was insured by the "good
neighbor" people; but recently switched to the "good hands" people. He said
that was the "worst mistake he has made in his life". 

A prominent New Orleans lawyer who has spent thousands of hours in Civil
Court battling the "good hands' people told me he has surmised that the
policy of this company appears to be: screw over the policy holder! I would
concur with that. 

But what can we, the policy holder do? Here are a few suggestions. We can
pass the word nationally about our experiences with the "good hands" people;
start, not a whisper campaign, but a shouting campaign; we can write our
insurance commissioner time after time; we can contact CNN; we can hire an
independent adjuster for our day in court (yes file suite); we can all
contribute to a media campaign to rebut the "good hands" propaganda. 

And to the CEO of the "good hands" company, we can suggest that he change
his slogan to: "You might be in good hands". 

Paul Beaulieu is an award winning television and print journalist, most
recently co-hosting the popular New Orleans Television show, "Between the
Lines".