Insurance companies as bad as government…

I went from happy with no injuries to  this becAftersurgery12ause I entered a particular restaurant where they were mopping before closing in a dark environment with no wet floor signs. I was wearing  low rubber-soled shoes and even then,  the floor was so wet that my feet slipped out from under me and I landed on my left side slamming my elbow and left hip into the concrete floor.

All I asked is that they take care of my medical and a bit of pain and suffering. I was told by the restaurant manager, the next day, that they would take care of everything and that I am a valued client.

The insurance company interviewed me while I was on pain pills and before I had the surgery to fix my broken elbow.

The restaurant manager (wasn’t there when I fell) and other employees when interviewed by the insurance company all told different stories and all lied. They were sloppy in their recollections and clearly focused on self protecting.

They began cleaning up the restaurant 45 minutes before closing. While the busboy (an illegal alien that we needed an interpreter for)  stated in his deposition that he never started cleaning until everyone was gone and the lights were turned up.

Their insurance company denied my claim.

So I was forced to get an attorney and go through the tedious, full of delays, insulting,  and irritating legal process.

During the depos, under oath, the server did tell most of the truth. They had padded the bill to make it appear that we had more to drink then we did. We were in there 20 minutes, I had one sip of champagne and they had charged us for four splits of champagne as they comped the bill, because I had fallen, so on that night we did not see what we had been charged. They were planning their set up of me and cover up of themselves before I even left for the emergency room.

During my deposition, I was accused of being a racist which had nothing to do with my falling.  An illegal alien did the mopping that caused my fall. A black bartender, covering for the manager who had left earlier that evening, talked to me while I was trying to figure out how badly I was hurt.  What did race have to do with any of this? It didn’t. Except that we were white and they were trying to vilify us. So, in actuality, they were being abusive and racist against me.

We discovered the black bartender was fired a few months after my fall and had been charged with felony assault on his girlfriend. When we tried to depose him, he would not return our calls. And we were told that while the illegal alien came to the deposition, he would not be in court to testify because he was illegal and afraid of being deported.

It was clear this group was in a hurry to leave that night, the manager had left earlier that evening, and didn’t care who was harmed or what repercussions might occur.

After all this, they settled. I got all my medical paid and more pain and suffering than I was originally going to ask for. This ordeal took almost two years and in so doing, cost the insurance company more money and caused me more stress. Lawyers made money off this stupidity and waste. Their insurance adjuster attorney was like a government bureaucrat, short, pale and severe. We had to cancel one depo because the little man had three kidney stones. And that shows exactly what and who he was, a pissed little man with no real power, but to hurt people as he attempted to keep from paying claims. It was all deflecting, blaming and lying… just like our current administration.

If restaurants are open and they start cleaning, they need to be boycotted  because if you fall and are injured, they will claim no responsibility and that there were wet floor signs when there were none. They will claim you are clumsy, drunk, or a racist, Ha!  Even if there is a ‘wet floor’ sign and someone falls, they should still be held responsible. People don’t enter restaurants to watch staff clean or to be injured.  Restaurants should never clean before closing.

Crufall2I fell right behind where this man is standing on the way to the Ladies’ Room, the only way. The place is dark, the floors are scratched concrete and ill kept. I have never fallen in my life, never had a broken bone, am a former ballet dancer and fit as anyone could be. It was like walking on black ice, yet they tried to blame me.

Also, we discovered that this place is known to traffic in drugs. When you are in a place to relax, meet with friends, have fun and enjoy, you rarely think what goes on in the place behind the scenes. And why should you? You are there to be with who you are with not fraternize with the help, but there can be hidden harmful dangers in some places, even those that appear respectable and in good locations as this place was when you are paying to be served and to be in a safe environment.

I have always been a careful person but this incident has taught me to be even more cautious. Because of the way I was treated, I will never enter this place again nor will my friends and it was once considered an acceptable place to go on occasion. Had I been treated well, they paid my claim right off, and treated me with respect, it would have saved money, time and created an amiable outcome. The way it was handled, was a waste of money, time, resources with insults, alienation and unprofessional interaction, except by the ‘crook style’ of doing business.

Oh some establishments smile and ‘act’ like they appreciate  you when you are a paying customer, but when you are harmed because of their negligence, and they need to show responsibility, they will blame, deflect and lie to get out of it. Just like Obama and our current administration.

14 thoughts on “Insurance companies as bad as government…”

  1. Good article. Glad you won and I agree. It’s all a f–king game. Human beings mean nothing. It’s all about profits.

  2. Unfortunately, you are correct Ayn. Glad that you got a settlement and pursued this to its end. I concur that places of business should not clean while open for business.

  3. Stupid not to treat clients well. I have known good people who immediately take care of those who are hurt on their premises. That is what insurance is for but yeah, insurance companies try to get out of paying. Think how much is paid into insurance companies in all the years.

  4. They accused you of being racist.. LOLOLOL! Typical bureaucrat imbecile. They will do anything to screw someone over so they won’t have to pay. Glad you won~! Stay well!

  5. Ayn, you are a fab writer. Love your stories. Glad you handled this like the gal you are. Everything you write is full of common sense.

  6. So in other words, you were treated as if you were a drunken drug dealer. I’m just ending a 42 year run in the insurance claim industry, just not on that side of the fence, thankfully. And I’ve been very fortunate to have worked for a couple major carriers whose only instructions were to evaluate quickly, fairly, and pay what we owe. (As you learned, not all carriers do that. Your case is not an isolated one, unfortunately.) I’ve tinkered with being a background consultant, because some people could rally use one. But that’s a downstream thing. First I have to tackle 10 years of inside and outside projects I’ve put off for far too long. I’m glad your journey here has ended for you!

  7. Makes perfect sense…slip on wet floor, fall, break elbow, experience considerable pain and put up with therapy and rehab. It obvious that you’d be a racist. (I’d have gotten out of my seat, walked over to him mid-testimony, and broken his nose!)

    1. Yeah. I know the type. I made a career out of ‘helping’ them leave the industry every chance I could.

  8. The fact that he left without a broken nose and his male parts still intact speak eloquently of how good and noble a person you really are, Ayn!

  9. I don’t know if there was any permanency associated with your elbow injury, but your attorney should have been able to have some fun with these people, and then pulled money out of them!

  10. Whaaa??? Even if it could be proven that you were more racist than Al Sharpton, it should have no bearing on the case!

    The delays were engineered partially to get all their ducks liked up, and partly to force you to settle, as most people can’t float the medical expenses, particularly if the injury affects their ability to work.

    When it comes to balance and coordination, a drunken ballet dancer is still more than a match for a sober anybody else — but your compatriots would vouch for your sobriety, in any case.

    Once they found out that you weren’t going to stay down, they gave up and made an offer. Too bad it took all that!

  11. Fast food places have life threatening slippery floors when they are wet the slippery floor signs indicate they know there is a hazard so why don’t they replace the floor with a slip resistant material

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