I thought insurance agencies were the first to turn down claims, that they hired lawyers and people who knew how to get out of paying claims. I was terribly wrong. I worked for a small, family owned agency and in the four years I worked there I saw very few claims refused. In fact, I saw the opposite more than once. I was reading the claim record of a client who has filed 4 claims in 2 years of hitting deer that did terrible damage to his car. I live in the same town as the client–you couldn’t hit four deer in two years if you were looking to do it. Never a word was said, the claims were just paid. They always said it was better to err on the side of the client. I was astounded, my preconceived notions were wrong. Of course they can’t cover fraudulent claims continually. I did see a couple of people who were trying to work the system, and rightfully those were turned down, but I also saw a lot of questionable claims paid.

The second misconception that I had about insurance was that we were just numbers to them. Our customer service people were friendly, astute, willing to work hard for their clients and personally invested in their policies. I saw people bring in cookies and thank the reps for saving them money, or for helping them get a claim paid. It was a relaxed, comfortable place to work. There are always the exceptions but whatever your Yakima insurance needs are, look for a group that is a customer friendly agency that is working for you.