Odyssey of Incompetence

I'm as mad as hell and I'm yadda, yadda, yadda... This isn't one of my fun movie reviews or zen anecdotes. This is the story of a little guy (me) getting dicked around by an insurance company. I am writing this to channel my feelings of anger, frustration and helplessness. I guess the whole thing started on the 29th day of May 2005, when I picked up my 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera from my Grandmother. I arranged to get this car insured through my insurance broker/agent Rullo Insurance (1128 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110) and my insurance company AIG Agency Auto (P.O. Box 1802, Alpharetta, GA 30021-0302). I paid for six months of insurance coverage.

In early July I received a document in the mail from the local DMV stating that I had to either provide proof of insurance or turn in my license plates. I called Rullo Insurance and was informed that if I faxed them this document, then they would take care of the problem. So, I drove down to Staples and faxed them the paperwork. According to the guy I spoke with at Rullo, the problem was as good as solved and I did not have to worry about it. Later I found out that they finally got around to sending this information to my insurance company (AIG) on July the 28th, 2005.

A few weeks later I received an identical document from the DMV (turn in your plates or provide proof of insurance). I called Rullo again, and this time I spoke to a woman who claimed that the reason that this problem was not taken care of was her fault. She said that she had forgotten to file some paperwork pertaining to my file and that she would remedy the situation. This entailed another trip to Staples where she faxed me a document stating that I had not been in any accidents with this car, which I signed and faxed back to her along with the new document from the DMV. I drove back home and called to confirm that Rullo had received these faxes. They assured me that they had. This paperwork they sent to AIG on August the 12th, 2005. According to Rullo, AIG filed this paperwork with the DMV on August the 19th and that it should be in their system in 72 hours. Now I spoke to the lady at Rullo in early August (I know this because it was just before I left for my sister's wedding on the 6th). Why it took her until August 12th to get this paperwork to AIG and why it then took AIG until the 19th to get this to the DMV is anyone's guess.

Sunday (August the 20th, 2005) I was pulled over by a Sheriff's patrol officer for a minor traffic infraction (I rolled through a stop sign rather than coming to a complete stop). The officer informed me that according to their records I was still not insured. He was going to take my plates and have my car towed. I dropped the name of a Patrol Sergeant who I am good friends with and this convinced the officer to escort me home rather than getting me towed, with the promise that I would not drive until this matter was cleared up.

Yesterday, I called Rullo (and screamed at them for ten minutes, truth be known) and they told me that the matter was cleared up and that I could drive again. I was understandably skeptical since they had already told me that the matter was cleared up twice, when this was not the case. So I called the DMV, and sure enough, on their computers they still did not have proof of my insurance. Further, the rude woman at the DMV told me that once they received the proof of insurance from my insurance company electronically it would take an additional seven to nine days before it showed up in their computer. I called Rullo (yelled some more) and they said that they would fax a hard copy of proof that I was insured to the DMV, but that there was nothing else they could do and they blamed the problem on both AIG and the DMV. In the meanwhile, I can not legally drive. If I can not drive, I can not work. The level of incompetence that I have had to deal with is unacceptable. I am angry and I would steer anyone I cared about away from Rullo Insurance or AIG Agency Auto.

I have filed a complaint with the New York State Insurance Department Consumer Services Bureau, for all the good that will do. The sad truth is that I have been technically uninsured since early July. My brother and I drove to Virginia to attend my sister's wedding in an uninsured vehicle. If we had been pulled over on that trip, I would have lost the car and missed my sister's wedding. Nobody from Rullo, AIG, or the DMV who I spoke to seemed to give a damn about that. Nobody wanted to admit that they had screwed up.

That's all for now...

Decker out...