Sunday, November 14, 2021

LIFE GUARANTEES -- GANG AFT AGLEY

You never know what you're going to read when you come to my blog as my previous post evidenced.  Some bloggers write sequential posts describing their day-to-day activities, others writings cover over a week or longer; then some have themed subjects, explore other topics, memories and ideas. 

By comparison, my blog posts are probably somewhat of a hodgepodge of my meandering thoughts, some of life at any given time, some recollections and mostly whatever happens to be capturing my interest at the time.  I'm not sure there is ever a long consistent connecting thread that might serve to stimulate readers to return and read more.

One such short thread currently is my "smart phone" that was delivered when expected at the end of the previous week.  I think the iPhone seems to be rather like a smaller version of my iPad-Mini that I like so much.  The larger phone size is less desirable to me than my cell phone which fit nicely into a small pocket-like padded carrier.  There was a soft material handle I could hook my fingers through to carry about and still have the use of both hands, or put the cell phone in my pocket -- to have handy should I need to make an emergency call.  

My little cell phone was ideal instead of subscribing to one of those special services necessitating wearing a device to hang around my neck or a pin to affix on my clothes with a button to push should I happen to fall, for example.  But there are various smart phone features that I may gradually incorporate into using that exceed those offered by my now former cell phone.

Perhaps the next change I might make will be to use a "smart watch".  I remember when reading the Sunday newspaper's comic strip page was a regular activity I began enjoying when I was elementary school age decades ago.  I wasn't a regular fan of Dick Tracy, but I do recall being impressed with the fantasy aroused when he started wearing a 2-way wrist radio on which he could send and receive messages -- pictures, too!  That could never happen in real life --- could it?

A few decades later kids got a toy 2-way wrist radio as featured in this commercial:

Another longer thread I've been mentioning occasionally had been our unusual weather.  Climate changes here occupy the interest of most of us Californians since we have been jolted into ongoing drought conditions.  For example, as Thanksgiving approaches we've unexpectedly been catapulted back into summer with our temperatures pushing 90F degrees where I live.   Others in SoCal are presently having even higher numbers -- no rain, of course.

Periodically a thread of aggravations will reach a pressure point forcing their emergence into my writings.  So it is, I wish radio and television commercials were prohibited from using the ringing of doorbells in their ads to garner a listener or viewer's attention.  

When I'm only half-way attentive sometimes, I hear the doorbell and all too often think it's my house doorbell ringing.  Inconveniently, I make my way to my front door to discover no one there, cause that bell wasn't my house ringer, just some broadcast commercial.

Just as there is no surety about the source of some doorbell rings I hear, there are no other guarantees either.  Definitely there are no guarantees in life as most of us likely have learned in many ways through our years if we didn't already know that truth.  

There have been so many unexpected situations, unlike those we experienced when he was living, that I've encountered since my husband's death 15 years ago.  I sometimes wonder if such surprises will ever end short of my death.  Most recently, an unexpected letter arrived announcing a specialty supplemental-type insurance policy that transferred to me when he died is terminating mid-month.

The highly rated one hundred-year-old-plus insurance company that issued that policy experienced a deadly siphoning of their assets over time through a complicated setup by one of their trusted administrators through other thought-to-be legitimate company associated businesses.  When the criminal enterprise was discovered, the financial deficits were so severe that even several years efforts to save and rehabilitate this once highly respected insurance company could not overcome the damage.

Just as the company could not be saved, this policy we had paid into with its benefits are being terminated.  The individual premium was very modest, much less than one hundred dollars annually, and we did have the coverage those years which we, fortunately, never had to use.

The coverage was for a variety of incidental expenses one could encounter, beyond what regular Medicare and other supplemental health insurance policies pay for cancer and a number of other serous medical conditions.  The group policy had been available through my husband's employer, continued following his retirement, then transferred to my name when he died.   Now, in my older years might be when I could be more prone to issues qualifying for the benefits.  Hopefully, I won't ever need them.

My time has been absorbed recently seeking information, including clarification on this matter, pursuing possible options on related issues revolving around this policy and determining if there is the possibility of  a replacement plan through the employer from whom he retired.  Predictably, given how life goes, accomplishing all this was not simple, in fact, rather complicated and time consuming.  There was lots of navigating recorded phone mazes, leaving messages, being transferred to a seemingly never-ending number of others who were said could better handle my inquiry, referrals to call a different number, a few emails, and the beat goes on, but I finally obtained some answers. 

I still wonder if there might have been some negotiations (formal or informal) on this matter that were part of his agreement to take early retirement that could be pertinent.  Those facts may be lost in time, so there is to be no replacement policy.

So far, a similar medical reimbursement policy purchased privately with a company to which I was referred, revealed that in California, at least, they will not sell such a policy to anyone over 65 years of age.  I notice the original now terminating plan still appears on an internet search, but I've been unable to locate such a plan with other insurance companies to establish their requirements.   In fact, I haven't been able to find another insurance company even offering such a policy other than that one with the age limitations.                        (Please don't suggest other policies to me and I hope insurance companies don't start contacting me with their very different and much more limited and expensive policies either.)

This is one more instance of how some of the care we may take to arrange matters after our death can go not as we expect.  We plan as best we can, but even the most improbable things can happen.  I'm reminded of Scottish Robert Burns poem from which "gang aft agley" is often interpreted as meaning plans going awry.

Perhaps you recall instances in life that have confirmed to you there are no guarantees, eh?

23 comments:

  1. This is a shocking story and difficult for me to believe. I have known fly by night finance companies going bust and taking investors' funds with them but, an Insurance Company of repute can undergo this experience is simply mindblowing. I hope that some mechanism is found soon to address your problem. And you are right, there are no guarantees.

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    1. Yes, when I read more of the details regarding how this insurance company’s funds were gradually stolen it was shocking. I don’t why there wouldn't have been some check mechanism so they could have caught this sooner but i guess no such system is perfect. I’m reconciled that this policy will no longer be viable and there will be no replacement. I’m just glad this was not a major part of my health insurance coverage and the premium payments had been so small for that reason.

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  2. Impressed you have gone the smart phone way. I am still hanging on to my little flip phone for emergencies. Love it for the same reasons you mentioned plus since I don't have cell service at my house the flip will stay for a while. Enjoy yours.
    That was a shame about the insurance. I just hope my prepaid cremation will not go bankrupt when it is finally needed. No guarantee for sure.

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    1. Yeah, the first flip phone I ever had was all I needed and would need now. Probably most insurance is sound, but we can be left to wonder when something like this happens.

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  3. One of the odd benefits of having been in the military is that they are supposed to bury you. I'm counting on that one.

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    1. Chances are that coverage will persist.

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  4. My mother used to say, "Wouldn't that just corn ya?" I'm not sure exactly what it meant and have never heard anyone else say it. I'm not even sure those were her exact words but that is how I heard her words. She grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and came to Los Angeles with her father, brother, sister-in-law and niece in the 1930s. Her parents came from Boston. Where on earth did she hear or read those words?

    She might have said those words upon hearing about the toy versions of Dick Tracy's 2-way wrist radio! Her words came to mind as I watched that wonderful video with the boys from the 1950s. I do remember reading Dick Tracy comics but not really understanding what was going on.

    Your story about having that insurance discontinued would also prompt my mother to say, "Wouldn't that just corn ya?" The situation certainly seems unfair, given that premiums were paid for an extended period of time. One would think that insurance companies would be "insured" in some way and not be allowed to "take the money and run."

    The pandemic has reinforced on a grande scale my lifelong experience that there are no guarantees!

    By the way, my mother loved Robert Burns and so do I (-:

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    1. With corn in the saying, it must have come out of the centuries when farming prevailed and where corn was grown. Maybe corn wasn’t the word but I don't know what word it could have been.

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  5. What an unfortunate circumstance with your policy. And don't you hate navigating all those horrid phone menus, only to repeat your same story to several different people over again? I sympathize.

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    1. Yes, having to repeat everything multiple times is most annoying. Wish i could just record it after the first accounting, then push a button and play the recording for them.

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  6. So sorry to hear this, Joared and the criminal activity!! I worked in alliance with re-insurers over the years and the business can be shady and all about money-grubbing. And surely the insurance company would have liability insurance of their own? They all do.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. They went through a rehabilitation process but the company couldnt be salvaged. I think any people collecting on the benefits have been protected. Those of us who are merely policyholders with no present claims are the ones from whom they’ll cease to collect premiums and provide any future benefits should we need them. I had hoped there would have been a replacement policy the employer would seek, but not so.

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  7. Oh no... I'm so sorry. That's awful. With that sort of thing happening to seniors, spam and scams it's scary.
    I'm afraid to upgrade my iPhone XR just because it's such a pain to learn something new. I do like the size. I didn't want anything bigger for the same reasons as you.

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    1. I haven't even kept up with all the different iPhone or Android models. My son knows what features are important to me, so I let him choose my phone based on whatever provider he uses, their family plan. He sets up the basics, then sends the phone to me, so I'm spared some of that. Even with that I encounter a learning curve with various functions.

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  8. Regarding the weather, ugh, so sorry! It’s been nice and cool up in NorCal, very seasonable. We have had 2 storms, one huge, one that was decent but mostly went north of us. As long as it makes the mountains and puts down snow, I’m OK with that.

    My husband has an Apple Watch, and sometimes he will answer it when someone calls if his phone is not nearby. It does remind me of Dick Tracy.

    I too have an iPad Mini, which I love, but sometimes it gets a little glitchy, and I find my iPhone (which is newer) is handy in times like those, as I have most of the same apps installed.

    I’m with you on the doorbell on TV. They really set off my dog. More recently I find myself checking my phone when someone on TV gets a text. I guess I should change the sound mine makes, so it won’t give me that reaction.

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    1. I’m happy, too, if snow in the mountains but surely would like some rain on the ground here. Oh your poor dog!

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  9. I left a comment and it went away…hoping that is just because you need to review it to avoid spam. :)

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    1. Looks like your comment came through ok to await moderation.

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  10. My God, this post upsets me. An old, trusted insurance company engaging in criminal behavior, resulting in huge loss of money and termination of policies??? Wow! Thank you for the heads up on this, as I was considering investing $80,000 in a 3 year annuity from an insurance company. Thought it would be safe, but now I am hesitant. $80,000 would be a lot of money to lose.

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    1. It was just that one specialty health policy and people already receiving benefits reportedly were continuing to be taken care of. I don't know how any other policies may have been handled. I don't want to overly alarm anyone. This policy was not an annuity and what happened to that company was rare, I think. I suppose there is a certain amount of risk in everything but don't know that you should be too concerned.

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  11. My blog is more like yours (but much shorter). I try very hard to stay away from politics but that is impossible for me because I am so scared with what is happening to our country ... but I try to make it about every 4th entry. It fun to see you and other bloggers write yours.

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    1. I probably would avoid politics more if the stakes weren't so high for our way of government, unlike at any time in my lifetime.

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  12. Blog policy does not permit comments with links embedded so a comment with such was not published.

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