I Screwed Up - Rebating Customer

[insurance1822]

OK - I screwed up on a policy & just cost my insured $180. I told her I would immediately send a VISA gift card to cover this. You really think that's rebating? I mean it's not right for an insured to incur costs because I missed something on a quote.

Anybody else ever do this?

 

[whatyouwantfinally]

I basically did the same thing. The insured was a friend and I ended up just paying for his ticket to a football game, but it's no different.

AFAIK, the intention of rebating laws is to prevent inducements to buy insurance. That's obviously not what you're doing.

 

[TNagent82]

I haven't but I did landscaping right out of school and had the owner of a large independent agency cut me a check for 1200 for a landscaping trailer that was stolen and not scheduled on policy.

 

[Josh]

In an earlier post you tossed out a client because they annoyed you at the cost of ~$1k commission if I recall correctly. Idea being you'd rather feel good about not having a bad client than having more money.

Now the question is do you risk rebating a customer? As you describe it you made a mistake that cost your customer a relatively small amount of money (this isn't a $500k claim) and now you're willing to risk your business over it?

In some states I imagine it could be considered rebating, odds are it would only look bad. Personally I like avoiding deals like that because I like sleeping at night without having that hanging over me.

Also, if you were going to do it, I wouldn't have posted about it publicly

 

[blue_wynd]

I don't think it's rebating. You make a mistake and you are fixing it by paying for the mistake. Either that or E & O, that $180 is probably lower than your deductible. Which means you will be paying out of pocket anyway.

 

[insurance1822]

In an earlier post you tossed out a client because they annoyed you at the cost of ~$1k commission if I recall correctly. Idea being you'd rather feel good about not having a bad client than having more money.

Now the question is do you risk rebating a customer? As you describe it you made a mistake that cost your customer a relatively small amount of money (this isn't a $500k claim) and now you're willing to risk your business over it?

In some states I imagine it could be considered rebating, odds are it would only look bad. Personally I like avoiding deals like that because I like sleeping at night without having that hanging over me.

Also, if you were going to do it, I wouldn't have posted about it publicly

That was a person who ran into financial troubles and I personally helped them w/ their payments...then they left my agency a year later without giving me a chance to remarket them.

You really think the DOI is going to talk crap? I made a minor mistake that will cost them $180 over the next year (they signed up a month ago as a new client.) It's simply not right to allow them to incur a cost because I made a mistake. So what do I say? SORRY...SUCKS FOR YOU? No. I take ownership and make it right.

Buuuuuuuuuuuut ya it still crosses me mind. It's not like I was saying "oh hey switch your insurance and I'll give you $100"

 

[Josh]

You really think the DOI is going to talk crap?

Stranger things have happened. Imagine down the road the customer is upset about something else and then they say that you gave them $180 for them to buy the insurance. Sure, it was $180 to keep them from cancelling, but that's a solid argument for rebating.

I made a minor mistake that will cost them $180 over the next year (they signed up a month ago as a new client.) It's simply not right to allow them to incur a cost because I made a mistake. So what do I say? SORRY...SUCKS FOR YOU? No. I take ownership and make it right."

Arguably the right thing to do is to not risk your business over a $180 mistake. You can own that you made a mistake and then tell the truth, "as much as I'd love to pay you the difference, the law of (whatever the state) has strict rules about rebating which says that agents can't pay you for your business". The real issue here isn't your willingness to "make it right", you're more than willing to spend $180 to get them to where you said you would and that's commendable, but the right thing to do shouldn't involve breaking a law.

On a only slightly related note, you must be a pretty interesting character in person. Not everyone lets as much of their personality show in their posts. I've got a whole persona in my mind whenever I see your posts

 

[insurance1822]

Well in all fairness...VISA cards paid with cash are not traceable...at all. So I do have that ultimate defense in a 1 out of 1,000,000,000 shot it comes back.

I will be the first person to tell an ahole client to go eff themselves, the first person to tell a rep their worthless & the first person to call out an ahole....but....my moral compass does not allow for wronging individuals who don't deserve to be wronged. This has ruined my day because ultimately, I glanced over their incumbent dec page & told them it was apples to apples...and it wasn't. That looks bad....and is bad. Yes Ins1822 is actually upset over this error because I consider myself a pro...and I wasn't a pro for this client who trusted me with their business.

 

[AboutThatLife]

If they are really cunning, they will take the $180, then turn around and file an E&O claim and sue for multiples using the $180 you paid as proof for their claim.

 

[pfg1]

If they are really cunning, they will take the $180, then turn around and file an E&O claim and sue for multiples using the $180 you paid as proof for their claim.

I think you mean if they are an a$$hole they would do that.
The problem we have today, honest mistakes are so often looked at in the context of - how can I gain personally from this. Sad that people can't make mistakes anymore.

To the OP...I would probably do the giftcard thing personally. If they are decent folks, they'll appreciate the honesty and remedy, and all will be well.