Travelers: Arrogance, Stupidity & Bad Behavior

April 10, 2020, Cameron, Montana.  I had a small victory today—I received an insurance claim check for $1,034.31 from Travelers Indemnity Company. I have been battling with Travelers since September. There was a fire in the apartment above our NYC apartment and we had some water damage. The fire was caused by our neighbor’s general contractor who was insured by Travelers. Travelers was difficult and simply passive aggressive from the beginning. After several months of aggravating non-sense, I finally made peace with a Traveler’s insurance adjuster by the name of Dan S., and he agreed to reimburse me (I did explain to him that I received three estimates for the repair and went with the least expensive). I thought I was done. But at this point, Dan informed me that he was now handing me off to Karen Q. in Travelers’ Long Island Office. The passive aggressiveness began anew. Karen proceeded to send me the most one-sided legal release. I asked to make two small, reasonable changes—clarifying the event that caused the damage and putting a time on the payment from them to me. She said absolutely not. No changes are allowed. I made the changes nevertheless, notarized the release and emailed it to Karen. Karen quickly informed me that Travelers was rejecting my signed release. No surprise. I waited 60 days and then sent a demand letter to Travelers’ registered agent in Helena, Montana (Travelers does business in Montana so they have a registered agent here) and also emailed the demand letter to Karen in Long Island. She again informed me that they were rejecting my release and were not reimbursing me unless I signed the unaltered release. At this point, I informed Karen that I will be filing a civil action against Travelers in our county seat, Virginia City (population 207), Madison County, Montana and that Travelers is welcome to come to the court house and explain to the judge why they will not accept my two small, reasonable changes. Recalling my first-year law school civil procedure class, I was confident that Madison County had jurisdiction over Travelers in this situation. I explained this to Karen. Karen told me that I was wrong, I had to bring the action in New York, but that she would check with Travelers’ legal counsel in the morning. The next morning, Karen sent me a polite but curt emailed to inform me that Travelers was accepting my modified release as submitted and that she would be sending me a check in short order. Today I received a check! Still getting a return on my law school education. . Travelers has to be one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. They are difficult to say the least.

About Greg Slamowitz

Greg Slamowitz (www.gregslamowitz.com) is an entrepreneur, investor, author and speaker. He was a co-founder and former Co-CEO of Ambrose Employer Group, LLC, a professional employer organization (PEO), which was ranked among Crain’s New York’s list of the 50 fastest growing companies and was also recognized by the New York State Society for Human Resource Management as one of the “Best Companies to Work For in New York.” Greg co-founded Ambrose in 1997 with $95,000, never accepted outside funding, and sold Ambrose to Trinet (TNET) in July 2013 in a $200 million cash transaction. Greg has also invested in, and is on the board of, a number of early stage companies. Greg enjoys learning and teaching and has spent considerable time over the last several years meeting with entrepreneurs and business leaders and regularly presents his seminar, “Flip the Pyramid”, around the United States. Read about Greg’s presentation to the Morris (NJ) Tech Meetup. http://bit.ly/1rxbxB8 Greg’s book titled “Flip the Pyramid: How Any Organization Can Create a Workforce That Is Engaged, Empowered, Aligned and On Fire!” is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes/iBooks. http://amzn.to/ZrNw8a Greg has also spent considerable time in Washington DC with members and staffers of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives educated them about the challenges to and solutions for America’s businesses. He was a board member and president of the his industry’s trade association and founded and led its political action committee (PAC). Greg was instrumental in the passage of the Small Business Efficiency Act. http://bit.ly/1vprSd1 Greg is passionate about helping America’s businesses focus on growth, profit, hiring and creating an awesome and healthy experience for each and every working American. Greg was the recipient of the 2001 Ernst & Young New York Entrepreneur of the Year® award in the employment services category. Greg also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for Emory University’s School of Law. Prior to co-founding Ambrose in 1997, Greg practiced tax law with Brown & Wood (now Sidley Austin Brown & Wood) in New York City. He holds two law degrees – a Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University School of Law, and a Juris Doctorate, with distinction, from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. He received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from New York University. Please visit Greg’s website www.gregslamowitz.com, his LinkedIn Profile and Twitter @gregslamowitz His passions include developing highly functional organizations, engaged cultures, growth companies, health care and wellness, skiing and sailing (www.teammanitou.com) View all posts by Greg Slamowitz

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