Haven’t we been punished enough?
Hasn’t every way to make more money off of those who are already in a bad financial state been made? Banks, credit card companies and mortgage companies are already punishing those who are struggling to begin with, making more money in outrageous interest rates off of those who suffer financially to begin with. And then, a few years back, the auto insurance companies said – “hey, everyone else are doing it, why not us”?
I am a wife and a mother. My parents and grandmother live with my husband and me. Surviving has been tough and been only getting tougher. After my husband was hurt in a job accident, we found ourselves without income, as he has been unemployed due to his injury since July 2009. So, like so many other Americans, I did the only thing I could; I started putting everything on my credit cards; food shopping, gas, electric bill, gas bill, phone bill, car payments, even my mortgage payment once or twice, clothes for the kids…. And of course, soon, I found my self with my credit cards maxed, and my credit in the toilette.
I am not a bad person. Like so many other Americans, I pay my taxes, I take my children to the park, I’m a member of the PTO, I volunteer at my son’s school book fair and plant sale; I take him to cub scouts. I am your average law abiding citizen. I make a full stop at all the stop signs – even the ones in parking lots; I never run thorough red lights; I always use my signal when changing lanes and making turns; I don’t cut off other drivers; I don’t speed; I am a good driver, trying to set up a good example to my young children. I am a responsible driver – keeping my passengers, as well as other drivers and their passengers safe on the roads. I do not have as much as an unpaid parking ticket on my record for the past 6 years.
So why did my auto insurance company hike my insurance premium by almost 300% during the last months? The answer is simple – because they could. Because apparently my Insurance rate, has nothing to do anymore with my driving. Apparently, it has everything to do with my credit score.
I mean, If my credit score is bad, it means I’m a bad driver, right? It means I am a danger to myself as well as others on the road, right? It means the Insurance company is taking a risk insuring me, as my driving record obviously proves, right?
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG AND WRONG AGAIN.
Who gave the Auto Insurance companies the right to punish good drivers for having bad credit? Who gave them the right to profit and capitalize on our financial problems and misfortune? The answer – WE DID. Yes, indeed we did. By keeping quiet – we did. By not protesting, or not protesting enough – we did. By accepting that we are small, helpless and without means to fight – we did. But are we? Are we without means? Are we nothing but a herd of sheep, allowing ourselves to be sheared at will, even when we have nothing left? Are we this helpless herd that allows ourselves to be herded here and there as we are used abused and hurt fleeced over and over again?
The answer is NO. No, No No and again – no. So you ask, “really, smarty, so what can we do?” All right, I’ll tell you what we can do; I’ll tell you what I AM doing: Today, I personally declared war on the auto insurance companies; today, I posted my outrage on face book, and I asked all my friends to join me. Today I wrote my House representative and offered all my face book friends a copy, so they can send it to theirs, having changed the representative name and mine to theirs, first, of course.
Today, I pledged to collect as many signatures as I can, wherever I can, and send them to my senator and house representative. Tomorrow, I will do this again, and I will also go to my local mall and set up a stand to collect signatures, after obtaining the proper permits. When I have enough signatures, I will contact the local papers and news agencies to get more people involved. And when I’m done with that, I’m going to come up with more ideas of how to make this legal type of extortion and robbery illegal.
What are you going to do?
I challenge you to join me; declare war on auto insurance companies and their clever way of robbing us; challenge your friends. Let’s prove, once, that we will not just bow our heads and accept every new way big corporations and various agencies come up with to rob us blind.
Just food for thought – when we are done with the auto insurances, let’s take on the credit card companies.