My friend called his car
insurance company to tell them to change his address from Texas to Vermont. The
woman who took the call asked where Vermont was. As he tried to explain, she
interrupted and said, "Look, I'm not stupid or anything, but what state is it
in?"
OUR insurance agency had a contract with a lawn-care company for the maintenance of the
yard at our office. One day we saw a few spots out back that had missed the attention of
the gardener. My boss asked the receptionist to be alert for the fellow and to point these
places out to him. When the man returned, Jane was heard saying, "Come around back
and I'll show you what you've been missing."
IN MY job for an insurance company, I often use a microfiche
machine to get data about our clients. Once while I was looking something up, a customer's
little girl wandered over to my desk. She stood there a while, studying the names and
numbers that flashed across my screen. "I can't tell," she finally said.
"Are you winning?"
I WORK for an insurance brokerage firm that places unusual
risks many underwriters will not assume. One day I had two such requests, so I called
Lloyd's of London. Would they insure a show cat for an airplane trip, and would they
insure a parrot against any physical harm? There was a pause, and then a woman responded
in a clipped British accent, "Yes, we can insure a bird, or we can insure a cat, but
certainly not the both together."
RADIO station CISN-FM, a sporting goods store in Edmonton and
the Edmonton branch of the Canadian Progress Club sponsored a fishing derby on Lac Ste.
Anne, about 60 kilometers northwest of Alberta's capital. They tagged 11 fish to be
caught: 10 worth $104, the 11th worth $104,000. Lloyds of London insured the prize pike
against being caught, and got hooked for $104,000 when Peter Ponich of Edmonton reeled it
in.
Larry's barn burned down and his wife, Susan, called the
insurance company. Susan told the insurance company, "We had that barn insured
for fifty thousand and I want my money." The agent replied, "Whoa there,
just a minute, Susan. Insurance doesn't work quite like that. We will ascertain the
value of what was insured and provide you with a new one of comparable worth."
There was a long pause before Susan replied, "Then I'd like to cancel the policy on
my husband."
A WOMAN reported an accident to me at the insurance company
and asked if her rates would go up. I explained that our underwriting department
determines who is at fault, and rates are adjusted accordingly. Continuing the interview,
I requested her license plate number. It ended in NMF and, verifying, I asked, "Is
that N as in Nancy, M as in Mary, F as in Frank?" "Well, yes," she replied.
"But could you please tell your underwriters that it's also N as in Not, M as in My,
F as in Fault?"