Our Education System & Insurance Companies

[Shadowhunter]

Each generation looks down on the ones after them, particularly those in school and just finishing school. Could part of the problem be the schools? Or, to be more specific, the education system in our country?


An insurance agent told me that to be an agent, you need to undergo months of training and preparation for exams etc. after being accepted into the job. There are always training sessions, workshops, classes, and licenses to be written (valid for a year only, must be redone afterwards), including psychometric and personality tests aside from the levels of higher ups watching, monitoring, supporting, and guiding each agent. This is also included in the probationary period before being offered a permanent job. Many stay at the level of sales reps if they cannot get the licensing of an agent or higher (some do not wish to), and others leave the job when the pressure becomes too great. One must be quite dedicated to the work and the people involved to stick to it, it seems. Of course we are well aware that despite all these precautions, some crooked agents still find ways to exist. Nevertheless, they continue testing and training etc. to weed out the obvious applicants that are ill-suited for this very serious, important job.

How can we be so careful with money and not give the same level of importance to those interacting with and educating our nation's children?

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There are people who consider teaching to be a "back-up" profession and apply for their registration numbers as soon as they leave school as a fail safe option. There are even some that get into the profession because they don't know what else to do with their life. Many of us have heard the saying "those who can't do, teach". Of course there are dedicated teachers out there, but with people having that kind of mentality filling up the slots, how much of a chance are the good teachers given? There are even some teachers whom have no idea about any of the subject matter they are supposed to be teaching and just show up to keep the job. That's it, no strings attached. Show up every day, and even if you suck at your job, you'll get paid and continue to keep your position. That is an insult to the teachers that yes, show up every day, but also actually work their butts off to do their jobs they way they are supposed to.

What kind of mentality is that to have going into a career where you are often unsupervised and in charge of educating young, gullible, impressionable, absorbent minds?


What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it is too easy to get through with a teaching job? Could poor teachers be influencing children negatively? Should our education system take a note from the insurance companies and introduce stricter measures or monitor teachers more to weed out the "bad ones"? Would this make a difference at all or is our education system fine the way it is?

 

[Saxman642]

Fail Teaches,... hmm

At Fatima College, ask ANY student in the last decade... no TWENTY YEARS.... about their Additional Maths teacher.

ALL will tell you she CANNOT teach. Too many student who do Add. Maths there leave with the subject as their ONLY fail grade (we talking distinctions for the rest of the subjects they do!)

They haven't they removed said teacher?
- Teacher is the HEAD of the Maths department
- Protected hard by the Principal
- MoE probably turns a blind eye anyway as is a 'prestige' school

Funny thing she doesn't even need a job: husband in the oil sector, and she drives to work in the company vehicle (which is obviously THE most expensive vehicle on the compound)

But I guess it is rewarding to mess up students lives.

I have real files to buss on them, but that is for another thread.

 

[Shadowhunter]

I am not surprised at all Saxman. I know teachers that teach Physics and Chem and have 99% of their students failing year after year, but their jobs are secured. The only students that pass their class are the ones that go for lessons and/or have regular private tutors as well. Each year the old students who experienced their travesty of teaching warns the new students, the staff and other students are well aware, and the teachers are never held responsible or have to answer. I had a teacher that smoked in class ad took class time to call his gf and refused to teach the majority of the time because "I eh feelin to teach today inno. Alyuh do something quiet aight? I go teach next week" (rinse & repeat); same failing students issue.

I think teachers should be held accountable for their students' grades. When year after year of your entire class is failing, especially 2 decades of students like you said, I think something is wrong with the system and the people in it, not the students. The teachers that actually take their jobs seriously and make their students' education a priority get a bad rep because of the slackers.

 

[nirtime]

I agree with Shadowhunter on that, I have been through the system as well and so I have felt the effects of it. The only downside is that when an entire class or a few classes of students take extra classes outside by proper teachers, the passes actually tend to reflect the no-brain teacher at the school.

Insurance wise, I have a major major issue with our local insurance both automotive and life wise but I will not go into it. I will just say that I almost cancelled a personal life insurance plan because of the inability of the agent who was the "director" of the company to understand that there are more than 2 or 3 diseases around the world.

 

[Shadowhunter]

I agree with Shadowhunter on that, I have been through the system as well and so I have felt the effects of it. The only downside is that when an entire class or a few classes of students take extra classes outside by proper teachers, the passes actually tend to reflect the no-brain teacher at the school.

This! Imagine children are going to school every day and despite regular school expenses, the parents absolutely have to put out more money and transport arrangements to send them to private classes outside of their "real" school. That's what you have to do to ensure your child passes, but the delinquent teachers look good when you do this and get away with slacking off and the next year of students go through the same thing. When you complain, then the principal or MoE will decide to look at the pass rate as an important factor. These slackers should be pressured and picked off one by one in my book.

Insurance wise, I have a major major issue with our local insurance both automotive and life wise but I will not go into it. I will just say that I almost cancelled a personal life insurance plan because of the inability of the agent who was the "director" of the company to understand that there are more than 2 or 3 diseases around the world.

I've heard this complaint before by many. Bear in mind that there are different coverage plans that usually specify what illnesses and health matters will be covered. I've met people who were utterly distraught because they ended up in a position where they took out a serious illness plan and were not getting minor health matters covered and vice versa. Agents who are legit and have the proper training and knowledge will explain this to you carefully before you sign any papers but TBH some get into it for the wrong reasons and take a while to be weeded out, doing damage until they are fired or quit.

For many companies, you can ask for a detailed list of every illness the plan covers and how the payment will work, and if you wanna really get down to business, a good agent will give you photocopies of all documents provided and signed if you ask them too. You also have the right to sit down with them and ask them any relevant questions and get a second or third opinion as you deem necessary. You do not have to sign anything you don't understand or agree with and can stop the process at any time. There is always a higher up or someone in a similar position you can speak to as well, to get further clarification.

In this case, I would note that the agents do not decide what illnesses are covered and that underwriters are usually the ones to judge whether or not you will get through and get into depth with claims and the like. I would find out whether the coverage included all illnesses in general or had a specified list. Once there is a specified list, as it is your legal right to information, you can request a print out of those specified illnesses and see if the ones you are interested in fall under the list. Most people will just believe what the agent says and chooses to divulge, and realize later on that they could have taken another plan or altered their plan etc. HTH!


Despite the agents that aren't 100% just imagine that those are the ones that get past all the requirements. Requirements that are not in place at all in schools and not even half the amount of slacking teachers are reported as frequently as slacking agents are terminated and/or reported.

 

[nirtime]

Here is what I got really pissed off about. I live with a skin disorder, this stupid woman who is a director in the company has never in her life, assuming she's been in the industry for idk how long has never heard off it and its a quite common disorder if you speak to dermatologists around Trinidad. She insisted that I came on to the plan with that and that was obviously not so and I could have pulled pictures with time stamps, medical records, doctor receipts, etc to show her how wrong she was and how long I actually had the disorder but I did not like her attitude and so I said nothing because I was not there alone and I am not very nice when money and time is involved.

I got very turned off from this incident and I am feeling like it is a waste of money to pay for insurance knowing I have nothing to get from it unless I die.

Further, automotive insurance is very stressful. Imagine you have to fight and beat down auto insurance agents when you get a stone cracked windshield of if you have a big 4" crack on your windshield if your plan has full comprehensive. I also saw a recent facebook post about a professional body shop warning their customers and followers alike about the schemes these insurance companies do to avoid paying, the company wanted to pay using a method that would have evaded them using VAT and possibly causing major problems for the customer. The customer's car was repaired to factory standards and due to the run around of the insurance, he could not rest easily because of how poor insurance handled the whole matter.

I think its sometimes best to have third party car insurance and you pay yourself for the repairs or whatever you have to do because car insurance is terribly expensive fully comprehensive and if you are a safe driver , all factors considered, you can do some maths and get some serious figures both savings and much less worries if you have to put it out from your pocket assuming you saved the money instead of paying for fully comprehensive.

 

[Shadowhunter]

As far as I know, insurance agents are not educated on illnesses and definitely not skin disorders. If she had claimed to be aware and understanding of it, it would have had to have been from her own experience or education (you do have the right to question her about it). The company is supposed to provide documents for a doctor to investigate for proof that the illness was not existing before signing up and if she did not divulge that or take it more seriously it seems she may just be interested in signing clients for quota, commission etc or something.

At the end of the day, the agent is bringing the client's money and information to the company. If she leaves, transfers, is fired etc. she is not obligated to handle your claim; the company will then be legally responsible for investigating the validity of the claim and give their decision and she technically doesn't actually have to deal with the resulting problems. I would recommend going to an agent and company someone has experienced positive service with, especially filing claims. You also have the right to get another agent, simple paperwork is signed and filled out to transfer your plans to them and you deal with them henceforth and not the existing or previous agent. I'm sorry you had to deal with such run around and stress though.

FTR, as far as I know, just as teachers are not tested to know every single aspect of their subject and curriculum, insurance agents are not tested or required to know every single illness covered. Many dedicated agents will memorize the info or tell you to let them check and confirm before they get back to you to be safe. You are entitled to ask for documentation that you can hold onto showing that your specific illness is covered, both before and after signing anything. Information is your right and many agents take advantage of their training and knowledge when they become aware of how much the public does not know. If you have a lawyer you can have them look over the documents or be present when you sign or agree to anything as well.


As for car, my source dealt with life mostly and barely touched general but I do know a lot of people that go third party. I remember my English teacher telling us that his insurance company wouldn't fully cover the cost of replacing his damaged car door, they gave a low estimate of a used door and offered that lol. Similarly though, I think insurance clients deserve more information about what they are covered for and how the claim process will go forward, whether it is life or car. A lot of businesses are afraid of the public having too much information.


On that note: it's a shame though, that while some info is provided from schools, not all parents care to utilize it for the students' best interests and that information usually does not include tabs on teachers and their progress or lagging. Maybe this information should be widely available in both the education and insurance worlds.

 

[nirtime]

I was already a member of the plan for about a year or two. There was a change over in the agent where the previous agent was someone I respected and he was actually knowledgable. The hand over was passed on to the "Director" who clearly knew nothing and only made a very insensitive and false assumption since her response was "You came on the plan with that"... I had just asked her a simple question and she was clueless and then as I explained briefly what the disorder entailed, that was quick half-assed response I got.

Insurance always try to down play estimate and repair costs. A good repair isn't cheap and a cheap repair is going to leave your vehicle devalued when the paint has sanding marks under the base coat and the clear coat looks like somebody took a can of RustOLeum and sprayed it.

Also even when you know 100% what you are covered for, you have to fight and play rough with these insurance ppl who actually try to make you feel like you're wrong and its deliberate. Would I deliberately break a perfectly good, factory placed windscreen to get a replacement?

Another thing I cannot handle is the premiums. Imagine you buy a nice vehicle like a Van or a pick up brand new, commercially license it as a T and it costs around $250k. The insurance you gonna have to pay is likely going to exceed $20,000 per year. I know lots of people who keep the fully comprehensive way after paying out their loan on the vehicle and have had issues to get insurance to pay.
Now compare that to buying a foreign used car, which I have actually seen real premiums for and to my surprise those actually remain very close to 10k or have even been over 10k... There is absolutely no reason why the insurance for a foreign used personal car should be anywhere within close to the region of insurance for a brand new, commercially licensed vehicle.

In the US you are basically rewarded with a cash back for every year you don't have an accident, over here you just continue to pay and take stress when you have a claim.

 

[Saxman642]

My first car, the premium was on average $10,500 for the first year across most insurance companies I contacted.

Maritime only gave me for $9500 as I already had a life policy with them.

As for insurance on the while, I used to work admin at one. Many an interesting story I've heard...

 

[Shadowhunter]

I was already a member of the plan for about a year or two. There was a change over in the agent where the previous agent was someone I respected and he was actually knowledgable. The hand over was passed on to the "Director" who clearly knew nothing and only made a very insensitive and false assumption since her response was "You came on the plan with that"... I had just asked her a simple question and she was clueless and then as I explained briefly what the disorder entailed, that was quick half-assed response I got.

You can go to another agent within the company that is like your first agent; someone who respects you and is courteous and knowledgeable about their products and services and request to change the agent from this director. The director does not have to like it, it is your right. Depending on the company, it is one form your new agent fills out and is signed by you and them. The new agent may be willing to listen to you and help you go through the details. It is not up to the agent to decide if your claim is honored, it is up to the underwriters with proper documentation. For your director to not even send the claim through and react in the way she is shows something is not right. Even if an agent tells you something may not be approved or you may not get through with a plan etc it is still your right to make the decision to try or leave it be, not hers. Also, as she has no proof of the beginning and duration of the illness nor has she formally requested any, to put it plainly, she is talking out of her ass.

 

[Shadowhunter]

I think car insurance on the whole can be a bit ridiculous. Imagine if a b12 hits a brand new Porsche. How will their insurance company respond? I think sometimes people have less stress and better results when they work out the payments themselves tbh compared to the stories of runaround I've heard.