At the conclusion of an arduously drawn out 5-year settlement with an insurance company, I received a check for less than 10% of the funds guaranteed by the coverage outlined in my policy.

The best part was the terms under which the final settlement occurred. The funds were disbursed on condition that I contractually acknowledge the allocation as not an admission of fault nor of claim fulfillment on the insurance company’s part for the incident which injured me.

After a few medical visits, I was still ultimately held responsible for the bills that were incurred due to the injury. I could not afford these payments, and received a single phone call with regards to the debt prior to the obligations being forwarded to a collection agency.

Living in the US economy where consumers’ power lies in the ephemeral credit score, my ability to secure a job, purchase a new home, and qualify for future insurance coverage is now threatened because of a situation that was entirely out of my control but “contractually” covered. I believe the insurance industry begs to be disrupted.