A TikTok user and licensed insurance agent exposes how you’re getting ripped off and explains ways of ensuring you’re getting everything you’re entitled to under your policy.
TikTok user @anonymousally198, who said they’re a licensed insurance agent, posted the viral clip on Sept. 6. The video has amassed more than 259,000 views since it was posted.
@anonymousally198 #capcut this is how to avoid being ripped off part 3 on the WORST company i ever worked for where i witnessed HORRIBLE mistakes that were dire for customers, financial mistakes w customers money, awful employment – the worst place to work that exploits the kabor of single parents with a terrible low wage, rips you off on commission, works you like a dog, allows racism, supervisors rarely available, call center chaos. Never buy insurance from call center places in my opinion, allegedlly. #callcentercomedy #callcenterjob #callcenterhell #insuranceagentsoftiktok #ripoffcompanies #lifehacks #lifeadvicetiktok #moneyhacks #moneysavingtips #thetea ♬ original sound – AnonymousAlly198
“If you have an auto and homeowners insurance with any major company, and you don’t literally sit in front of that agent when you make changes – like adding a vehicle, or changing coverage, or adding your teenager to your policy – chances are you are very, very likely to get ripped off and here’s why,” @anonymousally198 said in the video.
According to @anonymousally198, she is an insurance agent licensed in three states.
“I am licensed in my home state, as well as North and South Carolina, where auto and homeowners insurance is very tricky,” she claims.
@anonymousally198 explained that in some cases when you call in to your insurance company the person tending to your needs is a call center representative with an insurance license and not a career insurance agent.
“Even though they have to be licensed agents to make any changes, they oftentimes will take payments or work through payment issues with you,” she said. “These people are very, a lot of the time, very unskilled and very underpaid. These people that are taking these calls meet the very bare minimum to be able to do what they are doing as an ‘insurance agent.’ So they make mistakes all the time.”
Sometimes, those mistakes can be “catastrophic,” @anonymousally198 said. “I mean like they didn’t add your car to the policy and you’ve been driving around without insurance. Or you thought you had collision but nobody ever did anything about it.”
Good luck getting help with those problems, though, @anonymousally198 said. Especially, “if you’re with this company that is three letters that are the same letter.” This leads one to believe @anonymousally198 is referring to AAA.
If this is indeed the case, how do you protect yourself as an insurance consumer?
“So my best advice for auto and homeowners insurance, as a licensed agent, is I would never, ever, ever buy insurance for my auto, home, or anything, unless it was from a licensed agent who has a brick-and-mortar building with regular office hours that I could sit in front of,” she said.
The Daily Dot reached out to @anonymousally198 via TikTok and AAA via email for comment.
Commenters weighed in with opinions on various insurance companies and their own tactics for getting the best deals.
One commenter wrote, “First rule in having insurance- pick your agent, not your insurance.”
Another user agreed. “I worked for USAA in the insurance department for 9 years and this is 100% correct,” they wrote.
One user said it’s difficult to find a good broker these days. “Its rare to see a brick and mortar insurance anymore.” wrote WhoCanSay01010.
@anonymousally198 isn’t the only one offering insurance advice on TikTok. Last week, a credit coach shared a PSA on how to reduce their car insurance rates. This summer, a worker told folks working from home how to lower their monthly bills. One woman who learned she had paid insurance for months on a totaled vehicle would probably have benefited from double checking her records.