The mini investigations you never see, and why journalism matters

W5 is still on hiatus until January 28 as we prepare a blockbuster second half of the season. But I want to share a little story of the power of journalism.

We get a lot of emails. Many are press releases from PR folks. A lot are very specific and personal stories from people who need a lawyer and they figure we’re the cheaper option (we usually take a pass on those). And some are worthy, multi-layer, interesting and populist ideas in the public interest.

But there are the in-between stories: stories in which people have a legitimate beef, but we’re not quite sure if they meet the standard to be a W5 story. Is it worthy of a half-hour or hour of content? Are there multiple avenues to follow and layers to strip back? Is it an example of a bigger problem? If the answer is no, it may be a legit complaint, but maybe it’s not a W5 story.

But sometimes investigative journalists can make a difference just by checking a story out – which is satisfying. Especially when it’s a matter of the little guy versus the big corporate machine. We do a lot of these mini-investigations and no one ever sees them. Maybe we should share some of those stories.

Here’s an example. Last week I got an email from Doreen. She and her husband have lived in the same house in Eastern Ontario for four decades. They’ve had one single house insurance company during that span. Until the company cancelled their policy, suddenly and coldly.

Here’s an excerpt of her complaint:

We have a situation here and we don’t know where to turn. We have been insured with Allstate Home Insurance for 43 years. We have had 3 claims during that time. Two of those claims were during the last two years. One due to water from a dishwasher and the other was roof repair due to the [wind storm] last May... As a result our premium went up 30%. Yesterday our insurance company called us to tell us they will not renew our policy and gave us until the end of day to cancel our policy. It was the coldest, almost threatening call we have ever received. We are seniors and this is extremely stressful and upsetting for us. We are now considered High Risk and cannot get insurance on our home anywhere, even though our roof is new, our appliances are new and we have a new hot water tank. Please help us.

My heart immediately went out to Doreen. If what she said was true, it doesn’t seem like she did anything wrong. Three claims in 43 years seems rather reasonable and paying all those years of premiums should entitle us to confidently make a legitimate claim without fear that we’ll be cancelled if we do. And giving her one single day to cancel – or else – certainly seemed like a move meant to intimidate and tamp down debate. Loyal customers deserve better, don’t they?

So I decided to ask the insurance company about it. Here’s an excerpt:

Hi Allstate,

I’m the executive producer of CTV News’s W5 – Canada’s longest-running investigative series. I have not spoken to this viewer, but I’m genuinely curious about the corporate logic of cancelling her policy due to two claims in 43 years. I’m not saying it’s improper, but I want to understand the decision-making process.

I went on to ask whether everyone should expect their policy to be cancelled if they make two claims and whether one day to make a decision seems reasonable to them – especially after 43 years of loyal business. And then – in an admittedly passive aggressive pot-shot at their unreasonable one-day deadline – I gave them five days to respond to me.

I sent this message to both the agent who cancelled Doreen’s policy and to a “senior public relations specialist” at Allstate. I didn’t have high hopes for a response. But I was wrong.

A couple of days later, the public relations guy sent me (and Doreen) a message. He didn’t answer any of the questions I asked, but he did send an interesting statement:

Thank you for bringing this situation to our attention. Allstate Canada has set high standards for customer service and, in this case, we did not meet those standards. We made an error in the processing of this customer policy. Our team has reached out to the customer to apologize for the error and how the matter was handled. We have a culture of continuous improvement and, as such, we will be using this situation to make changes that improve our processes.

I emailed Doreen to find out what this meant and she said that she received an emailed apology from the company ombudsman, with an offer to reinstate her policy!

She says, “Had it not been for getting the media involved, I am sure nothing would have happened. It is reassuring that we have a voice, a place that will listen to our concerns. Thank you again. Doreen.”

She sent a follow up that said, “…it would’ve been interesting to get answers to all your questions.”

Yep. But, good on Allstate to do the right thing, quickly. Too bad that sometimes it takes a journalist sniffing around to get the attention of big corporations.

Do you like these type of quick investigations? Would you want to see more of them? Let me know what you think.