As the rainy season appears to be finally ending this year, the stories of home damage and insurance battles are becoming more frequent in my conversations.

I am a mother, which means I spend some mornings at the pool where my kids practice. I spend multiple days per week at South Suburban facilities while my son takes the ice. Why does this fact matter? Well, mothers talk, and they talk a lot.

In my conversations lately, a lot of them either start or end with what is happening with insurance companies. One mom told a story of $40,000 in damage due to their basement flooding. Well, while the insurance company agreed to take care of the hail damage – they refused to pay for the basement. After all, they did not specifically get flood insurance.

Another family in Parker are truly going through hell this year. Children sleeping on the floor, basement and walls destroyed. They had flood insurance, but the company let them know they did not have seepage insurance. Really? Would you like to explain to me how the floods did not cause the seepage?

Another case with a car — insurance will pay for the damage on the top of the car but not the windshield. Really? That makes me feel safer being on the road with her now. While the top of the car is great — the cracks in her windshield might pose some safety problems for, you know, seeing.

I understand insurance is a business, but should it constantly feel like a scam? We pay month after month, year after year. Should we constantly be told no when we finally need to turn to the system that is supposed to be there to protect us?

Laws protect insurance companies — yet, we as citizens, are required by law to pay them.

Then, something unexpected happens and we find out we did not actually get the right policy. Well, how was I supposed to know I needed seepage and flood insurance?

When we get our policies, most of us are people who, with good faith, think we are being told exactly what we need to have and our agents are protecting us. We do not have college degrees in knowing the loopholes, lingo and rules. We just get what we are told is best and hope that if something happens — they pay.

It took actual legal action for us to get our roof fixed last year. Really? Our roof where the leaking stains were obvious did not meet criteria for insurance?

Citizens are tired and angry for a variety of reasons. We feel like we are cheated when we buy groceries and wonder how we spent $100 of stuff that didn’t fill two bags. We feel cheated in paying taxes and we feel cheated when we actually need to use our insurance and are told no.

Feeling cheated regularly creates a lot of distrust and tired citizens.

Thelma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.