AGH!!! Stop Sending Me Your Customers, VRS!!!

[Wade]

Me: Thank you for calling so-and-so. My name is Wade, how may I help you, today?
SC: Yeah, I'd like to review my policy.
Me: Okay, if I could just get your policy number...
SC: It's blah-blah-blah-I'm-an-inbred-idiot.

So, I verify the appropriate information.

Me: And, what can I do for you today?
SC: Yeah, I see my renewal premium is more than DOUBLE what it was last year!
Me: Yes, I see shortly after your last renewal (one year ago) you added an additional driver and vehicle. This caused your premium to increase.
SC: Nobody ever told me my premium increased!

Really? So, I'm the only one in this entire company who actually verbally advises customers of premium increases when changes are made? Man, I must be quite exemplary! And that declaration page we sent you within 7 days after making the change LAST YEAR didn't reflect the new premium? And your higher monthly payments made as a result of this change didn't indicate in the slightest your premium had increased?

Seriously? I mean, seriously?

SC: My other vehicles' premiums are more expensive, now!
Me: Yes, sir, because you added a higher risk driver. Doing that puts your entire policy into the next risk bracket.

I'll spare you all the jargon on this one - those of you in the insurance industry will understand fully. Those of you who don't, try adding a teenage driver to your policy and watch that economy vehicle you paid sixty bucks a month for soar to almost two hundred dollars.

Anyhoo....

SC and I engage in the battle of wits, where he keeps trying different angles on the same argument. Rinse, lather, repeat - I ain't budging.

SC: My other vehicles increased even though my daughter doesn't drive them!
Me: Yes, sir, because you have a higher-risked driver which re-rated your entire policy.

People just don't seem to understand: vehicles are insured, drivers are rated. Both factors determine your policy's premium. Now, if someone isn't a complete asshat, I have no problem explaining this to them, and to my credit, I did a fair job keeping my temper in check while riding the merry-go-round of "Yes-No-Yes-No" that all SC's enjoy taking us for a spin on.

SC: Well, take my daughter off the policy!
Me: I'd be happy to, sir. All we'll need is evidence she no longer resides in the household or a copy of her evidence of insurance from her current provider.

Again, I'll spare you the jargon. Just know in the state of Nevada, if you have a driver in the household, you must either acknowledge or absolve the insurance company of the risk. If you don't want to pay to insure them, absolve us of the risk - it's really that simple. However, you have to prove they are insured elsewhere. Yes, it's a bitch. No, I didn't make the rules. Sorry you don't like it. Yelling at me will do nothing to change this.

SC: Take my daughter off the fuckin' policy, NOW!!!
Me: I'd be happy to, sir. All we'll need is evidence she no longer resides in the household or a copy of her evidence of insurance from her current provider.
SC: I don't want to pay this higher rate! This is bullshit! Man, you guys don't like me anymore! Must not want my business!

Right, ya got me - it's ENTIRELY personal. Yep - never met you a day in my life, yet your vocal charm has persuaded me to make you my buddy. You know what? Here's a shoulder to cry on. Let's go watch Steel Magnolias and share a pint of Hagen Daas, okay? There, there, there....

So, this goes on for a couple more minutes. Rinse, lather, repeat. Finally:

SC: Well, give me a quote if my daughter had her own policy!

Now you get it! Lord, it's a miracle! Your daughter must have her own insurance if you don't want her on the policy! So, let's get her a quote on that, shall we?

Oy.

And, two more quick little rants:

Had two ladies call separately on their individual policies. One disagreed with a company policy, and threatened to call the Department of Insurance. Okay, like I'm really threatened. Literally shaking in my boots.... NOT!!! Like this company's army of lawyers wouldn't go through any policies or revisions with a fine-tooth comb to make sure we're compatible with the Department of Insurance. Yeah, we're just arbitrarily throwing stuff out there and praying to God we can bilk you until the State figures out what we're doing. Knock yourself out, kiddo - have a Nestle Qwik on me.

Second lady calls up. Her premium increased. Why, you ask? Because she substituted a 1991 Ford Tempo with a 1997 Chevrolet 4x4. Gasp! Faint! This vehicle's more expensive to insure! How dare you! Time for me to go shopping!

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

[sms001]

... verbally advises customers of premium increases.... declaration page... higher monthly payments....

Or, you know, Dog forbid, common sense telling you that when you increase the amount of product or service you use you usually pay more?

(I know, I know, Common Sense and SC's. Oil and Water.)

[AccountingDrone]

Back when I worked for an insurance company [State Farm, I still have the agent I worked with for my personal agent] we had some guy call in to get coverage. We took all the information, including drivers license information. Told him specifically that we would be pulling his DMV report, and he swore up down and sideways he had no tickets.

I suppose he forgot the 2 separate high speed chases in the past 30 days, the suspended license and the total destruction of the [stolen] car he was in the first time, and the stolen car he was driving the second time.

Makes me seriously glad that mrDrone and I both have clean driving records other than a single accident 3 years ago for mrDrone.

[TTAZ]

You know what? Here's a shoulder to cry on. Let's go watch Steel Magnolias and share a pint of Hagen Daas, okay? There, there, there....

That is all.

[Primer]

In January, my mom totaled her car. She is not ready to drive again (maybe not ever again) but the insurance company told her it would be cheaper in the long run to move my vehicle over to her policy than to let hers lapse and start anew if/when she does ever get another car. I don't know what the premiums are, as she insists on paying them. I do believe I am the only family member that has nothing "at fault" on record.

BTW, the litigation in regards to the 18-wheeler that ran me over 2.5 years ago seems to be moving along, finally!

[taxguykarl]

Couldn't the SC in the OP just insure the daughter ONLY for the oldest, cheapest to repair car. Recall Risky Business; Janet Carroll, who played Cruise's mom, warned him not to drive their Porsche as he was not insured for it.

[VComps]

Man, I'm glad that I live somewhere that doesn't have rules about age or gender for car insurance. (And anyone can drive anybody else's car, as long as they're A: a licensed driver, and B: given permission by the owner, of course)

taxguykarl: That solution was suggested toward the end of the call.

[dietotaku]

Couldn't the SC in the OP just insure the daughter ONLY for the oldest, cheapest to repair car. Recall Risky Business; Janet Carroll, who played Cruise's mom, warned him not to drive their Porsche as he was not insured for it.

in my state, you can't specify which cars a driver is or is not insured for unless they have their own vehicle on their own policy. if you put your teenager on your policy and she lives in your house, it's assumed that she has access to any of the cars you own and may drive them with or without your permission, so the cost for all vehicles on the policy will go up in accordance with having a high-risk driver in the house. boy was my mom pissed when my brother got his license, lol.

[bainsidhe]

Now I'm curious, what if teenage daughter was never put on a policy. Would the insurance companies hunt down the fact that a teenager resides in the household and assume he/she needs insured? I didn't receive my DL until I was 18 and heading off to college. Because I wasn't driving, I obviously didn't have coverage before then, even though I could have gotten my DL when I was 16. I'm just wondering.

[taxguykarl]

in my state, you can't specify which cars a driver is or is not insured for unless they have their own vehicle on their own policy. if you put your teenager on your policy and she lives in your house, it's assumed that she has access to any of the cars you own and may drive them with or without your permission, so the cost for all vehicles on the policy will go up in accordance with having a high-risk driver in the house.

Wow. Here in Illinois (I know this b/c my father owned an insurance agency for 20 years), that is an option--in fact, my sister was dropped from Dad's Olds after she racked up a couple of speeding tickets--she was still on Mom's 8 y.o. van.

[draftermatt]

Couldn't the SC in the OP just insure the daughter ONLY for the oldest, cheapest to repair car. Recall Risky Business; Janet Carroll, who played Cruise's mom, warned him not to drive their Porsche as he was not insured for it.

I wondered that too. My parents had me listed as allowed to drive my vehicle only to keep their costs down.

Of course my friend's parents had him insured on his dad's pick up truck instead of his El Camino (souped up, etc). Somehow that didn't bite them in the ass when some girl ran into said El Camino with friend driving it.

[KabeRinnaul]

Now I'm curious, what if teenage daughter was never put on a policy. Would the insurance companies hunt down the fact that a teenager resides in the household and assume he/she needs insured? I didn't receive my DL until I was 18 and heading off to college. Because I wasn't driving, I obviously didn't have coverage before then, even though I could have gotten my DL when I was 16. I'm just wondering.

Most states require you to be insured to drive. Therefore, if you're not insured, you're (in theory) not driving. Or at least not driving legally. So there's no need to hunt down that information.

[Chanlin]

(I know, I know, Common Sense and SC's. Oil and Water.)

So does that mean that common sense floats on SC's or SC's float on common sense?

I would prefer to think that it is the former as it makes much more sense to think that the common sense is just above them, right outside of their grasp, and no matter how much you stir they just won't be able to get it

[MannersMakethMan]

So does that mean that common sense floats on SC's or SC's float on common sense?

SCs are definitely more dense, so the common sense should float on them.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My insurance requires me to list any licensed drivers that I live with. When I lived at home, I had my own car and my own policy, but my brother and my parents were all listed as licensed drivers living in the house, even though my brother never drove my car, and my parents, for the most part, didn't either (only if, say, someone's car was in the shop and we needed to do some switching around). (And vice versa - I sometimes drove my dad's car if I needed to, but almost never my mom's. My mom's is newer and also bigger; my dad's is the same size as my car, and I used to have the same car, so if I need to borrow one, that's the one I take. My parents have their own policy with the same company.)

Then my brother moved out and I took his name off the list. When I moved out, I took my parents off and listed my roommate, even though we have never had a reason to drive each other's cars (hell, I usually don't even knew where she's parked in our apartment complex). I am also listed on her policy (coincidentally, we both have the same insurance company, which came in handy, as we were able to just give them the name and address and they could pull the information they needed from their files).

It doesn't mean that the other person is an insured person on the policy; it just tells them who potentially could have access to your car.