Corona Virus, Vehicle Service and Insurance

[Marusho]

I live in Virginia, a state that doesn't regulate the behavior of insurance companies. Your state probably has different regulations.

A family member bought a new car. As people sometimes do when they have a new car, she took a vacation in it. When she returned she had the oil changed at the dealership (complimentary).

Her insurer, State Farm, bought her service record. 5 months into her ownership they notified her that they were raising her rates because they projected that at the rate the car was being driven it would exceed her stated 12,000 miles per year. She had to then confront them to explain that her estimate was still correct.

I'm sure some of you are thinking this is made up, because it is so outrageous that it cannot be true. You have never had an insurance policy of any kind if this seems bizarre.

Anyone reading this could have written it, using your own example of a company behaving badly.

Right now people are driving less because of COVID-2019, which I like to call "Brown Earth Pig Disease", after the Chinese Year of the Brown Earth Pig, 2019. (NOTE: Nobody knows what a Brown Earth Pig is.) Ask yourself how aggressively you think State Farm will be contacting the clients (I prefer "johns") to alert them that their premiums will be lowered because they noticed that they are driving less than expected? Again, if you have any experience with the insurance industry you are laughing your *** off.

No dealership has ever asked me to opt in to allow them to sell my service history to insurers or CarFax, so it's probably not negotiable, at least in my business-friendly state. But my local service station doesn't sell my oil change history. . . .

How about another example? I have 4 motorcycles, insured through Progressive since 2003. I have never made a claim. In 2015 I received a notice that my rates were being increased 40% because of information found on my credit report. My home has no mortgage. I have one credit card that is always paid off monthly. I have no loans. My FICO scores are always over 800. Progressive told me that they were raising my motorcycle insurance premiums because I had had no automobile loan within the past 5 years. I bitched and moaned and spoke to their underwriting department, who stuck to their guns. My only satisfaction is my ability to disparage the company at every opportunity; but I'd rather have the money. Again, anyone who doubts this sad tale has never had any experience with an insurer.

I asked my automobile insurer, GEICO, if they used credit history to raise rates and they claimed they do not . . . yet . . . in Virginia.

There are apologists for every business. I'm sure somebody will take issue with these points. Please remember that I'm talking about things that happened in my state. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Moe1962]

I live in Virginia too. I live in the Northern Neck (Colonial Beach), never near the Beltway, Northern Virginia, or 95. I moved here from Florida, where my rates were super low, and I now pay Northern Virginia rates. Talked to my Insurer, since my rate is outrageous for living in the country, and got no satisfaction. Called most of the insurers and the price wasn't much different.

 

[GRAYWOLF]

If you want to get back at Geico, drop them for a different company.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[NC Rebel]

I lived in NOVA for over 30 years. Unfortunately, there's an overly abundant supply of horribly reckless road raging drivers there. The rates periodically go up every year to some degree and I have a perfect driving record ...no accidents or tickets in the past 20 years but yet the rates go up. According to my Sister who works at a major insurance company ... they do take your credit score in to account to determine your premium.

 

[chrisnack]

State Farm is a terrible company. I had used them for years and had 6 different policies with them, life, business, cars, motorcycles, etc. I backed into a pillar in a parking garage, got the truck fixed and they dropped me saying i had too many claims. That was the first claim i'd ever had with them and it was only $2500. I dropped them and moved all of my policies to AmFam and cut my rates significantly.

I also quit using progressive years ago as well. They were ok on the motorcycles, but always had terrible rates on the autos for me at least. Doing claims through them wasn't fun either. Damaged a motorcycle once.

I think they all probably suck. Insurance blows, something you hope you never need to use, but obviously have to pay for. Best you can hope for is that the claim process is smooth and your rates don't go up. I'm sure you'll get a ton of responses from everyone with good and bad from every company out there.

 

[Billy James]

Yes, Credit Score is one of the factors that determines your Auto Insurance Rate. When my 20 year old daughter went to get her own policy, the company quoted $215 a month originally. When they discovered that she had no credit history, the monthly rate jumped to $428. Needless to say, she is still on my policy. Remember to have your "young adult" children start building good credit as soon as they can.....it's important.