topic Re: Insurance inquiry in Community Chat

Insurance inquiry

bonnielu — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 13:46:57 GMT

I have a bundle, car, home and umbrella. Had it for years. Insurance companies changed ownership so I was transferred around. Been pretty much pleased. No real problems, just one flood in the area and I had some minor work on a basement room. No car issues. Nothing over a 50 year period unil a month ago.

By permission I was able to add our grandson the rights to drive on a temporary basis.ONE MONTH ONLY. They sent me a letter of approval. No fees. Just a courtesy. Long story short--- banged up our second car in our driveway near a light post. No damage to property other than side of my car. Car was repaired without issue. However I got a letter saying he personally would be excluded from driving the car for life. EXCLUSION CLAUSE FROM DRIVING THE CAR AND EXCLUSION FROM UMBRELLA.

Hit me hard, not that I would ever ever ever again allow anyone to drive my car. But I felt betrayed since I honestly got permission and they were hard to reach to get details and equally hard to reach when I wanted answers after the face. No longer local. No longer centralized. Might as well have called the MOON.

Question: Does anyone have experience with this. Is this common 1. hard to reach agents or agency 2. Exclusion policies after getting permission. 3. Denial of someone driving a vehicle in general.

Re: Insurance inquiry

gidgetgh — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 13:55:47 GMT

@bonnielu wrote:
I have a bundle, car, home and umbrella. Had it for years. Insurance companies changed ownership so I was transferred around. Been pretty much pleased. No real problems, just one flood in the area and I had some minor work on a basement room. No car issues. Nothing over a 50 year period unil a month ago.

By permission I was able to add our grandson the rights to drive on a temporary basis.ONE MONTH ONLY. They sent me a letter of approval. No fees. Just a courtesy. Long story short--- banged up our second car in our driveway near a light post. No damage to property other than side of my car. Car was repaired without issue. However I got a letter saying he personally would be excluded from driving the car for life. EXCLUSION CLAUSE FROM DRIVING THE CAR AND EXCLUSION FROM UMBRELLA.

Hit me hard, not that I would ever ever ever again allow anyone to drive my car. But I felt betrayed since I honestly got permission and they were hard to reach to get details and equally hard to reach when I wanted answers after the face. No longer local. No longer centralized. Might as well have called the MOON.

Question: Does anyone have experience with this. Is this common 1. hard to reach agents or agency 2. Exclusion policies after getting permission. 3. Denial of someone driving a vehicle in general.

@bonnielu - I'm so sorry this happened to you.

I have State Farm for all my policies- home, car, umbrella and a separate jewelry policy. My agent is local and when I call they answer the phone.

Question for you though. Why would your grandson have anything to do with your umbrella policy???? I didn't understand that.

Re: Insurance inquiry

Franklinbell — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 14:01:27 GMT

@bonnielu @Gosh! I'm so sorry this happened to you. I will be following this thread to see the responses.

Re: Insurance inquiry

NicksmomESQ — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 14:09:59 GMT

@bonnielu I was an insurance claims,regional supervisor in my prior life. My DH was a manager, until he recently retired. I can tell you that insurance companies insure you until you give them a reason not to.

Insurance companies are particularly careful about insuring kids under 25.Your insurance company extended you a courtesy for 30 days. Within that time your grandson damaged your car which cost them money.That's why he is no longer allowed to be insured under your policy. It's not personal. It's how they do business.They drop people all the time.

Also, I don't know who your insurance provider is,but it's unacceptable, that you can't communicate with them.If you're referring to your broker, I would suggest you get a new one. If your referring to the insurance company, I would suggest you shop around for another carrier.I have never had trouble talking to my insurance providers.

I also must say that when my son got his license & we put him on the policy our premium skyrocketed. When he had an accident the premium went up another $800 a year for 3 years.I know people who's policies were cancelled because of one car accident. Consider yourself lucky.

Re: Insurance inquiry

millieshops — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 14:21:51 GMT

@bonnielu Beyond frustrating to get an answer to any issue that isn't common to many of their customers frequently -- I've had that with several companies, insurance, banking, and stock market related.

I have never had your exact problem, so I'm no help at all really.

Good luck. Hope someone here chimes in. I know we have at least one poster who has worked in insurance. Sorry I don't have a name for you.

Re: Insurance inquiry

bonnielu — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 15:04:26 GMT

I so appreciate your response. I feel better now. Yes he is 18 on his way to the University of Md. He obtained a job in our area for one month. We got permission without payment to drive back and forth. The first few days he backed up into a stone wall on one side of our driveway. Boy, what fun getting to talk to someone. And they were rather harsh and denied the special priviledge until I produced the letter.

In any case old grandma here will never let anyone ever touch my car. I did not know and was trying to save myself the daily ride... hills and curves to his destination. When he did drive I had a tracker on him to know where he was on his drive back and forth. If he just did not hit the wall.

I am looking around for a local company or representative. I did have one for almost 50 years until..... seems the UNTIL is common these days. Thanks agaiin

Re: Insurance inquiry

bonnielu — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 15:06:48 GMT

Yes, the umbrella policy. I asked and got an answer that I did not understand. I asked them if he should sleep outside and that did not go over too big. LOL

Re: Insurance inquiry

bonnielu — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 15:10:27 GMT

My long answer was meant for you. I appreciate the other responses as well. I guess my glasses were in my pocket. LOL In any case I will be on the hunt for a local person soon. But the policy will renew in Sept and the amount did not go up for what happened other than the usual yearly rate increase. Thanksful for that.

It was the way I was treated. The promise they made, I thought. Heck for 50 years I have only made one claim and it was natural disaster in my area for flooding. And only one room in the basement was at issue. My sump pump could not take the increase in water and it failed. I ended up buying a French drain and it has been okay every since. I

Re: Insurance inquiry

nikkisaunt1 — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 15:12:00 GMT

Nicksmom is exactly right. The 30 days was almost a probationary period. He was temporarily allowed on your policy and then they saw that he was a risk they did not want to Insure. I think you will find that the cost to insure him should you try to go to another carrier will be high too because he has an accident now on his record and due to his age. He likely should seek a policy of his own with an agent’s help.

Re: Insurance inquiry

ScrapHappy — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 15:38:16 GMT

I don't have the experience you had but I was with an insurance company, Liberty Mutual, for over 30 years. Never a claim, house or car(s) and not even a traffic ticket. When we moved into our new home and I really needed them, they denied the claim and increased our policies by nearly $2000. Went to Allstate after that. I liked that there was someone local to speak with. Now I'm using an insurance broker. I like that she's also local and I can call her for anything. Not only did she save us money, I got bette coverage...especially on my home.

Re: Insurance inquiry

sunshine45 — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 16:03:00 GMT

with our insurance company we dont HAVE to exclude a driver. if we want to pay a bit more than what we were paying then we can without the exclusion. we had to do this with our daughter who was in an accident. she was driving a car with her name and my name on it and had an accident. our insurance went up (on the car, but not on anything else) and the rate increase will be removed in three years i believe. we have ERIE INSURANCE and use a broker for all of our insurance needs.

did not want to remove her from our policy because she is a big help when my mom needs rides places. my mom will be 83 this year, has a car, and doesnt want to drive that much anymore.

Re: Insurance inquiry

on the bay — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 16:07:40 GMT

@bonnielu,

Wouldn't you know the one time you let someone drive-so sorry that happened.

When we lived in MD years ago we had Erie insurance-McCardle agency. Always so responsive and great to deal with. Had one really non accident and they handled it all well. I see they have 4.7 rating and still going strong.

And yes you should always be able to get a hold of someone in some way at insurance companies.

Re: Insurance inquiry

FancyPhillyshopper — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 16:29:26 GMT

The issue is that YOU filed a claim based on the accident your grandson caused.

If you would have made him fix the car out of his own pocket, without a claim, then you would be fine and no problems.

The insurance company probably figures that someone who has an accident in less than a month because they do not know how to park will be having accidents regularly. If you have full coverage that will cost them a fortune. What if they had to fix the lamp and the wall as well?

I have one very old car, and the only car insurance I have on it is liability. In other words, my insurance will cover damage to other cars and other people, but whatever happens to my car is on me.

Hopefully your grandson will never have any accidents, or cause problems in your house or property, since he is now seen as a potential risk for everything.

Yes, you should always be able to reach an agent and an agency.

Re: Insurance inquiry

1Professor — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 17:29:03 GMT

@FancyPhillyshopper wrote:

The issue is that YOU filed a claim based on the accident your grandson caused.

If you would have made him fix the car out of his own pocket, without a claim, then you would be fine and no problems.

The insurance company probably figures that someone who has an accident in less than a month because they do not know how to park will be having accidents regularly. If you have full coverage that will cost them a fortune. What if they had to fix the lamp and the wall as well?

I have one very old car, and the only car insurance I have on it is liability. In other words, my insurance will cover damage to other cars and other people, but whatever happens to my car is on me.

Hopefully your grandson will never have any accidents, or cause problems in your house or property, since he is now seen as a potential risk for everything.

Yes, you should always be able to reach an agent and an agency.

@FancyPhillyshopper @bonnielu @nikkisaunt1 @NicksmomESQ + all

As a former trial attorney, I suggest you read your policy.

No, you cannot have accidents and NOT report them with someone else paying. Your contract has you report all accidents. It's part of assessing the risk insurance companies are allowed to do. Plus every accident lessens the value of a car.

You also can't have anyone drive the car without reporting that another person is driving your car.

I don't think it's a good lesson to a grandson or anyone to cheat the insurance company. Honor the contract. Report accidents. Deal with it.

If your contract obligates you to report accidents AND YOU DO NOT, they have the right to drop you and it would be hard to find any company willing to pick you up.

Please don't tell me folks do it all the time.

So what.

Re: Insurance inquiry

NicksmomESQ — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 18:33:43 GMT

@1Professor wrote:
@FancyPhillyshopper wrote:

The issue is that YOU filed a claim based on the accident your grandson caused.

If you would have made him fix the car out of his own pocket, without a claim, then you would be fine and no problems.

The insurance company probably figures that someone who has an accident in less than a month because they do not know how to park will be having accidents regularly. If you have full coverage that will cost them a fortune. What if they had to fix the lamp and the wall as well?

I have one very old car, and the only car insurance I have on it is liability. In other words, my insurance will cover damage to other cars and other people, but whatever happens to my car is on me.

Hopefully your grandson will never have any accidents, or cause problems in your house or property, since he is now seen as a potential risk for everything.

Yes, you should always be able to reach an agent and an agency.
@FancyPhillyshopper @bonnielu @nikkisaunt1 @NicksmomESQ + all

As a former trial attorney, I suggest you read your policy.
No, you cannot have accidents and NOT report them with someone else paying. Your contract has you report all accidents. It's part of assessing the risk insurance companies are allowed to do. Plus every accident lessens the value of a car.

You also can't have anyone drive the car without reporting that another person is driving your car.

I don't think it's a good lesson to a grandson or anyone to cheat the insurance company. Honor the contract. Report accidents. Deal with it.

If your contract obligates you to report accidents AND YOU DO NOT, they have the right to drop you and it would be hard to find any company willing to pick you up.

Please don't tell me folks do it all the time.
So what.

@1Professor I agree that all accidents should be reported in a timely manner,which means about 30 days ,or the carrier can deny coverage for late notice. However, If you're in a one car accident & no one else is involved,with minimal damage, & no injuries,a lot of people make the repairs & never report it.The problem arises when there's another vehicle involved with possible injuries.You're taking a heck of a chance "settling" with another driver for the physical damage to his vehicle.He can come back a year later & sue you for bodily injury. If you never reported the accident coverage will be denied.

As far is allowing someone to drive your car who isn't a named insured on the policy: That's allowed on an occasional basis.Someone living in your household who regularly drives your car must be named. If you give your friend permission to drive your car for a day & they have an accident,you're fully covered for the accident.Of course depending on the circumstances your policy may get canceled.

Re: Insurance inquiry

bikerbabe — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 18:45:33 GMT

Our policy allows permissive occasional use by someone else because the policy follows the car not the driver.

You might be dinged on your rates going forward because of an accident, but it is not true that your car being driven by someone else is automatically not covered. What is required is that they had permission by you to drive the car on that occasion.

As with any accident, depending on the circumstances, they might cancel you because that’s what insurance companies do. 🫤

Re: Insurance inquiry

1Professor — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 18:55:52 GMT

@NicksmomESQ wrote:
@1Professor wrote:
@FancyPhillyshopper wrote:

The issue is that YOU filed a claim based on the accident your grandson caused.

If you would have made him fix the car out of his own pocket, without a claim, then you would be fine and no problems.

The insurance company probably figures that someone who has an accident in less than a month because they do not know how to park will be having accidents regularly. If you have full coverage that will cost them a fortune. What if they had to fix the lamp and the wall as well?

I have one very old car, and the only car insurance I have on it is liability. In other words, my insurance will cover damage to other cars and other people, but whatever happens to my car is on me.

Hopefully your grandson will never have any accidents, or cause problems in your house or property, since he is now seen as a potential risk for everything.

Yes, you should always be able to reach an agent and an agency.
@FancyPhillyshopper @bonnielu @nikkisaunt1 @NicksmomESQ + all

As a former trial attorney, I suggest you read your policy.
No, you cannot have accidents and NOT report them with someone else paying. Your contract has you report all accidents. It's part of assessing the risk insurance companies are allowed to do. Plus every accident lessens the value of a car.

You also can't have anyone drive the car without reporting that another person is driving your car.

I don't think it's a good lesson to a grandson or anyone to cheat the insurance company. Honor the contract. Report accidents. Deal with it.

If your contract obligates you to report accidents AND YOU DO NOT, they have the right to drop you and it would be hard to find any company willing to pick you up.

Please don't tell me folks do it all the time.
So what.
@1Professor I agree that all accidents should be reported in a timely manner,which means about 30 days ,or the carrier can deny coverage for late notice. However, If you're in a one car accident & no one else is involved,with minimal damage, & no injuries,a lot of people make the repairs & never report it.The problem arises when there's another vehicle involved with possible injuries.You're taking a heck of a chance "settling" with another driver for the physical damage to his vehicle.He can come back a year later & sue you for bodily injury. If you never reported the accident coverage will be denied.

As far is allowing someone to drive your car who isn't a named insured on the policy: That's allowed on an occasional basis.Someone living in your household who regularly drives your car must be named. If you give your friend permission to drive your car for a day & they have an accident,you're fully covered for the accident.Of course depending on the circumstances your policy may get canceled.

@NicksmomESQ

I get concerned with the people who read these community boards and think something is okay to do, when it may ultimately hurt them. Getting your policy cancelled hurts.

Your policy will say that you DO have to report the accident, even solo. It is data that goes to the risk of insuring you and the value of the car PLUS bad repairs cause problems in future incidents.

One category of person who regularly has "solo" accidents, for example, is elderly people with impaired vision, declining cognition, declining agility. They might have relatives telling them to just get it fixed, no report. WRONG. Just trying to avoid rates going up.

If there is some car insurance policy that does not require the reporting of all repairs and accidents to a car, I'd be wildly surprised to find that out. No insurance company would agree to that.

Re: Insurance inquiry

sunshine45 — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 18:59:37 GMT

in our area, minor accidents and small fender benders, the police wont even always come out to write a report anymore. it has become a waste of their time. the cars involved just exchange insurance information if they want and let the insurance companies handle it.

anyone who drives our cars are covered.....even my daughter who they wanted to exclude last year.

Re: Insurance inquiry

Sage04 — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 19:07:43 GMT

@bonnielu was it a lot of damage to the vehicle?

Re: Insurance inquiry

CelticCrafter — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 19:17:31 GMT

@1Professor wrote:
@FancyPhillyshopper wrote:

The issue is that YOU filed a claim based on the accident your grandson caused.

If you would have made him fix the car out of his own pocket, without a claim, then you would be fine and no problems.

The insurance company probably figures that someone who has an accident in less than a month because they do not know how to park will be having accidents regularly. If you have full coverage that will cost them a fortune. What if they had to fix the lamp and the wall as well?

I have one very old car, and the only car insurance I have on it is liability. In other words, my insurance will cover damage to other cars and other people, but whatever happens to my car is on me.

Hopefully your grandson will never have any accidents, or cause problems in your house or property, since he is now seen as a potential risk for everything.

Yes, you should always be able to reach an agent and an agency.
@FancyPhillyshopper @bonnielu @nikkisaunt1 @NicksmomESQ + all

As a former trial attorney, I suggest you read your policy.
No, you cannot have accidents and NOT report them with someone else paying. Your contract has you report all accidents. It's part of assessing the risk insurance companies are allowed to do. Plus every accident lessens the value of a car.

You also can't have anyone drive the car without reporting that another person is driving your car.

I don't think it's a good lesson to a grandson or anyone to cheat the insurance company. Honor the contract. Report accidents. Deal with it.

If your contract obligates you to report accidents AND YOU DO NOT, they have the right to drop you and it would be hard to find any company willing to pick you up.

Please don't tell me folks do it all the time.
So what.

If I back MY car into MY lampost or garage door or garbage can and don't feel like making a claim I'm not reporting it to the insurance company. I don't care what you say or what the insurance policy says. AND, as long as they have a valid license I can let anyone drive my car, no need to let the insurance company know.