Car insurance issue - Open your auto-pay mail people

[kenny]

I was an early adopter of auto-pay for all my bills.
I have not bothered to open an electric bill for over 5 years.
Why bother?
It just gets paid and I know the money is there to pay it.

Actually I don't open ANY of my paper bills that are on auto-pay.
They just stack up, unopened.

Well now I'm screwed.

My car insurance was paid from my VISA card.
The expiration date of my card was May 2012 so the bank sent me a new card with an expiration date of May 2015.
I just got a letter from the DMV saying I have no car insurance.
WTF?

I called my car insurance company, 21st Century.
They said they can't bill the new card, which has the exact same account number, unless I give them the new expiration date.
The notices they sent me warning me of cancelation went unopened. My bad.

They carried me for 7 weeks then cancelled me.
Since I have been uninsured for over 30 days their policy is that they cannot reinstate my old policy and I must apply for a new one.

I had 30 years with 21st Century.
No claims.
No accidents.
No tickets.
No late payments.
Consequently my annual bill was $972.
Now I had to reapply for a NEW policy as an uninsured person.
The price for the identical coverage is $1380 from the same company.

They say they cannot consider my 30 year perfect record.
I am in a bucket of uninsured people.

I'm livid.

Open your mail, people.

 

[Enerchi]

That just does NOT seem fair - with that longevity with one company??? .... wow. But... I guess they DID give you notice. ARGH! What a situation. Sorry Kenny

 

[ame]

The fact that your agent didn't call you is disgusting.

 

[NovemberBride]

I am sorry for your predicament, but I have to say that I think the blame is on you for not opening your mail. By law, the insurance company can't charge your new card without your consent (and yes, a new expiration date makes it a new card). They notified you of the issue with your payment method (by your own account, by more than one notice) and gave you 7 weeks of coverage prior to dropping you. I am not sure what more you expected of them?

Ame, In this day and age many people don't have "insurance agents" per se. I do all of my rate shopping and policy buying over the internet, so there is no one person who I would consider my agent. Any correspondence I ahve with my insurance company is by mail (or more likely email since I consent to electronic discovery). If I choose not to read that correspondence that's my fault.

 

[VRBeauty]

I have to admit that I had something similar happen to me with my phone company. One day *poof!* no internet or long distance access, and it turns out it was because the credit card used to auto-pay my bills had expired and I hadn't provided the phone company with the updated information. Like you, I had ignored the "junk mail" requesting the new information until it was too late. In my case it was just embarrassing (family calling to hear an out of order message) but not expensive.

I'm surprised your insurance agent either wouldn't go to bat for you, or that it didn't help. I think insurance companies generally are taking tough stances on renewal dates because they can make more money if they can force you into a new policy - I believe there's a California laws that prevents them from raising the rates exhorbitantly if you're en existing customer, and this is how they get around it.

 

[texaskj]

May be time to switch companies.
State Farm would hound me, but my Visa is through their bank. I charge everything I can because they give 1% back in State Farm dollars. It may not sound like much, but I shaved $160 off my homeowner's last year.
(And yes, you have to be disciplined for this to work. It doesn't matter to me what the interest rate is because it's paid off every month.)

 

[madelise]

Ugh, I'm so sorry Kenny! That sucks!! I had something similar happen to my cellphone bill, but I caught it by the 4th month! That was 4 months of overdue payments I had to make! EEK! Now I'm opening all my mail!

 

[amc80]

Makes me happy I have a local agent (Allstate). They would definitely contact me if something like this were to happen. Maybe a good time to shop around?

 

[Hera]

I open up all of my mail regardless if it is autopay or not for reasons like this. One time my autopay time ran out (I guess I only signed up for 6 mos and forgot that I did) and I was late on one of my accounts.

I think I read you were prior military. Have you tried USAA?

 

[Haven]

Ouch. That is a pricey mistake.

We have auto-pay set up for small things like insurance and memberships to professional organizations, and I have opted to get all correspondence via email whenever possible. I open the emails, but even if I didn't I would know the first month something wasn't being taken out of an account because I watch those things like a hawk. I go through our accounts and make sure everyone is taking out exactly what they should, just in case. We've been overcharged many times, so if you aren't watching, you're probably paying for it.

 

[Andelain]

Get insurance from a different company for 6 months, then price shop with them AND others. You'll be shopping as an insured person and might get an even better rate.