by Guest » Sat Dec 20, 2008 02:50 pm
I did something really dumb. I accidentally let my auto insurance lapse and when I discovered this error I quickly spoke with my agent begging him to reinstate me right away. He said that he would have to put me though and it could take 2-5 business day. (This all happened last week)
Well I freaked out about not having insurance (needed it right away!!) and called an old insurance agent of mine who was able to put together a new policy for me but it cost more than what I was paying and I had to give him a check for the full 6 month policy. I did this on Thursday morning but I asked him if my other agent came through would I be able to cancel with him. He said that I couldn't. I failed to ask why (like a dope...I was just so grateful to get the insurance)
Anyway later that same day my first agent called to let me know that everything was fine. He was able to make things move along faster and I now have my original insurance back in place with the same price. So basically from not having any insurance I now have two policies!!
I really want to stay with my original insurance policy (much better price for basically the same coverage) and drop the new one. I need to get in touch with the agent of the new policy and let him know that I want to cancel which technically will be about 5 days old (when I saw him on Thursday he filled out the forms dated for Wed. since that's when I called him) once I speak to him on Monday. (I didn't get a chance to do so yesterday)
Hopefully he won't give me a hard time and if I have to pay for any fees and the coverage on the 5 days I will do so. What I did do was on Thursday night after having my original policy reinstated I put a stop payment on my check with the new policy since I was afraid of problems and not getting my money back or it taking weeks to do so.
Does anyone know about auto insurance? Is it easy to cancel a policy at any time? (the policy I want to cancel will be less than a week old) I don't know why I was told I couldn't cancel. This has given me a headache and lots of anxiety over the last few days.
Well I freaked out about not having insurance (needed it right away!!) and called an old insurance agent of mine who was able to put together a new policy for me but it cost more than what I was paying and I had to give him a check for the full 6 month policy. I did this on Thursday morning but I asked him if my other agent came through would I be able to cancel with him. He said that I couldn't. I failed to ask why (like a dope...I was just so grateful to get the insurance)
Anyway later that same day my first agent called to let me know that everything was fine. He was able to make things move along faster and I now have my original insurance back in place with the same price. So basically from not having any insurance I now have two policies!!
I really want to stay with my original insurance policy (much better price for basically the same coverage) and drop the new one. I need to get in touch with the agent of the new policy and let him know that I want to cancel which technically will be about 5 days old (when I saw him on Thursday he filled out the forms dated for Wed. since that's when I called him) once I speak to him on Monday. (I didn't get a chance to do so yesterday)
Hopefully he won't give me a hard time and if I have to pay for any fees and the coverage on the 5 days I will do so. What I did do was on Thursday night after having my original policy reinstated I put a stop payment on my check with the new policy since I was afraid of problems and not getting my money back or it taking weeks to do so.
Does anyone know about auto insurance? Is it easy to cancel a policy at any time? (the policy I want to cancel will be less than a week old) I don't know why I was told I couldn't cancel. This has given me a headache and lots of anxiety over the last few days.
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 06:59 pm Post Subject:
I have canceled Allstate and Geico and I was able to cancel it with no problem. They even gave me credits back because I had over payed. Since I live in New York I have to wait 21 days before they cancel my policy unless I have another policy with another company.
You should just call your second insurance agent and tell him to cancel it because your old policy was reinstated. If he refuses you should probably get in contact with the company directly to cancel it immediately and refund all charges from the start date of your 1st policy.
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 08:06 pm Post Subject: cancelling
Auto insurance is a unilateral contract, you can cancel at any time. Worst case scenario, you lose a short rate cancellation penalty.
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 02:30 pm Post Subject:
Well since you've stopped pay on the check, the policy will automatically cancel for non-payment anyway, but there might be some other small fee, associated with this...on their end...I would still call the agent, and advise them I've stopped pay on the check and wish this policy to be canceled...period...i don't know why the agent would've said this:
I asked him if my other agent came through would I be able to cancel with him. He said that I couldn't.
That sounds like a lot of bs to me...but I'm an adjuster not an agent...still i think it's bs...hopefully an agent will pop and let us know if something like that exsists...Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 03:04 pm Post Subject:
You are able to cancel any insurance policy. All cancelling does is cease insurance coverage. There are policies that have minimum earned premiums; there are some rules and regulations at the city, state, & federal level that have stipulations on how a policy can be canceled (such as when a filing is in place and it takes 35 business days for these to cancel). In any case, as Lori stated, you do not have insurance due to the fact that you stopped payment on the check and removed consideration for the policy.
Because you allowed your insurance to lapse and the fact that the agent for the company that canceled for non-pay was unable to procure insurance for you in a timely manner is not the fault of the agent you approached and eventually purchased an insurance policy from. If you were up front with the second agent and asked if they would mind writing a policy for five days and then cancel to return to the first agent and they didn't have a problem with it then that would be fine.
I think that you owe it to the second agent that was able to do for you what your first agent was not (provide you auto insurance so that you would be protected for any covered loss up to your policy limits) to continue the policy until renewal.
If I was the second agent and I knew that you were going to only use me to have insurance for a few days just to leave to return to an agent that was unable to do for you what I could--I would have asked that you seek assistance from another firm.
In any case, had you not already canceled your insurance yourself by putting a stop payment on the check (which means you have no insurance from the day your last policy lapsed until which time you actually purchase an insurance policy) you would have been able to cancel your insurance policy. The second agent told you that you could not cancel because they were most likely perturbed that you asked if you could cancel the policy with them when another agent comes around.
But, since your first agent was then able to instate the policy the same day that your second agent bound coverage, your first agent should have had you sign a Policy Release and send it/take it to the second agent and have coverage cancelled flat that day.
Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:55 am Post Subject:
The second agent told you that you could not cancel because they were most likely perturbed that you asked if you could cancel the policy with them when another agent comes around.
But (and I agree with most of what you said) this was an out and out lie.Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 09:15 pm Post Subject: cancelling auto insurance
When cancelling insurance with a company, my agent said that in order to do that they needed proof of new insurance, the name of the new company and policy number, etc.
Is this true??
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 12:27 am Post Subject:
It depends on the state. In New York to cancel it right away you need proof of new insurance if you cant provide that they will cancel it in 21 days.
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 09:31 am Post Subject:
This is quite like I'd seen a neighbor experience a few months back. The only difference was that he was not too sure but somehow believed that his former policy had been restored. He proved unlucky the day after he received a call from his old agent stating the restoration, while in reality he was plying uncovered.
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 02:32 pm Post Subject:
Is this true??
this is state dependent, however when you go to get insurance if there is a gap with no coverages some may not insure you at all or jack your rate for driving uninsured.Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 05:40 pm Post Subject:
Is the rate increase a significant one? I would think it probaly would be. I wonder if the poster was charged any fees. I would think that their had to be some type of payment needed since the coverage was there for 5 days.
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