by Guest » Sat Nov 20, 2010 11:17 pm
I just got a letter from my former auto insurance company informing me that I owe them for the remaining policy amount. I had a six month policy and I stopped making payments. Now they say I owe them the remaining amount ($120.75). Since they stopped coverage when I stopped paying, how can I be obligated to pay them anything beyond that point?
It would be paying for nothing, right?
I'm mad about this. I realize I should have paid them, it was actually a big confused mess where they were supposed to take payments out of my checking account and did NOT and I didn't realize it until they sent me a letter and by then the car had stopped running. So I haven't been driving it, have no money to fix the car, and at that point figured insurance wasn't a priority so I let it go.
But i still don't understand how they can hold me to the remaining amount and even threaten a collection agency as a next action. They haven't lost anything; they did provide me coverage while I was paying and when I stopped paying, they stopped coverage. I don't get it.
It would be paying for nothing, right?
I'm mad about this. I realize I should have paid them, it was actually a big confused mess where they were supposed to take payments out of my checking account and did NOT and I didn't realize it until they sent me a letter and by then the car had stopped running. So I haven't been driving it, have no money to fix the car, and at that point figured insurance wasn't a priority so I let it go.
But i still don't understand how they can hold me to the remaining amount and even threaten a collection agency as a next action. They haven't lost anything; they did provide me coverage while I was paying and when I stopped paying, they stopped coverage. I don't get it.
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 04:05 am Post Subject:
Since they stopped coverage when I stopped paying, how can I be obligated to pay them anything beyond that point?
They stopped coverage when your policy lapsed, not when you stopped paying premiums. Perhaps your policy did not lapse in the manner you think. Additionally, the language of your contract might state that in the event of cancellation for non-payment of premium, there will be a charge of $100 plus the amount of unpaid premium from the date of non-payment to the date of lapse.
But i still don't understand how they can hold me to the remaining amount and even threaten a collection agency as a next action. They haven't lost anything; they did provide me coverage while I was paying and when I stopped paying, they stopped coverage. I don't get it.
You did read your contract, didn't you? You didn't? Oh, right, it was that packet of papers that you threw away because it's just the insurance stuff, and it's not that important. And somewhere in that insurance stuff you never read was the business about sending your debt to collections if not paid in a timely manner.
If people weren't constantly changing insurance companies "to get a lower premium", everyone's premiums would be a bit lower. And insurance companies would not be sending people's accounts to collections. They never did this five or ten years ago.
Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 12:31 am Post Subject: thanks
Thanks for the info. As you can see, I wasn't "premium shopping" but had a car that died. Kind of stupid to pay for insurance on a car that is dead and with no hope of fixing it or getting another soon, but yeah. I should have taken action. Lesson learned.
Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 11:57 am Post Subject:
The insurance papers aren't exactly meant to be thrown away or kept unread. Unless we go through them we won't ever understand the exclusions or the payment terms and conditions. If we don't know certain things we'll keep wondering why justice was not met when we file for a claim.
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