Car insurance GRRRRRR!

[KTMom91]

I am beyond ticked right now. The main reason I chose NOT to go with the 1-800 guys is so I would have an agent in town, so I could get that "customer service" thing that's lacking in so many places. And, up until he retired, I had that nice little agent who reminded me when I needed it, who helped us find ways to keep coverage active when due dates didn't correspond to pay dates, and things like that. The guy was great.

Wanting to stay with the same company, since we not only have auto, but homeowners and life policies, I look around for another agent. Found one close by. I like the agent just fine, but the idiot woman she has in the front office makes me spit nails every time. Yes, I know that we are not making consistent payments. My husband was laid off last January. We're trying to keep everything current. What do we need to do right now to reinstate? Fine, here's a check. And so on, and so on...

Hubby and I get home about 4:30 this afternoon to find a message from idiot woman. "Your policy has lapsed." OK, which one? Call the office. They closed early today. Scratch around online for the 800 number, stay on eternal hold, till finally, at 5:01, a sweet little girl tells me it's the auto insurance, and there is no amount available to reinstate since it lapsed on the 27th. Huh? She gives me the district manager's number; it's Friday night, he's gone already. Get back on the computer in a desperate attempt to find a local agent who's actually going to answer the phone at 5:10. Find one who has his cell number on his answering machine. Call the cell. Beg for help.

Agent calls back 15 minutes later; says he couldn't find anything out, but if I'd just called 10 minutes earlier, there's someone in the office that maybe could have helped me. Meanwhile, Miss KT is literally driving down the freeway with no car insurance. Get back online, try to remember every single insurance ad I've seen on TV. Let me tell you, it takes more than 15 minutes to save 15% on your auto insurance. Finally got everything answered, VINs entered, credit card processed. As long as no one hits anything before 12:01 am tomorrow morning, we're golden.

Hubby calls; he's been at Urgent Care because he's caught the flu I have, and was trying to pick up a freecycle item for me, and couldn't find the place. Then when he finds it, it's not exactly as advertised. Miss KT calls; she's PO'd because my mom told her I was dealing with car insurance, and she wants to know exactly why we don't have insurance. Told her I'd been trying to figure that out for the last two and a half hours myself.

And just when I thought I'd be able to catch my breath? The demon Siamese jumps up on the the TV stand, glances casually at the TV, and proceeds to USE HER DEMON CLAWS ON THE CENTER OF MY BIG SCREEN TV! I'm screaming, cats are scattering, dog is barking.

Sigh. If it's not the kid, it's something else. I'm ready to sail away to that nice little island now.

 

[TeDo]

Take a deep breath, lock the cat away somewhere, take a sleeping pill and get some sleep. MAYBE things will be brighter in the morning? I feel for you. I completely understand the "what else can go wrong" feeling. In my case, something I never expected usually comes up to add to my misery. CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!!

 

[skeeter]

I hear you about the insurance. We had the same agent for years, and like you had everything through him. Then he retired and "sold" his agency to someone else (or whatever they do). The next agent was great, then he "sold" it to our current agent. I honestly think she's ok, but the rest of her office staff are idiots.

We've gone so far as to contact district office to change agents (we don't want to change insurance, just the representative) and they told us they would talk with her and to stay for at least a little longer. We just bought a new car, and are selling my old one to my son, so we'll see how this transaction works. If it gets messed up, we'll be with another agent.

 

[bby31288]

When we moved to Louisiana from New Jersey, we had to switch. In NJ I used a local office. Had no issues. It worked well. I called there spoke to the same girl for gosh 8 years. Moving I searched for good rates. Louisiana is very expensive for car insurance. I ended up with a 1-800 place. I have to say I am pleasntly surprised. They have someone answering the phones 24 hrs. I bought a new car yesterday, called them from the dealership. They added my car and faxed over new cards. So far no issues. I am very pleased.