Transfer of Coverage

policyholder54321

New Member
3
Hi all. What brings me here is an effort to (hopefully) gain more true knowledge from people I've never met in my life! :-) However, based on what I've read on other threads, there seems to be a good amount of knowledgeable & helpful people here, so here goes:

I live in the state of Ohio, and I recently bought a vehicle at the end of September. For no good excuse, it took a good month and a half to finally call to have the insurance switched over from the car I traded in for the replacement vehicle. So, I call my State Farm agent yesterday, and they start going into gathering information; the make and model, VIN, etc...and we get to the time that I bought the vehicle. The agent's response was this huge gasp of shock, followed by several minutes of them lecturing me (a 37 year old adult) about how lucky I am that I didn't get a random check letter in the mail for insurance coverage and if caught without insurance how huge the fine is, etc. I mean it was to the point where I had to say "I get it...I understand that I would be in quite the situation if I got a letter. However, I did not get the letter, and I need to know how we proceed from here". So, the result of me being 3 weeks beyond their cut-off to call??? Me being labeled 'high-risk', thus DOUBLING my rate!!

I will be the first to say that what I did was risky and I take full responsibility for the risk I put upon myself. While I appreciate the agent informing me about how risky my situation was, I did NOT appreciate how this agent talked down to me in the way they did. Nor do I feel that this should put me as a high risk policyholder. I'm sure there are far worse things that insureds have done that put them at risk, over forgetting to make a phone call to transfer coverage. I also feel that it might also be clear to my agent that had they checked their database on us, that we have been long time policy holders for over 21 years (16 of them with this agent), great credit, and never missing a payment. What I then discovered after deciding that I would not tolerate this type of treatment and me searching for another agent, was that other agents were telling (with other insurance companies) that they've never heard about being placed at high risk for this type of error, and I then confirmed with another State Farm agent that while this is a "State Farm thing", a simple call to underwriting would have this waived...especially with a client in good standing like us.

As I was typing this short novel, I just got a call from another State Farm agent who is willing to have our business, and confirmed with their underwriting that the surcharge resulting from my late call to transfer would be waived.

I'm beginnig to feel that we might be able to get past this hurdle with increased surcharges, however I am still very much disappointed in the original agent, and would like to take some sort of action against them by way of a complaint, or other form of report stating our dissatisfaction in how they handle their customers. Escalation departments or an executive with State Farm, or complaint with the State of Ohio?? I don't want to be just another letter that some office gets that's buried in with the others. I would plaster this on billboards all over town if I knew it wouldn't back fire and bring them business (lol)! Any suggestions on how to take action against this agent would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance...and thanks for reading!
 
Hi all. What brings me here is an effort to (hopefully) gain more true knowledge from people I've never met in my life! :-) However, based on what I've read on other threads, there seems to be a good amount of knowledgeable & helpful people here, so here goes:

I live in the state of Ohio, and I recently bought a vehicle at the end of September. For no good excuse, it took a good month and a half to finally call to have the insurance switched over from the car I traded in for the replacement vehicle. So, I call my State Farm agent yesterday, and they start going into gathering information; the make and model, VIN, etc...and we get to the time that I bought the vehicle. The agent's response was this huge gasp of shock, followed by several minutes of them lecturing me (a 37 year old adult) about how lucky I am that I didn't get a random check letter in the mail for insurance coverage and if caught without insurance how huge the fine is, etc. I mean it was to the point where I had to say "I get it...I understand that I would be in quite the situation if I got a letter. However, I did not get the letter, and I need to know how we proceed from here". So, the result of me being 3 weeks beyond their cut-off to call??? Me being labeled 'high-risk', thus DOUBLING my rate!!

I will be the first to say that what I did was risky and I take full responsibility for the risk I put upon myself. While I appreciate the agent informing me about how risky my situation was, I did NOT appreciate how this agent talked down to me in the way they did. Nor do I feel that this should put me as a high risk policyholder. I'm sure there are far worse things that insureds have done that put them at risk, over forgetting to make a phone call to transfer coverage. I also feel that it might also be clear to my agent that had they checked their database on us, that we have been long time policy holders for over 21 years (16 of them with this agent), great credit, and never missing a payment. What I then discovered after deciding that I would not tolerate this type of treatment and me searching for another agent, was that other agents were telling (with other insurance companies) that they've never heard about being placed at high risk for this type of error, and I then confirmed with another State Farm agent that while this is a "State Farm thing", a simple call to underwriting would have this waived...especially with a client in good standing like us.

As I was typing this short novel, I just got a call from another State Farm agent who is willing to have our business, and confirmed with their underwriting that the surcharge resulting from my late call to transfer would be waived.

I'm beginnig to feel that we might be able to get past this hurdle with increased surcharges, however I am still very much disappointed in the original agent, and would like to take some sort of action against them by way of a complaint, or other form of report stating our dissatisfaction in how they handle their customers. Escalation departments or an executive with State Farm, or complaint with the State of Ohio?? I don't want to be just another letter that some office gets that's buried in with the others. I would plaster this on billboards all over town if I knew it wouldn't back fire and bring them business (lol)! Any suggestions on how to take action against this agent would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance...and thanks for reading!

I really don't see the need to bash the original agent. You took your business elsewhere thus taking money out of his pocket; thats the best thing you could have done. In my personal opinion it is a little immature to want to "plaster this on billboards all over town." It was a simple problem that has been corrected, by you finding another agent. You can write a letter to the Office of Insurance Regulation, but in all honesty, they don't care how an agent talks to you, they are more than likely working on issues for consumers that have much larger and more important issues, than yours. Now you could call State Farm directly and they may slap his wrist, but thats about all thats going to come out of it. Its time to move on, you already got what you wanted, so let it go.
 
I really don't see the need to bash the original agent. You took your business elsewhere thus taking money out of his pocket; thats the best thing you could have done. In my personal opinion it is a little immature to want to "plaster this on billboards all over town." It was a simple problem that has been corrected, by you finding another agent. You can write a letter to the Office of Insurance Regulation, but in all honesty, they don't care how an agent talks to you, they are more than likely working on issues for consumers that have much larger and more important issues, than yours. Now you could call State Farm directly and they may slap his wrist, but thats about all thats going to come out of it. Its time to move on, you already got what you wanted, so let it go.

Thanks Josh. Duly noted. I hardly feel "bashing" is the proper term, but more an attempt to give perspective to avoid the standard answer you provided.

I think you might have taken things a bit out of perspective, however it's understandable being that I posted when it was a fresh frustration. What's interesting is it seems that you're implying that it's OK for not only for someone to gouge their client the way they did, but they can talk to their clients however they feel. Side note - ironically, I recently discovered about an hour ago when in a meeting that someone had a very similar experience with this same agent. I by no means condone this as a business practice in my own daily business practices, nor in my staff. After being in the customer service industry 20+ yrs and running businesses of my own for the past 14 years, my level of service is well beyond the average, and I guess it's hard to expect all other independent business owners to act at the same level. I should know better by what I see in my own profession.

So, to that point...you're right. The higher producing individuals will prevail over those who don't care, and those who run their business properly will have their unfair share, thus my original agent gets what's coming to them regardless.
 
Thanks Josh. Duly noted. I hardly feel "bashing" is the proper term, but more an attempt to give perspective to avoid the standard answer you provided.

I think you might have taken things a bit out of perspective, however it's understandable being that I posted when it was a fresh frustration. What's interesting is it seems that you're implying that it's OK for not only for someone to gouge their client the way they did, but they can talk to their clients however they feel. Side note - ironically, I recently discovered about an hour ago when in a meeting that someone had a very similar experience with this same agent. I by no means condone this as a business practice in my own daily business practices, nor in my staff. After being in the customer service industry 20+ yrs and running businesses of my own for the past 14 years, my level of service is well beyond the average, and I guess it's hard to expect all other independent business owners to act at the same level. I should know better by what I see in my own profession.

So, to that point...you're right. The higher producing individuals will prevail over those who don't care, and those who run their business properly will have their unfair share, thus my original agent gets what's coming to them regardless.

I do not condone rude behavior or gouging behavior, but you must realize agents have nothing to do with the price of the product they sell, the price is set by the insurance company, so if your problem is the price, then you need to speak to them not the agent. Also, this agent may not have realized that underwriting can waive that situation. He may have already had that situation waived several times and the underwriter may have said don't ask again, I don't know because I don't know all of the circumstances. You may not know that either because you most likely do not understand the relationship between agent and underwriter. Also, it could have just been a simple mistake and he didn't realize it right away. Like I said I do not condone rude behavior or bad business practices, but I am also not going to crucify someone over a simple mistake. I would take my business elsewhere and thank him for his long years of service and move on.

EDIT: The statement below is copied and pasted from your original post, I consider that bashing.

"I'm beginnig to feel that we might be able to get past this hurdle with increased surcharges, however I am still very much disappointed in the original agent, and would like to take some sort of action against them by way of a complaint, or other form of report stating our dissatisfaction in how they handle their customers. Escalation departments or an executive with State Farm, or complaint with the State of Ohio?? I don't want to be just another letter that some office gets that's buried in with the others. I would plaster this on billboards all over town if I knew it wouldn't back fire and bring them business (lol)! Any suggestions on how to take action against this agent would be greatly appreciated."
 
Last edited:
I do not condone rude behavior or gouging behavior, but you must realize agents have nothing to do with the price of the product they sell, the price is set by the insurance company, so if your problem is the price, then you need to speak to them not the agent. Also, this agent may not have realized that underwriting can waive that situation. He may have already had that situation waived several times and the underwriter may have said don't ask again, I don't know because I don't know all of the circumstances. You may not know that either because you most likely do not understand the relationship between agent and underwriter. Also, it could have just been a simple mistake and he didn't realize it right away. Like I said I do not condone rude behavior or bad business practices, but I am also not going to crucify someone over a simple mistake. I would take my business elsewhere and thank him for his long years of service and move on.

EDIT: The statement below is copied and pasted from your original post, I consider that bashing.

"I'm beginnig to feel that we might be able to get past this hurdle with increased surcharges, however I am still very much disappointed in the original agent, and would like to take some sort of action against them by way of a complaint, or other form of report stating our dissatisfaction in how they handle their customers. Escalation departments or an executive with State Farm, or complaint with the State of Ohio?? I don't want to be just another letter that some office gets that's buried in with the others. I would plaster this on billboards all over town if I knew it wouldn't back fire and bring them business (lol)! Any suggestions on how to take action against this agent would be greatly appreciated."

Thanks Josh, and I do appreciate your input. As you and I know, there are always two sides to every occurrence...and I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt in thinking that the justifications you continue to state are based on that mindset. In my world, my client is my fiduciary responsibility, and even if I know for a fact that I'm not going to get approval from an "underwriter", I'll still ask for it. Especially if I have a long term client who is in very good standing and I feel it's the right thing to do for my client. To clarify, the agent was familiar with the process of contacting underwriting in an attempt to waive, which they claimed they could not get it waived, AFTER I called them back letting them know that I discovered this possibility. I think I may have taken things completely different if the agent would have let me know that they were aware of the possibility to waive, and they were going to at least try to see what they could do. My initial conversation with them was that my rate was going to double because I was high risk - period. Maybe one might understand why I wouldn't take them very seriously after I called them on the waiver, and they say - "oh yeah...I called underwriting and they said there was nothing they could do".

"lol" is an internet term which stands for 'laugh out loud', and followed my comment about the billboard statement, implying a joking statement. That act would obviously be bashing, but yet you quote my entire statement so it appears that you believe my attempt to have my voice heard by someone who might actually get back to the agent and check them on their behavior is not justifiable...and therefore your opinion of me bashing, and my opinion that you believe their acts shouldn't be reported. I personally believe that there's a good possibility that agent never made that call to underwriting in an effort to waive the surcharge, especially if it meant more commission for them.

The agent's act was horrible business, and if filing a complaint not only for myself but someone else who had a similar experience is bashing, then so be it. I've accepted the fact that the agent will reap what they sow. Thanks again for your input.
 
Thanks Josh, and I do appreciate your input. As you and I know, there are always two sides to every occurrence...and I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt in thinking that the justifications you continue to state are based on that mindset. In my world, my client is my fiduciary responsibility, and even if I know for a fact that I'm not going to get approval from an "underwriter", I'll still ask for it. Especially if I have a long term client who is in very good standing and I feel it's the right thing to do for my client. To clarify, the agent was familiar with the process of contacting underwriting in an attempt to waive, which they claimed they could not get it waived, AFTER I called them back letting them know that I discovered this possibility. I think I may have taken things completely different if the agent would have let me know that they were aware of the possibility to waive, and they were going to at least try to see what they could do. My initial conversation with them was that my rate was going to double because I was high risk - period. Maybe one might understand why I wouldn't take them very seriously after I called them on the waiver, and they say - "oh yeah...I called underwriting and they said there was nothing they could do".

"lol" is an internet term which stands for 'laugh out loud', and followed my comment about the billboard statement, implying a joking statement. That act would obviously be bashing, but yet you quote my entire statement so it appears that you believe my attempt to have my voice heard by someone who might actually get back to the agent and check them on their behavior is not justifiable...and therefore your opinion of me bashing, and my opinion that you believe their acts shouldn't be reported. I personally believe that there's a good possibility that agent never made that call to underwriting in an effort to waive the surcharge, especially if it meant more commission for them.

The agent's act was horrible business, and if filing a complaint not only for myself but someone else who had a similar experience is bashing, then so be it. I've accepted the fact that the agent will reap what they sow. Thanks again for your input.

Some people just aren't as business savvy as others, that's when you take your business elsewhere. Filing a complaint with the Office of Insurance Regulation (as its called in my state) is nothing but a waste of time for something like that. They would tell you to put your big boy pants on and find another agent that talked to you nicely and knew how to run a business. They are busy dealing with legitimate issues, such as a company wrongfully denying a claim that could cost a homeowner 10's of thousands of dollars.

I agree with you that he should not act like that (based on your side), but he did and so you take your business elsewhere. We all deal with bad business people at some point, I myself just had a run in with someone who didn't care too much that I was a paying customer. I purchased some nice sunglasses and specifically asked about the warranty they told me my situation would be covered, when it arose, of course it wasn't. I spoke to them very nicely and explained my side, they would only pay for half, I told her no thank you and I would be taking my business elsewhere. That simple.

You state that in your world your client is your fiduciary responsibility; my world is no different. However, when a customer becomes burdensome and is no longer worth the trouble I kindly let them know I do not have a market for the product they are looking for, or I tell them the price I have is the only option, and they would be better at another agency. I do this quite frequently actually, but I am always kind.

In my personal opinion, I just think your making too big of a deal about it, as an agent down in Florida where State Farm has more than doubled most of their customers home rates within the last few years and then just had a rate increase on the auto, I get customers like you in my door everyday so your circumstances are not unique to you. In our industry where rates are always changing, this happens all the time. I do not represent State Farm so when they come in I love it. I fuel the fire about State Farm raising rates and I make some sales. I switched a customers home today for a savings of $1,100 on one home. I didn't write her other home or auto yet, but when she buys, that will be a savings of about $2,400, totaling close to $3,500 in savings. That is astronomical. so she is quickly going from disgruntled to satisfied. My point is, the quicker you move on, the quicker you are back to your everyday life and the issue will be no more.
 
well, it sounds like you made the mistake and he/she scolded you on it. Which upset you and you've gone elsewhere.

If I did that everytime I made a mistake and was scolded for it, I'd be on my 50th wife by now.

You moved your account that's good enough. Let it go. Even the people helping you at the other agency are snickering behind your back and crossing their fingers that they didn't inherit a problem client. If you screw up, I would trust the agent who was a little po's at you. That was honest. Think about that. Agents spend their whole career trying to be nice to people who have screwed up. It isn't always easy. You screwed up and were able to get out of the situation without additional cost. I'd leave it at that.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top