by Guest » Tue Jul 13, 2010 03:22 am
In December 2007, I was arrested for a DUI. I was sentenced the following July, and the careless driving was dropped as part of the plea bargain. I'm in Montana.
Anyways, State Farm has yet not noticed, or has yet to raise my rates (in fact they have gone down slightly). I know the standard wait time for insurance purposes in 3 years; first question, is it 3 years from my arrest or from the court hearing?
Now the sticky situation. My 94 Camaro Z28 recently broke down again, and it is going to cost around $1,000 to fix. It is no longer financially viable to keep fixing her up, as bigger problems loom with the engine that will need to be addressed in the not so distance future as well. So I am stuck between a rock and a hard place; if I get a new car, State Farm is sure to find out about the DUI and will either raise my rates to exhobort levels, or just drop me completely. If I put money back into my Camaro, I'm basically throwing money at a short-term solution, and there is no guarantee it won't break down in a much more expensive fashion before year's end.
How do I go about finding out how much insurance would be for me with my DUI on record without alerting State Farm? I believe I am still under my parents insurance (I'm 27, don't judge me), so that may be part of the reason they haven't noticed?
Would it be possible for my Dad to purchase insurance on a new vehicle for me?
I can easily afford a new car around $10,000 or so, but I certainly couldn't afford to commit to a $180 a month car payment and then have my insurance quadruple.
Any suggestions?
Anyways, State Farm has yet not noticed, or has yet to raise my rates (in fact they have gone down slightly). I know the standard wait time for insurance purposes in 3 years; first question, is it 3 years from my arrest or from the court hearing?
Now the sticky situation. My 94 Camaro Z28 recently broke down again, and it is going to cost around $1,000 to fix. It is no longer financially viable to keep fixing her up, as bigger problems loom with the engine that will need to be addressed in the not so distance future as well. So I am stuck between a rock and a hard place; if I get a new car, State Farm is sure to find out about the DUI and will either raise my rates to exhobort levels, or just drop me completely. If I put money back into my Camaro, I'm basically throwing money at a short-term solution, and there is no guarantee it won't break down in a much more expensive fashion before year's end.
How do I go about finding out how much insurance would be for me with my DUI on record without alerting State Farm? I believe I am still under my parents insurance (I'm 27, don't judge me), so that may be part of the reason they haven't noticed?
Would it be possible for my Dad to purchase insurance on a new vehicle for me?
I can easily afford a new car around $10,000 or so, but I certainly couldn't afford to commit to a $180 a month car payment and then have my insurance quadruple.
Any suggestions?
Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 07:54 pm Post Subject:
And...you REALLY think, if the OP goes to another Insurance company, they're not going to find out?!
Yes they would find it, and is the reason that I told him to be up front with the carriers he gets quote from.
Thanks, Trench! The fact that the OP has managed to carry his coverage this far after the arrest and subsequent conviction means the fact was either concealed or it was misrepresented.
How do you figure. If he has been with State Farm since the DUI, I doubt they ever sent him or his father a new application. Which means once again he has not concealed or misrepresented anything. They did not find it for whatever reason. Has he caught a break, sure. But the way that insurance companies screw or try to screw people, good for him.
Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 08:00 pm Post Subject:
Has he caught a break, sure. But the way that insurance companies screw or try to screw people, good for him
Ok..I suppose I can 'see' it BOTH ways. I guess it would be the Insurance company's fault if they didn't do an 'update' on his information, once in a while. 'My' Insurance company does 'updates' every 3 or 4 months. I think that's a 'good' thing!! :)
Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 01:39 am Post Subject:
But the way that insurance companies screw or try to screw people, good for him.
Nice try. Defeats your entire argument. :roll:
Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 05:33 pm Post Subject: insurance
Overall...........NOT telling this information, UPFRONT, can hurt the Insured. Insurance comapnies make quotes/decisions based on the information that the Consumer does...OR...does NOT give. :?
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 01:40 am Post Subject:
Nice try. Defeats your entire argument
My whole argument was that he had not lied or concealed anything from State Farm.
My quote about insurance companies screwing people followed this guy got a break some how. They should have caught it, he should have been dropped or his rates raised. But he caught a break and good for him.
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 02:14 am Post Subject:
I never lied to SF. If they had asked anywhere on any form or questionnaire, what have you, I would have told them. They simply never asked, and apparently never ran a driving check on me in the last 2 years. Or the very small possibility that they did notice, and never raised my rates. I have been with SF since I could drive (about 10 years before my DUI), and have gotten several good driver discounts over the years. My parents have been with the same agent for over 30 years (although he just retired recently).
I ended up buying a 2002 Honda Accord EX Couple with a V6, and went with Progressive. And yes I told them I had a DUI, and the rates ended up being $94 a month for full coverage.
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 12:29 am Post Subject:
I have been with SF since I could drive (about 10 years before my DUI), and have gotten several good driver discounts over the years. My parents have been with the same agent for over 30 years (although he just retired recently).
You don't think an auditor might look at this and say, "Let's give this guy a pass on it this one time, and see what happens"??
[[ In retrospect, after reviewing all of the responses of celticmoose, can you see that he presents a few details at a time, instead of laying everything out in the open?? Just an observation, not an accusation. ]]
the way that insurance companies screw or try to screw people
Although your attitude is understandable and commonly expressed, it is, to be blunt, wrong.
Just because I'm an agent and collect commissions from insurance companies, doesn't mean I'm any special fan of any of them. However, insurance companies do not make a business practice out of screwing people. It makes no sense to do that.
We all know that they are in business to make money (wouldn't want to insure my risk with one that wasn't profitable). But when you understand the nature of the insurance business, you would understand that insurance companies STAY in business by paying claims.
If it was known that any insurer did nothing (or little else) other than collect premiums and never pay claims, they would be put out of business by the regulators, or by the general public that would stop doing business with them if the fact became common knowledge. How long do you think that would take?
Do insurance companies have their faults? Absolutely. They're staffed by human beings who make mistakes. Sometimes they correct those mistakes without any prompting, sometimes it takes a call to a Claims Department Manager or a complaint to the Dept of Insurance to get action, and sometimes it ends up going to court where, if they're terribly wrong, it costs a whole lot more money than paying the original claim would have.
But if you actually look at claims complaint statistics, you'd see that insurance companies do a pretty good job the majority of the time. As a percentage of total complaints, few are determined to be justified.
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 01:39 am Post Subject:
You don't think an auditor might look at this and say, "Let's give this guy a pass on it this one time, and see what happens"??
A moving violation, speeding ticket, fender bender even maybe a reckless op... I could see them overlooking..but a DUI, I just don't see it. It could be possible that since he was on his parents insurance that his record got missed or someone was just not doing their job.
Although your attitude is understandable and commonly expressed, it is, to be blunt, wrong.
I had typed out a long response to this, but in short it has been my experience that many times people that had been short changed during the claims process in both 1st and 3rd party claims in more than just homeowners and auto never took it far enough to show up in statistics.
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 02:54 am Post Subject:
never took it far enough to show up in statistics.
Or never took it far enough themselves to mediate their own claims. Look, some people have legit consequences when it comes to filing a claim. Have procesed many were the person may in have a legit claim, but they fail to prove it and then want to blame the insurer and scream bad faith.
When I said your comment defeats your argument, it's the truth. Two wrongs don't make a right, (that's what you are intially saying) just because the insurer fails to discover the event, it may be small victory for this guy, but over time, the damage is done and everyone else will pay for it.
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 05:21 am Post Subject:
everyone else will pay for it.
How do you figure? If this guy's record was found and his rates raised or he was dropped all together, how would that change my rates or his neighbors rates. Do you really think the bean counters would say " well were getting $100.00 more a month from this guy, lets cut someone else a break.
Or never took it far enough themselves to mediate their own claims.
Many people don’t realize something happened to them to take it far enough.
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