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esurance bait and switch tactic?

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lb2005

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? TEXAS

I had car insurance with Nationwide. It was canceled for non-payment. When I started a new policy with them, the rate doubled. So I only bought one month and decided to shop around. On 10/6, I worked up a quote at esurance.com. On 10/26, I went back to esurance and pulled up the 'saved quote' and purchase it. I didn't want to have this policy cancel for non-payment, so I paid for 6 months in full. They immediately debited that amount and the next day, wrote me the following email with the subject "Missing Information on Your Esurance Policy"

Though your policy is now active, we need some information for our records.

Please send us proof of your prior insurance coverage. If we don't receive proof within 14 days, your premium may increase.

Please send ONE of the following documents specifying the dates of your coverage and your bodily injury limits:

* Declarations page: This is a standard form issued by your insurance company when you buy your policy. It provides a summary of your coverage information.
* Last renewal invoice: The renewal notice you received from your previous carrier.
* Experience letter: You can request this from your previous agent or insurance company. It outlines the details of your previous coverage.

If you had insurance coverage when you bought your Esurance policy, please make sure the document shows 6 months of continuous coverage prior to the effective date of your Esurance policy.

Please fax or mail a copy of one of the documents listed above, along with your name and Esurance policy number, to:
Fax: 1-800-429-7905
Esurance Customer Service
P.O. Box 5250
Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5250

Thanks for your timely response. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us by email at [email protected] or by telephone at
1-800-ESURANCE (1-800-378-7262). We're here to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Sincerely,

The Esurance Customer Service Team


This is different than what I was asked during the quote and purchase process. The only thing I was asked about current/prior insurance was:

"Do you currently have car insurance?" To which I answered "Yes"

And...

"If yes, how long have you had insurance without a gap in coverage?"

To which I answered the only applicable option from the drop-down menu: "Less than one year"

I wrote several times about my concerns and these are the emails I received:

Thank you for your email. We consider prior insurance a discount. In some
cases, we do not require you send proof of prior insurance because we were
able to verify it electronically over the internet. Unfortunately, with
your policy we were not able to confirm your prior insurance coverage. We
are requesting information we do not yet have, therefore we consider it
missing. We apologize that it may seem a threat to you, but to keep your
premium at the same low rate you purchased with we require this
information.

Please don’t hesitate to let us know if we can be of further assistance.
We're here to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.


And then...

Thank you for your email. You misunderstand our intention. The simple
solution to this is to call your previous insurance company and request
they fax the information we require, or if you prefer give us a call and
we'll call your previous insurance company. You may address the situation
as you see fit, but we are not requesting anything unreasonable. We asked
for the information at inception of your policy, and during the quote
flow. Because prior insurance affects your rate, we asked if you had
current insurance, and what your bodily injury limits were. We ask this
of every customer that quotes online with Esurance. You notified us that
you in fact did have current insurance, and we wrote you a policy based
on that information. If we did not request information be provided in
written or verbal confirmation from the previous insurance company, it is
possible that our customers make take advantage of the prior insurance
discount because they could state that they had prior insurance, when the
may really not. If you cannot provide the information we are requesting,
your premium may increase, because we cannot confirm that you did have
prior insurance.

Please don’t hesitate to let us know if we can be of further assistance.
We're here to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.


And then...

Thank you for your email.

If you are unable to retain paper documentation of your previous coverage,
you may contact us at 1-800-926-6012 and a representative may call your
previous carrier on a conference call and confirm your past coverage and
limits that way.

We ask this of all of our customers. This is an easy step to do and we
just need you to prove you had 6 months of continuous coverage.

Please don't hesitate to let us know if we can be of further assistance.
We're here to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.


My question is, how can they increase the rate after I already purchased it at one price when I was never told that the rate I received was a 'discount' for having 6 months continous prior coverage? Something I never said I had? Nor did they ever ask it until they had my full payment for 6 months?

Isn't this classic 'bait and switch'?
 


moburkes

Senior Member
What they said. Also, never cancel your current policy until you receive your nwe one. Since esurance doesn't send paperwork in the mail, don't cancel your current policy until the new one is verified. An insurance company can collect all the money in the world up front, but they still need to verify certain information. Sorry that this happened to you. I hope that you were able to return to Nationwide, since you do not like the new premium.
 

empsystem

Junior Member
or use credit card with some features

Also, in dealing with suspectable/bad-repped companies like Esurance, you could have used a credit card company that has the additional benefit of some type of return protection, such as the 90 days chargeback with American Express, or a cap on the credit card number, such as a very low limit one or a feature provided by Citibank where a person can create a virtual--I mean real but not the actual one ;)--credit card number with soem limits put on it. I personally find the latter the better option as I wouldn't need to call in and argue with the credit card company--with higher possibility these days that the person on the other end doesn't speak (understandable) fluent English.
 

moburkes

Senior Member
empsystem said:
Also, in dealing with suspectable/bad-repped companies like Esurance, you could have used a credit card company that has the additional benefit of some type of return protection, such as the 90 days chargeback with American Express, or a cap on the credit card number, such as a very low limit one or a feature provided by Citibank where a person can create a virtual--I mean real but not the actual one ;)--credit card number with soem limits put on it. I personally find the latter the better option as I wouldn't need to call in and argue with the credit card company--with higher possibility these days that the person on the other end doesn't speak (understandable) fluent English.
What insurance company DOESN'T have some type of bad rep?How would credit card protection have helped the OP in this situation? Esurance didn't abuse his credit card, or anything like that. What are you talking about?
 

empsystem

Junior Member
moburkes said:
What insurance company DOESN'T have some type of bad rep?How would credit card protection have helped the OP in this situation? Esurance didn't abuse his credit card, or anything like that. What are you talking about?
Yes, not every company is clear of complaints, but there are some companies that have substantially numbers of (evidenced) bad rep, depend on each person's view. In terms of ratings (or ratios) released by the New York Department of Insurance, Esurance is among the bottom ten companies in the report. (I am sorry I do not have the link.)
As for the use of credit card, I was only assuming, based on the word "debited." It may have been a debit card, a checking account, or something else.
 

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