Complaint Review: LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE - Northampton Massachusetts

A tip here would be to read your policy contract.  During the first 60 days of any property/casualty insurance policy, the company reserves the right to further investigage your driving, claims history and prior insurance.  This is known as the free look period.  During that period that period of time, if additional information is found your rate can be adjusted, sometimes the rate will go up, and sometimes the rate will go down.  Additionally, a company can take action during this period up to and including cancellation.  Any insurance company admitted to do business in your state must submit their underwriting rules to the State Department of Insurance.  If you freel you have been wrongly treated by your insurance company, you can file a formal complaint with your state's Department of Insurance.  Companies take these complaints very seriously and must respond to them within 30 days.  You can find the link for your state's Department of Insurance website by checking out the National Association of Insurance Commissioners website at www.naic.org.

I'm the original poster of this complaint and I want to respond to the "rebuttals."  The obvious conflict-of-interest insurance company employee posted an expected response. Boy, your industry just isn't self-examining at all, is it!   And Reality Check, I'm not sure you work for an insurance company but your zeal to defend LM is curious. 

To My 2 cents:  It shouldn't be my problem that "violations that occur in a different state do not come back right away."  That's your systems problem.  Fix it, or don't hold your customers responsible.  Why should I bother getting a quote at all if it can't be counted on?  Are you happy if a contractor sends you a bill a month later telling you the paving of your patio will cost you additional money because the contractor discovers, in a bill from his supplier, the price had gone up on raw materials?  Even the LM rep agreed she wouldn't be happy with that scenario.  But your industry can do that kind of monkey business indiscriminately. And about your comment that I "didn't let folks know that there was another violation in the chargeable time period", I simply had never heard that, nor would have ever expected that, an overdue inspection sticker could ever carry points anywhere, in any state.  I knew people who got such a ticket in another state I lived in, but no points had been levied.  The cop who issued my ticket told me it would carry no points.  So I didn't mention it because I believed it irrelevant.  But again the point is that if insurance companies are going to offer quotes and they can't fix the reporting systems so they get the quotes right, they should quality their position and refer to the quotes as estimates.  The LM rep told me what he quoted me is what I'd pay.  

To Reality Check:  My argument to you is basically the same as above, as you're saying I didn't "come clean on an application."  I mentioned the speeding tickets - had no intention to conceal them, and knew they possibly could affect my rate.  Your implication I set out to deceive my insurer is presumptuous and offensive.  And you want to nitpick my driving record?  How many people do you know with no accidents, or any other types of moving violation tickets other than a couple speeding tickets with 40 years of driving?  Have you ever driven five miles above the limit?  Of course you have.  But you're a wonderful driver because you don't get caught.  OK, fine, I had to modify my driving habits, but I also recognize how much my current state relies on its motorists to ameliorate a serious budget deficit.  I'm an excellent driver and an insurance company should be pleased to have me. My typically low rates underscore this.

"This is not a lot of money, but I expect a quote to be honored."

  The quote was made based upon the information you provided them.   You say yourself that you didn't inform them about this other ticket.  You should not be surprised that they adjusted the rate.  Insurance companies don't like it when you don't come clean on an application.  Your excuses about it having occurred in another state are not going to fly.  I'm sure that they asked you to declare all of your violations, not just the ones you thought were important.

"I felt particularly incensed by their rendering completely irrelevant my flawless driving record"

  Two moving violations and an equipment violation do not equal a flawless driving record.   Flawless would be zero violations.

I currently work for an insurance company, though not LM. I wanted to comment on the driving record. Most companies look back three years and pull your driving record for the state the insurance is going to be written in. Sometimes violations that occur in a different state do not come back right away. I hate when I write a policy and this happens, but it is something that does occur. Each state has certain rules when it comes to what they can charge customers. In Arizona, we can charge for a seatbelt violation but not for proof of insurance, for example. In another state it is chargeable for both. It just depends on the state you are writing the insurance in. Keep in mind that an insurance company gets approval to do business in this manner from your Dept of Insurance. If you didn't let the folks know that there was another violation in the chargeable time period, how can you expect them to honor the quote? Unfortunately, many companies now charge a cancellation fee if it is before the term is up. I hope that this clears up some confusion.