I have a happy story about insurance, and that feels like such a rare thing to be in possession of, I bring it straightaway to you as a little shining treasure for us all to huddle ’round, warming our hands in the glow. It is about CAR insurance, which is not as rare or good as a story about HEALTH insurance, but we take what we can get in these odd times.
Our car insurance renews on April 1st. We’ve been with the same company for years and years (before Rob was born, I’m pretty sure, and he’s 17), and I know the routine by now: the renewal reminder comes with the next year’s cards, more than a month before it’s needed. This year I didn’t even open it, just put it aside for when I was ready to pay it.
I was forgetting that this year we have a new driver on our policy. I was also forgetting that back in January, the insurance company emailed and said that in order for Rob to maintain his Good Student discount, we’d need to fresh proof, and that proof was due February 7th. I replied with an attached pdf of his PSAT scores and never gave it another thought.
If I HAD remembered all of this, I would have opened the envelope right away, to make sure there was plenty of time to fix things if they hadn’t gone right. But alas. I pay bills on Saturday nights, and this past Saturday was the Saturday night before April 1st, so I got out my credit card and opened the envelope—and thought “Ohhhhhhhhhh riiiiiiiiiiight.” The total seemed high, but it WOULD seem high: in the last year we’ve added a new driver AND another car to the policy. I checked and there was no mention of a Good Student discount—but maybe it wouldn’t be listed? I wasn’t sure.
I went to the computer to contact the company, and I stopped first at my mail folder to find the email where I’d attached a pdf of his scores, so that I could refer to the date I’d sent it. Annnnnnd I found it, in my drafts folder. My DRAFTS folder. NEVER SENT.
I was completely flummoxed. I sometimes save a draft of a personal or business letter if I want to read it one more time before sending, but I couldn’t think of ANY REASON AT ALL why in this case I would have saved a draft instead of sending right away.
This is when I panicked and hit “Send.” Which was dumb, because if I hadn’t done that, I could still have acted like it was all just a big mystery. “What, you didn’t get it? But I sent it back in January!” Instead I was all “ACK ACK ACK IT DIDN’T SEND, IF I SEND IT FAST ENOUGH MAYBE IT’LL GET THERE TWO MONTHS AGO!!!”
Then I sat there, feeling immediate sender’s remorse. Combined, of course, with the dismay of seeing “draft.” I went back to the email to look again at the date the paperwork was due—and it was STILL in drafts. IT HAD NOT SENT. The page had done the reloading thing it does when an email is sent, but it had NOT BEEN SENT. This explained everything, which was good, but was also MADDENING: it was NOT MY FAULT, and yet I was the one in EXPENSIVE TROUBLE!! And what was I going to say? “Oh, my email thing messed up and didn’t send”? No. It would be difficult to think of something that sounded MORE like a lie, and yet I was witnessing it before my very eyes: I sent it a couple more times, and each time it reloaded without sending and without notifying me that it hadn’t sent.
This was where I started saying to Paul, “You know, worst case scenario is we don’t get the Good Student discount this year. It is not the end of the world.” It is good to say soothing words at such times, even if those words are desperate lies that fool no one.
I logged into my car insurance account, found the Contact Us section, and sent a breezy note. I pretended I had the same temperament as my brother, who does not get ruffled about things. “Oh heyyyyyyyy just wondering if you guys got those documents about the Good Student discount or if maybe it’s already on there and just doesn’t show or what, you know, whatever, I’m absolutely relaxed about this either way.” Then I went back to the kitchen and explained to Paul how many levels of stupid I felt: I didn’t check to make sure they got the documents! I didn’t open the stupid envelope! And now here it is, EASTER WEEKEND, with the payment due in less than a week, and I’m all “Oh, hey guys, LAST-MINUTE PROBLEM ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND, and it’s all my fault except for the part that sounds like a lie.”
(This is where, when I was telling this story to my mom, she said, “This had better start getting happier soon.”)
I expected to get an email back saying “We did not receive the documents, and now it is too late.” Furthermore, I expected to get that email in about a week, AFTER I’d already had to pay for the policy. Instead I got an email EASTER MORNING, saying “I checked into it, and I don’t see any documents. You can send them to us via any of these several methods.” No mention of it being too late. No snarky remark. Perhaps SHE was also pretending to be HER brother.
And so I sent the pdf to the email address mentioned. I expected it to save as a draft, but instead it actually sent. I got back an automatic email confirming receipt of documents and saying it could take 5-7 days to review them. I expected that, after review, they would email saying that unfortunately the deadline had passed, or that the documents were not acceptable. Instead, I got an email THIS MORNING, less than 24 hours later, informing me of a change to my policy—and, when I logged on, I saw the Good Student discount had been applied.
I don’t mind telling you that my eyes WELLED UP with stunned gratitude. In all my worst-case/best-case scenario-building, I NEVER thought of the scenario where I would contact them, they would ask me to re-send the documents, and then they would just…give me the discount. My imagined best-case scenario was the one where I would beg for leniency and they would reluctantly grant it, possibly with some unpleasant wording that would cause me to have imaginary arguments with them later. My second-best best-case scenario was the one where they would say no but be nice about it and sound sincerely regretful, and where I would breath through my nose and have a shot of brandy and manage to make “It’s only money / It’s only money / It’s only money” work for me. Instead I have the Good Student discount, and it was easy, and they were nice.
This is great!!
The world needs more stories like this. Your very own Easter miracle!
I hope you can/will share the company name. I feel like folks only share the name of companies doing crappy stuff and this company should get some credit (maybe new customers too).
It is Progressive!
See, I knew we shouldn’t have switched away from Progressive. We had them for years and were always happy with them. I LOVED their online system – by far the easiest website to navigate if you need to make changes and get quotes (e.g., what happens when we have a teenage driver?). easy to pay your bill, perfectly timed email reminders (sigh!). We switched when we refinanced our house in order to get a homeowners/car discount from somewhere local. Getting homeowners from Progressive seemed like a hassle, but maybe I should have checked into it more…
Huzzah!
I experience palpable relief on your behalf. This is the best outcome!
I would like to preface this by saying that this is not a politically driven comment at all, but I think that the open market system for car insurance creates healthy competition between the companies where the consumers benefit. If you end up having to pay more for Progressive insurance because they refuse you the good driver discount, or any other reason, you call around to one of the many other options and get a better quote. And they will take your good driver discount documents because you are new to them. It’s in Progressive’s best interest to keep you as a happy customer, spreading the wonderful news to other potential customers! It just so happens that this is in the customer’s best interest as well.
Again, not a political statement, but I do wonder if the health insurance field worked along similar parameters, would they face pressure to improve their customer relations, service options, LAB EXPERIENCES, etc.?
Not that this idea is new, or solves anything in particular, but it seems like an idea that makes so much sense. But because health insurance is negotiated through most people’s employers they never get a chance to see what others are paying/getting, or to explore options for themselves. It is weird that we all trust the lives and health of ourselves as well as our loved ones to a system with room for so much improvement.
I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS EXACT THING FOR MANY YEARS. Competition! It lowers prices! Make health insurance like car insurance!
This, and also–cable! Internet! Utilities! Most major car insurance companies cover ANY jurisdiction, but that’s not true of most things that connect to your home. I wish I had this kind of leverage over first name Com last name Cast.
Yes! It doesn’t just lower prices, but raises accountability on behalf of the company. It also helps companies to innovate on all kinds of levels. Better customer portals, apps, interfaces, new discounts, incentives, workshops– I don’t know I don’t work in that industry, but it seems like there’s a lot of room for growth in the current model.
And car insurance is a good example of how even though there are rules from the state governments, companies can comply with those and still grow.
Totally agree. It’s a buyers’ market, and they know they need to keep you happy.
I usually agree with you, but in this case I’m a little confused. Why on earth wouldn’t they accept it? They are providing a service to you, for which you are paying! (So basically, they work for you!) If they wouldn’t have accepted it and it was me, I would have gone to another company. After 17 years they want to keep a good customer! And anyway, you can cancel or change your policy at any time. Even if you did not qualify for the good student discount at this time and your student earned better grades in six months, you could then qualify and should get the discount.
I’m with you on the confusion here. The insurance company obviously has to get paid on time in order to continue your policy, but otherwise there aren’t really “deadlines” for stuff like this. You can add/remove things (riders, etc.) or cancel at any time. I go through a local insurance agent, and I have them give me quotes from other insurance providers every few years just to make sure I’m getting a decent price on my coverage. If I decide to switch, the insurance company just refunds the cost of the rest of my policy and I start up with somebody new. It would be super weird of them to not give you the Good Student discount just because it was policy renewal time.
They have a reasonable deadline for applying for a discount in time for it to apply to the next year’s policy; I missed that deadline by a month and a half, despite them reminding me. I think they would have been completely reasonable to say, “I’m so sorry, but you missed the deadline for that discount.”
Okay, that makes sense. Either way, I’m glad you got the discount! I can only imagine how expensive it must be to insure a teenage driver…
Because the deadline for accepting the paperwork was February 7th, and I missed that deadline. We can keep changing providers, but only a limited number of times if we want to stick with reputable companies. I wouldn’t change for something like this, where they stated a reasonable request and I failed to meet it.
Right, you and I wouldn’t change, but some people would…and they’d also go on Yelp to whimper about how they didn’t get the service they desired. I think they know there are enough of Those People out there to try to keep you happy whenever possible.
I own a company (not an insurance company, to be clear) and I would like you to be my customer. ALL my customers. Can you give customer lessons? So reasonable! So concerned about doing the right thing! So aware that responses sometimes take time! I am SURE they got your contact us email and the person reading it was like “Wow, she didn’t get her good student discount but she’s not blaming us?? She’s not using all caps or many exclamation points about how this is our fault?” You are a dream customer.
“Perhaps SHE was also pretending to be HER brother.” – HEEEE. I snorfled out loud at that.
Considering I am embroiled in a Hate War with my health insurance company, this is a very timely and reassuring story that not all insurance companies on earth are EVIL and should perhaps DIE IN A FIRE. Ahem.
My grin got bigger and bigger as I read this! How lovely!!! A prompt and happy response! Hooray!
A) I’m so glad you had a good experience with your auto insurance!
B) This is my PSA regarding auto insurance, specifically the PIP (Personal Injury Protection). PIP is what your car insurance will pay for *your* medical care, were to you get in an accident. The required minimum varies from state to state, but some can be as low as $1,200. That’s….not very many dollars. That is exactly one ambulance ride and one Hello Kitty bandaid for most people. Difference insurance companies have difference caps on what they allow the PIP to be, but most are in the tens of thousands, and–at least for me–it only costs a few more dollars per month to jack that up as far as it will go. I had no idea what PIP was, or that I had it on my insurance, until I got in a NASTY accident 8 or 9 years ago, one from which I still have chronic pain in my back/hips/pelvis/neck/ribs…and from a time in my mostly unemployed, super poor student life, where I did not actually have health insurance. My PIP was at $150,000, and I had ZERO idea of that blessing. Luckily, I did not max it out with my medical bills, but over the next two years I racked up of thousands of dollars in hospital, doctor, physical therapy, and psychological therapy bills. My car insurance covered it all, no co-pay, no out-of-pocket minimum, 100% paid for my by car insurance.
xox
I so enjoyed reading this. You tell your stories so well. Just seeing the word “insurance” in print elevates my blood pressure to the danger zone, but this happy ending made me feel good!
Perhaps SHE was also pretending to be HER brother.
Hilarious!
How nice!
This was such a great story! I love that you have imaginary arguments. I od the same thing. I never actually say the hateful things I want to say but it’s fun to imagine saying them.
But to be so pleasantly surprised by their response that you didn’t even have to have the imaginary arguments is better still.
Yay, insurance Not Being Evil! This is such a low bar but such a delight when they pass.
Swistle, can you do a post on favorite small treats for oneself during hard times? This has been The Worst Month Ever in every life-sphere. We have bland Easter chocolate but it is Highly Unsatisfying, even things like Lindt truffles and Reeses Pieces. (No, I do not know what is wrong with me.) But I have bought like five shirts on eBay and now I need to stop and find the treats I’m sure I stuck in a cupboard somewhere, like nice bath salts, or the treats I haven’t made yet, like…homemade nice bath salts. But I thought you would also have ideas.
This is a fabulous story. I would like to recommend that you reward the employees that did such a good job. The same friend that taught me to say “I need to speak with your supervisor” when I was getting the run-around also taught me to also let a supervisor know when a job was well done. And I realized that so often in MY life I hear about every time things go wrong (as does my boss) but never when things go right. Now I make it a point to let bosses know when their employees do a good job. If I’m on the phone at the end I’ll ask to be connected to their supervisor, in this case an email to ask for the supervisors email would work. In the healthcare setting I’ve written a note to a caring nurse or doctor and asked them to share with their supervisor. Everyone is so appreciative that I get a SECOND boost of feeling good that adds to the good experience.
This post is why blogs should have a “like” button! Picture my little thumbs up here:).