If you thought that the world of insurance was a bizarre and unfathomable nest of fear-mongering leeches, well, you’d be right. I’m not here to make you feel better about that, though. I’m here to add to the confusion and doubt.
I rang my insurer to pay the insurance on the ute, and noticed that Emergency Contact is listed as the other regular driver. I can see that there might have been a time, in the past, where I had romantic visions of teaching her how to drive a manual car and maintaining a healthy, loving relationship. I’m all grown up now.
So, I asked the lady on the phone how much cheaper my policy would be if I was the only named driver. She took EC off the policy – and it came back $35 more expensive.
This just goes to show what gross miscarriages of justice there can be when a piece of software gets to run an algorithm on real life variables, like, “Who would you rather be driven around by: This guy with 15 years professional driving experience with no tickets or at-fault accidents, who has driven anything from motorbikes to articulated trucks; or Doctor Cloth-Eyes over there, throwing her coffee into her lap for the umpteenth time while driving on a freeway she swears she has never seen before in her life, but just happens to be the one that goes to her work?” (Yes. Emergency Contact has a PhD. Yes, her eyes are only painted on.)
What was trebly galling was it appeared while we had been talking, Emergency Contact was deemed to be getting safer. I asked the insurance lady to be put EC back on the policy and it came out two dollars cheaper than the initial quote.
Somebody needs a good kick in the actuaries.
I recently asked my car insurance company RACV to match an offer I had sourced which was the same offer but $500 a year cheaper. My reasoning was I've been good to them for 10 years and haven't claimed a dime, they should give me a little something something in return.
ReplyDeleteThe drone at the call centre put me on hold and gleefully came back to me a minute later saying they could take $50 off my current package but that would raise my excess from $500 to $1000...I was so impressed I went canceled and went to the other company.
I wouldn't insure you either, you evil bastitch. Who knows what kinda' deal you're making with Dr/Mr/Prof/Mrs Faust.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin', is all.