Allstate Auto Insurance ripoff They Bait and Switch, I cancelled, they turned me into collections. Indianapolis Indiana

Hey Curtis,

Sorry to read what happened to you. I had worked for several insurers in the past, including Allstate. Just for future info for everyone reading this, when you originally get a quote from an insurer for auto insurance, the quote is 99.9% of the time, based on info you provided. It's just based on your age, miles traveled, type of car, etc. Once you decide to accept their offer, THATS when they will run your MVR and a credit report. Yes, a credit report. A good company will explain to you that your rate may change once all your reports are run, and give you the premium at that time. 

Everyone needs to remember this pit of advice for protection, DON'T ever cancel your current coverage until you know that the new company ran all their reports, that there is nothing that will change in price and most of all until you receive your policy in the mail after making your deposit. This way, if something does go wrong, your original coverage is still in place, and you'll have it to fall back on.

Now, you NEVER want a gap in coverage with auto ins. That will have a major impact on your rates in the future. If you went back to Safeco and your coverage with them never lapsed, Allstate should backdate their termination to the date you started it. Providing them with proof of coverage benefits you in getting your money back. It also shows no lapse in coverage. You can't be covered by two insurers at the same time. One of them owes you money...the new company in this case. Showing them you had coverage while their policy started makes them backdate the termination to the time you started their policy. If you can't prove coverage with someone slse, they will charge you for coverage used from them. They'll prorate it per day.

I know it's frustrating but heck, show them proof of coverage so they have to pay you back, this should wipe your slate clear as far as owing them. Then, the consumer bureaus can remove that off your credit reports.

Insurance companies can sure save themselves hits against reputation by just being very upfront with customers. Sorry to hear that happened to you! I cannot stress any more...DO NOT allow your current coverage to terminate until you receive your policy in the mail from the new company. You can always get the money back from your prior company by showing them you went with a new company and providing proof.

You are correct that insurance credit checks are only "soft hits" and don't affect scores, though I believe on a full report they do show up. 99% Of companies who run checks don't even show the agent or employee running the check the customer's credit score, much less specific credit report information. The company will only see the insurance score broken down into that company's proprietary letter/number classification, showing what rate class that customer is being placed in as a result of a credit check.

Unfortunately, the general public hears "credit report" and thinks they're going to be seeing everything from their outstanding debts to how many wives they've had, which just isn't true. Trust me, you're in much more danger buying a car with in-dealership financing because the sales managers and salespeople often gossip about peoples credit info (first hand knowledge there).

Now, if this consumer has proof that they informed Allstate in writing with a legally accepted cancellation form, which in Indiana is a dated letter, showing the date they want the policy cancelled (has to be in the future or that day, not the past unless another policy overlaps or other extraordinary circumstances are involved), and it has got to be signed and delivered to the agent or company by mail if not dealing with an agent. Some will accept phone cancellations if the customer gives their SSN. The reason for all this is that if your kid/ex wife/pissed off coworker calls up or emails and the company cancels, they have no proof that someone with authority actually cancelled, and can and do get their pants sued off for these things under their E&O coverage.

But, even if you did this, it'd leave you, in this case, with a serious lapse in coverage which, as already stated, would seriously impact your ability to be insured in the future, your choice of companies, and the eventual price. Since, obviously someone who's willing to drive without coverage is going to be considered a poor risk. Allstate has a wholly separate company for these drivers, Allstate indemnity co., Farmers wont take them but places them in their high risk insurer Bristol West, other companies have no options for these drivers or have similar 2nd company options.

Just thought other consumers may find these details helpful.

First I would like to say "AMEN" to "WOW...".  Insurance is not like a new pair of shoes, you can't just decide they cost too much and return them, then walk barefoot a while.  Not only will your rates increase but if you are a mandatory insurance state you face fines and license suspension for any lapse in insurance.

Also I would like to point out that when an insurance company "runs your credit", they don't actually run your credit.  It's called a "soft hit", they see nothing of your credit history, it does NOT impact your FICO score in any way, and no one who pulls your credit with a hard hit (banks for example) will ever see that an "inquiry" was made by the insurance company.  The only one who can see this insurance inquiry on your credit is you, that's it, that's all.  And how you pay bills has a lot to do with insurance.  As you have just found out, they will carry you for a month or so sometimes without you paying anything.  Some people will walk into an insurance agency, pay one month down and walk out with proof of 6 months coverage and they never pay another dime.  Yes, this factors into your rate because they want to make sure you are going to pay your bill.  If someone's insurance score (not credit score) is too low, some companies will refuse to offer coverage period.  If the complaintant in the above case had experienced a traffic accident before October 1st he would be singing Allstate's praises.

My advice?  Suck it up and learn how the world actually works.  This must have been his very first ever insurance policy.

All I can say is this consumer has no apparent idea of how insurance works for someone who's 38 years old. I'm not aware of any company that doesn't run credit checks before issuing a policy and one of the documents you receive is a fcrda form. they can give a basic rate with no cc, but once they run credit rates can vary widely.

And, to cancel a policy prior to new insurance taking effect is not only illegal and stupid, but it'll raise your new rate. Any lapse over usually 2 days will severly impact your insurance score.

As for why proof of insurance matters; if you can prove you had concurrent coverage with the policy in question, it can be cancelled back to the date coverage overlaps, but not before.

I'm guessing he's here complaining because his complaint to the commission got him nowhere, justifiably so.

I originally posted 3 emails with the first report. I screened out all of my contact information, but apparently the emails were deleted from the report in their entirety.

Today I got an email from Allstate.
What a joke. (or I should say the joke is on me)

My rep that I wrote to, forwarded my hostile email to his regional customer care rep... she wrote back to him "Thanks for making my day with this one. :) " and put in a cute little smiley face... she is having fun thinking it's a big joke...
He messed up and sent me her email as a forward...

It turns out that Allstate is ignoring the date I told them to cancel the policy, and instead charging me up to the day that my new policy with Safeco went into effect, October 1st, 2006. Apparently since Indiana is a mandatory insurance state, Allstate figures they can charge you until you have proof you have new insurance, weather you want "serviced" from them or not... My original email I sent to Allstate regarding the increase was August 8th (not September as I originally posted) so that makes the matter worse. They sat on my request for information for almost 2 months.

Here are snippets from the emails I received today.
she included the calculation of how they arrived at a $113 balance, and also stated that they sent me 3 notices about the balance.

Too bad I never got the 3 notices.
They sent the rate increase to my correct address, they email me and send me updates and marketing hype, the company has my cell number on file (they gave it to the collections company) the agent has my mothers phone number and address as we inquired about insurance for her, they have my work phone number, and finally my home owners insurance is with Allstate so they have the accurate information from that and the mortgage company contact information as well.

But apparently they sent the 3 notices that I owed then more money to an address that I have not lived at for 4+ years. (that s what the collections company stated)
sounds a little convenient if you want to "accidentally" trash someone's credit.

Here are the email snippets
----------------------------------------------
Willis:
Thanks for making my day with this one. :) I will respond to the
insured on this complaint. FYI we are CUSTOMER CARE not customer
service. Customer Service is in the CIC or call center. We are in the
region.
Lori
Allstate Insurance Company
Customer Coordinator
----------------

Dear Curtis

Your email regarding the collections bill on policy number ***********
has been forwarded to my attention.

After reviewing your policy records, the reason that you received a bill
in the amount of $113.76 is for the earned premium from June 6 - October
1, 2005.

Your policy was in effect for 122 days. The total premium of 474.43
./. 183 days in the policy period= 2.59 earned premium per day. 122 x
2.59 = 315.98

You made two payments : 144.46 6/11/05
72.23 8/6/05 which total to
216.69.... 315.98 - 216.69= 98.99 + 14.00 (4 installment fees) = your
balance.

Per the confirmation your agent received from Safeco that you policy was
effective on 10/1/05, which is the day this policy terminated. The bill
you are receiving for 113.76 is correct. You were sent bills 3
separate bills requesting the balance. Unfortunately, after 3 attempts
the balance is forwarded to a collection agency.

If you pay the balance this should not appear on your credit history.
----------------

notice that it "should not" appear on my credit. I guess she does not know her job well enough to understand the way collection companies work... I guess... she is just doing guess work.


I wrote back a nastygram and gave Lori my credit card information. Told her to take her money and choke on it.
I also stated that the world has a funny way of balancing out all injustices....

I will update more of this report later. (its almost 2 am now)