Insurance Blackmailed Me

[masoudm]

Hi, I used to have Ameriprise Auto Insurance but since my son got his drivers license and Ameriprise found out, and if I stayed there my insurance would increase and then I switched. But my problem is that when my son got his drivers license on 8/4/13 and I renewed my policy with Ameriprise, and I paid the amount for the next 6 months for the policy under me and my wife's name. About one and a half months later, I received a mail from Ameriprise, stating that we found out that you have a new driver that is not under the policy and you can contact us if you got questions or anything but if you don't in 10 business days he will be automatically added to your policy. I called them and asked them how much would it be with my son in the policy, and I told them don't add him yet as I am going to find another auto insurance company that I can afford and they accepted. I found another auto insurance company and switched.

The problem is that I contacted Ameriprise that I wanted to cancel my Auto Insurance and they done that and they said they would refund me for the next 5 months and then I got a mail from them saying they refunded me with an amount that is very less. I paid around $500 something for the next 6 months and after a month and a half I got $240 back. This is way less than I was expecting, and I'm pretty sure its because they took the money as if my son was added from the beginning from the policy, but after a month and a half as I stated before he was added. Its like you start a contract with a company halfway past the month, and they charge you as if you had them for the whole month.

Now I am here to ask people if there is something I can do about this, I didn't contact Ameriprise about it, because they would say that its not possible or some worthless excuse, as in my mind if there is a possible way to sue them or do something about it.

If you know any possible solution please comment as it would help me greatly.

Thank You!

 

[goillini52]

Hi, I used to have Ameriprise Auto Insurance but since my son got his drivers license and Ameriprise found out, and if I stayed there my insurance would increase and then I switched. But my problem is that when my son got his drivers license on 8/4/13 and I renewed my policy with Ameriprise, and I paid the amount for the next 6 months for the policy under me and my wife's name. About one and a half months later, I received a mail from Ameriprise, stating that we found out that you have a new driver that is not under the policy and you can contact us if you got questions or anything but if you don't in 10 business days he will be automatically added to your policy. I called them and asked them how much would it be with my son in the policy, and I told them don't add him yet as I am going to find another auto insurance company that I can afford and they accepted. I found another auto insurance company and switched.

The problem is that I contacted Ameriprise that I wanted to cancel my Auto Insurance and they done that and they said they would refund me for the next 5 months and then I got a mail from them saying they refunded me with an amount that is very less. I paid around $500 something for the next 6 months and after a month and a half I got $240 back. This is way less than I was expecting, and I'm pretty sure its because they took the money as if my son was added from the beginning from the policy, but after a month and a half as I stated before he was added. Its like you start a contract with a company halfway past the month, and they charge you as if you had them for the whole month.

Now I am here to ask people if there is something I can do about this, I didn't contact Ameriprise about it, because they would say that its not possible or some worthless excuse, as in my mind if there is a possible way to sue them or do something about it.

If you know any possible solution please comment as it would help me greatly.

Thank You!

Why don't you ask your new agent to help you with this?

 

[TeePee]

And expect your new insurance to add him very soon too.

 

[USF3983]

Depending on the laws in your state, the insurance companies may require you to list all household members. You should be able to exclude them from coverage if they don't drive. Sometimes they don't rate if it's a learners permit.

Each company may have a different way of cancelling a policy. There might be some fees they don't refund and they may charge a cancellation fee.

My guess is that they may have based it on having him added. Why would you not expect them to have him added for getting his license? That means he's driving or wants to drive. I'm not sure if you purchased the policy through an agency, but a half-way decent agent should have been able to discuss the options with you on how to keep the costs down for the new situation.

 

[LGilmore]

I am sure they are counting from the moment your son became licensed as they should. Why you waited till after you were billed to discover it's expensive to have young drivers on your policy is a mystery. You should have been researching this new cost before he became licensed.

It just seems like you're trying to skip out on getting your child properly covered, which means you personally as a parent would bear all responsibility for costs incurred if he were to be in an accident as he is a minor.

Best of luck to you, but understand you need to get proper coverage for all members in the household, otherwise it just appears you're being dishonest and nobody wants to help somebody like that.

 

[Accelerated]

Now I am here to ask people if there is something I can do about this, I didn't contact Ameriprise about it, because they would say that its not possible or some worthless excuse, as in my mind if there is a possible way to sue them or do something about it.

How about you actually make an effort here? You have not even bothered to pick up the phone and ask the other party, yet you are just fine with sitting there defaming the company and yelling about how they "blackmailed you" (it is not blackmail when they decide that you should pay an additional fee for the additional risk of a newly licensed driver) and how you want to sue them, yet you have not even bothered to express your concerns to them.

Get off the forum, call your current agent and your old carrier and ask. Instead of slandering a carrier and asking us about (frivolous) litigation possibilities, how about you try to solve the problem that you see as a problem? It's probably worth the extra hundred bucks or so to simply make you stop slandering them.

 

[TKINSFIN]

Depending on what carrier you have and what state you live in, every carrier has different guide lines for refunds. One of the companies I work with charges you for all the taxes and fees associated with a policy and a 10% fee based on the total premium if you cancel mid term.

You should have called me.

 

[best14rates]

You can always call your states insurance commissioners office and they can tell you if they were in the guidelines and also tell you if you should have more of a refund coming

 

[MichaelQ]

Most likely they added your son from the renewal or form the date he had a DL, good luck trying to get any additional refund from them.

 

[F150]

this is like a train wreck moving in slow motion