Report a DUI to Automoble Company

[shooter]

Question:
About a year ago my son age 25 received a DUI and lost his license.
I am in Alabama, and have my PC coverage with ALFA.
There agents or employees. Not independent, or franchised.
I reported this to the agent at the time.
He shortly afterward let the company.
I never received a notice from ALFA.
Not did I get any thing from them starting that he was cancelled, or that there would be an increase in our premiums.
He is about to get his license back in July.

Should I tell them again? He is still on my policy.
What is the best thing to do?
Part of me wants to do nothing and hope he can stay clean.
But I really want him off my policy.
If I do I know there will be a big increase in his premium.

I feel it is dishonest not to tell them. Just curious as to why they haven't taken any action on it.
I am in life sales, but know nothing about the PC side.
Thanks for any advice.
Shooter

 

[Insurance-Guy]

They haven't taken any action because they do not know! Companies do not pull mvrs on their entire BOB...it would cost a fortune. If you want your son off flat out tell him... Your on your own!

Now as far as the ethics behind you not telling about the DUI...well if it was a speeding ticket would you tell? The rate should be higher as well for the speeding ticket but i am not aware that you are required to notify a carrier of a ticket... If you pick up the phone and notify the company one of two things happen...1 rate increase/exclusion offer or 2 non renewal/exclusion offer.

 

[shooter]

They haven't taken any action because they do not know! Companies do not pull mvrs on their entire BOB...it would cost a fortune. If you want your son off flat out tell him... Your on your own!

Now as far as the ethics behind you not telling about the DUI...well if it was a speeding ticket would you tell? The rate should be higher as well for the speeding ticket but i am not aware that you are required to notify a carrier of a ticket... If you pick up the phone and notify the company one of two things happen...1 rate increase/exclusion offer or 2 non renewal/exclusion offer.

Thanks for the input.
I did tell them when it happened.
But they didn't make any changes.
Nice pic by the way.

Shooter

 

[djs]

Usually, when an agent adds an SR-22 filing to a policy, the system will automatically pull an MVR on the next policy period and make the adjustments. Well, you would think thats the way it would work, but it doesn't always.

An agent will rarely add an infraction to a policy when you tell him. In many systems, either there is no mechanism to do it or if you do, it causes a rating problem. Why? The premium is locked until the renewal, or a change you request to the policy. In this case, the DUI may not get rated for a year even if the carrier knows, depending on when your renewal date is.

What you should do: Have him pay his portion of the insurance bill till he gets rated, then exclude him off of your policy. Have him get his own. At that point, he would not be able to drive your cars, only the one he is actually insured on.

A 25 year old with a DUI? I'd like to write the policy! Probably not as bad as you think though, especially if he only carries liability coverage for a few years.

Dan

 

[LGilmore]

In looking at something similar before, I would tell them, document I told them(date, full name or agent #) and if they fail to follow up, it may be on them for the mistake. Most policies do have a clause that requires you to tell them of any changes (dui, speeding ticket, etc.) that occurred in the period. Failure to do so, can cause the policy to be cancelled. Could find yourself mid claim with no coverage for failure to disclose a material fact.

Make sure you do your part and document the heck out of it.

 

[Insurance-Guy]

Most policies do have a clause that requires you to tell them of any changes (dui, speeding ticket, etc.) that occurred in the period. Failure to do so, can cause the policy to be cancelled. Could find yourself mid claim with no coverage for failure to disclose a material fact.

I have never even heard of a company trying to deney a claim for someone getting a ticket for anything after the underwriting period? IF a policy specifically states that you are to notify them of any changes to any driving records on the policy and a claim happened the worse that would happen is they would non renew you.

As djs said most out of all of the companies I use none of them have a way for me to trigger ordering a new MVR, unless I call a underwriter to catch at renewal. And yes if a SR22 is required then it will get picked up.

Reading my policy I see nothing in the policy regarding notifying them of tickets...now it states clearly to report any and all drivers in the household, address changes and such. I am sure somewhere some company will try to pull sorry we are denying your claim because mr jones you had a DUI a year ago and you didn't notify us however don't see that going well for the carrier. More than likely mr jones your policy is set for non renewal due to a DUI the company pulled your MVR.

Hell I just wrote a 62 yr old man that a had a DWI, and a at fault accident just liability only on a Toyota corolla $2,600 a year!

 

[djs]

Keep in mind, tickets, accidents, dui's, reckless driving, whatever, only change a policy on renewal, not when they occur.

They only go on at renewals, they only come off at renewals. Just the way the system works.

Dan

 

[LGilmore]

My bad, shooting from the hip. That said, I would never advise a client not to do what was suggested, especially when a dwi is involved. Let the failure to provide be theirs, not the insureds.

 

[djs]

DUI's are one thing you always confess to your agent. Simply put, you need to get an SR-22 from him. No big deal, we've heard it many, many times.

The SR-22 comes from the carrier, so they know about it. In fact, the SR-22 is actually between the carrier and the DMV, so they have to know about it.

That said, I've got a few clients where they had an SR-22 for 3 years and the carrier still didn't rate them for the DUI. It will happen, just not before the SR-22 requirement (and 3 year window) is up. Yes, they got lucky.

Dan

 

[Guest]

next part that enters this question..........ETHICS, if you are feeling guilty about it, tell the insurance company, pay the extra money and feel better about it.

I had heard most companies run a MVR on renewals only 3% of the entire book of business......so odds of getting caught are fairly slim