Insurance wants TMI

[treesprite]

I'm kind of pissed off. The insurance company is saying I have to give them personal information of everyone who lives with me. I've had that company for over 20 years, they have never asked me for other people's information. I have to give them names, driver's licenses, and their car and insurance info. A homeowner who rents out rooms has to give the personal info of everyone there to his/her car insurance company. 

This is just one more way to invade people's privacy. If they can't get you via your own activities, they will get you through other people who are being forced to give it out without your consent, just to do simple things that provide no benefit to you.

If you are using someone else's address as a home address, you probably should clarify whether or not the property owners are giving out your personal info.

 

[user 423]

How did they know other people are living with you?

And are you renting out rooms?

 

[highdesertranger]

what state is this in? highdesertranger

 

[WanderingRose]

I’ve never heard of such a thing, and as a 71 year old my insurance company for the past 40 years or so has never asked for that kind of information.

I would think others in your home could politely decline giving this information to your car insurance company.

It sounds suspect to me, and worth gently challenging.

 

[Uncle Todo]

They must have asked about people in your household and if they were insured I'm guessing...
No would be the way to go on that, no household, just you.

I live with my sister, but my "household" is only me.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Fire them and hire another company....operators are always standing by to take your call.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I would also talk with my states insurance commissioner.

 

[Sofisintown]

The insurance company is saying I have to give them personal information of everyone who lives with me.

Are you sure you didn't dial Nigeria?

 

[maki2]

Are you talking about car insurance? They would need to know if other hjusehold members are driving your car on a regular basis. If so they would also need to have their ages because rates are different for persons under 25.

The thing to do is ask them directly why they need the information before you jump to conclusions about it being an invasion of your privacy.

But if you are the only driver of your car then say so. If someone in the household very occasdionaly drives your car then sa u so. If that person has iinsurance of their own that covers them when they occassionaly drive your car then say that as well.

This may not at all be an invasion of your privacy because that is pretty much business as normal for getting the right coverage and it is due diligence by a good agent.

 

[Weight]

Yep. That is how it is for vehicle insurance. You pay a premium based on your risk. ex: If you live with a teen, you are a larger risk. When my children lived with me, I had two address numbers for my house. One for them and one for only me. Here they use address information cross referenced with driver license numbers. I did not have to list anyone as they already knew.

 

[Tony's Dream]

Insurance companies are designed to rip you off over time, you only win if you die young or have an accident early in the policy. They want to know all of this so they can charge you as much as they can. Specifically they want about any children between the ages 15-20, this is where the real money is for them. We had two cars, one for my wife and one for me. We started our policy with this company when we got married and had it for over 15 years. One day my son was driving my car and they had an accident and they refused to pay because he was not listed on the policy. Looking at our policy it covered "occasional drivers" which we considered to be our kids......since they didn't have a car of their own. We contacted our lawyer who said the policy did not state we must list everyone in our household (this was in the 1990s) and we took them to court......and we won. They sent us a check and two weeks later the cancelled the policy! What a rip off.

 

[WanderingRose]

“A homeowner who rents out rooms has to give the personal info of everyone there to his/her car insurance company.”

I took this from the OP to mean these people the insurance company wanted info on were not his “household” or sharing resources, but renters.

Maybe the OP could clarify that.

 

[user 423]

^
Yes, clarify please. In another thread she says she is in an apartment.

 

[treesprite]

Sorry for the confusion. I live with adult family members.

The person I spoke to insisted on the information. She said if they have licenses, I either have to give their license information or give proof of them having their own car insurance. I'm going to call the local agent office to see about adding the van, because that's who I usually talk to. The office was closed when I called, and I wanted to be able to drive the van on the weekend, so I called the main company number. (haven't driven it even in the parking lot, it's just been sitting a few weeks).

 

[WanderingRose]

Might ask the insurance company to provide the written policy they are supposedly citing, and/or ask to speak with a supervisor.

They should be able to send you a link to that.

Sometimes we get people answering the phones who get creative with rules.

It would seem logical that your insurance company cannot require that you provide information from other people, unless maybe if they will be regularly driving your vehicle.

Even then, I’m not sure.

 

[BelgianPup]

Call your State Insurance Commissioner.

The person who answers is just a receptionist, so keep the question down to 3 sentences or less, just enough so she knows who to direct your call to.

Insurance companies aren't all the same. If you're willing to change companies, be sure to make the arrangements with the New company BEFORE you cancel with the old one.

Do all of the people have their own cars? Would any of them be likely to drive your car? If there are half a dozen people who have copies of your keys and feel that they can take it anytime they want, it does raise the chances that one of them will have an accident.

 

[BelgianPup]

P.s. Have you had any relatively recent claims when someone else was driving your car?

 

[jacqueg]

Might ask the insurance company to provide the written policy they are supposedly citing, and/or ask to speak with a supervisor.

They should be able to send you a link to that.

Sometimes we get people answering the phones who get creative with rules.

It would seem logical that your insurance company cannot require that you provide information from other people, unless maybe if they will be regularly driving your vehicle.

Even then, I’m not sure.

Depends on your insurance company. But they do cross-reference addresses.

I was taking out a policy on a new-to-me vehicle, at a time when I was living communally. Underwriter called me directly and asked if a specific person would be driving my vehicle regularly. I said no, and that was the end of it.

Never lie to your insurance agent. Or your insurance company.

 

[WanderingRose]

Right, who is driving your vehicle is a legitimate question.

All that information on anyone living in your residence seems not.

 

[treesprite]

I just finished talking to the agent directly. All she asked me for was the vehicle info, no questions about anything personal.

They are going to get a crazy email though, because before I called, I was writing an email to them that I was trying to re-write in a better way (so it was jumbled partial paragraphs), when suddenly the cat decided to come up and push his head against my hand, causing the email to send prematurely.

I had sent an email to them before the van was actually purchased, to which they had responded, so this was a response to that response. I didn't realize that their email said I could just email the van info to add it, otherwise I'd have done that last week. So that's what I was trying to do before the cat messed things up, thereby forcing me to call so I could tell them to ignore the email.