I sold my truck last week and am commuting full time now. So I called my insurance company and asked to drop the coverage yesterday. They said fine no prob.

I just got 2 phone calls from them (State Farm)- the agents secretary asked why I sold the truck and what I'm using for transportation now - I said I'm riding my bike, so she said 'Oh really? Let me talk to the agent to see about motorcycle coverage' I said no it's a bicycle. She said again after a long pause 'Oh really? Let me talk to your agent' and that was that.

Then she called back again and said corporate wasn't letting this dropped coverage request go thru because I must be getting another vehicle to replace the truck. I said no, I will be riding the bike from now on. She said 'Oh really?' and went on a tangent from there about winter, bad weather etc. and I was laughing the whole time.

The concept of someone choosing to ride a bicycle is such a foreign concept to people!

Don't talk to the secretary, talk to the agent, followed up by a letter to the agent. I'd also include a copy of the bill of sale.

Um? What a load of BS. You can't force a customer to stay.
Silly woman.

Yeah. They can't force you to pay the bill. Just don't pay it when it comes in. That means you've effectively dropped your insurance.

I don't think there's going to be any issue of getting this canx, I was just amuzed by the reaction - do they think I'm trying to scam them in some way?

So I just got another call - since I now only have one car (the wife's) the insurance will go up because we lose our multi-car discount! Crazy!

I'm still laughing tho...

You may be getting a little hassle due to "procedures" put in place to keep uninsured motorists off the road or maybe they think they have a contract for insurance till XXX date with you. Back in the old days folks would get insurance just to prove they had it to the dealer/department of motor vehicles (DMV) to register the car then drop it. Of course those were the days before computer and now the insurance company is supposed to notify the DMV that you dropped coverage for all the good that does. Just ask them what proof they think they need to prove that you are actually riding your bicycle in place of the truck you sold. I guess they admit you sold the truck so a proof of sale might not help much. Maybe if you send them a log of your miles.

Maybe I'm being dense today but how would you prove you aren't driving and don't own a car? I guess they could verify with the DMV you don't have a vehicle registered or maybe the DMV could print you out something to that effect. It would be so much easier to prove you had a car give you have receipts for oil changes, gas, maintenance and then the registration and title. Let us now how you convince them as I am having some trouble with my Allstate agent believing I ride my bike some days even though between the amount of gas I'm using a mileage on my car it would be impossible to have driven every day.

Remind me of having to write out and sign a letter to a mortgage company after I put my house up for sale that I was honestly putting my house up for sale and moving to this smaller house across town. I mean what the heck was I thinking downsizing houses in Texas the nerve! They figured the whole thing was a ruse and I was going to fix up the smaller house and flip it or something.

If they don't act IMMEDIATELY on your request to stop coverage, you might want to have your lawyer send them a letter detailing some of the fine points of contract law.

Getting fleeced by an insurance company is one thing (and bad enough), but don't let them screw up your credit rating (probably an even worse racket these days) in the bargain.

I didn't even know you had to specify to drop coverage. I once ditched a vehicle from NY when I moved to WA at the same time the policy expired, so I figured I just didn't need to renew it. I found out, 5 years later, that the insurance company ratted me out to NY as a scofflaw driving without insurance which suspended my license and broadcast that up and down the east coast. I had to pay NY a $25 'convenience fee' (it was very convenient for them, they too visa) in lieu of a paper trail of my vehicular history to get my privileges restored there so that they would take the APB off me and I could get a license again in WV, where I was moving to. WA, that I was moving from, never had that problem. In fact, they just gave me my WA license back when I returned from WV to here, just a new picture, not even any testing since my WA license had not actually lapsed in the 4-5 yrs or so I was away.

Insurance companies take very seriously their right to keep their claws in you. And, the more I hear about bikers getting whacked by the uninsured running red lights in their hummers, I suppose that's not entirely a bad thing.

"avmanansala - Don't talk to the secretary, talk to the agent, followed up by a letter to the agent. I'd also include a copy of the bill of sale. "

Thanks - I did call back to be reassured everthing went thru and it did.

"evblazer - You may be getting a little hassle due to "procedures" put in place to keep uninsured motorists off the road or maybe they think they have a contract for insurance till XXX date with you. Back in the old days folks would get insurance just to prove they had it to the dealer/department of motor vehicles (DMV) to register the car then drop it."

That's the message I got when I called back - higher cost of living = motorists dropping insurance to help make ends meet, scary!

Downsizing evblazer? How dare you even consider being finacially responsible for yourself!

The insurance industry should wake up to the fact that extremely expensive fuel prices are going to force people that would have never considered bicycle commuting to do just that. They soon realize that a proper commuting bike is an expensive product that needs real insurance coverage and not that "use your homeowners insurance" crap thats worthless. I would love to be able to pay them a few bucks a month to replace my bike if it were stolen or suffered extensive damage.

Here's a tip: I have a dummy phone number for all companies. Xcel, Comcast, credit cards, Walgreens pharmacy, health insurance, even my mortgage do not have my actual phone number.

I call them. They don't call me. This avoids sales calls, promotional calls, and retention calls like the one described above.

If its important they can send me a letter.

In my past experience, the Insurance company usually want to see the note from the DMV that you surrendered the plates, thereby proving that you no longer own the plates.

As a side note, my insurance agent is pretty much next door to my office so I usually walk in wearing some sort of cycling garb then I come in to pay the bill (home and cars). Suprisingly they didn't give me any grief. Apparently a neighbor of the insurance agent rides nearly 15 miles to work year round so my 5 miler didn't sound strange at all.

Happy riding,
André

Why would it matter even if you did get a new auto? BY LAW, they have to not only drop your coverage, but give you a prorated refund upon your request.

Contact the Better Business Bur. These folks are trying to scam you..

... Brad

after that call, I would have told them just to cancel both policies if that was the way they were going to treat their customers.

You should send your story to the consumerist. They love this kind of stuff.

I wouldn't. I don't buy insurance for ANYTHING that I can relatively easily afford to replace out-of-pocket. The insurance industry is there to make money. In the long run, you MUST pay more to them than you would just paying for the damage/loss yourself. Insurance is for unlikely things that you couldn't afford to pay for, like major medical or a new car or a house fire, not for a bike. I always drop my car insurance down to just PL/PD once the value of the car gets down to less than $4000 or so. I can't afford someone's medical if I were to hit someone, but if I total a car that they're only going to give me a couple thousand for anyway, I'm not worried about that.

That's so silly of the insurance agent to behave that way.

My insurance agent is a longtime friend. He knew I never drove and was on a bike all the time. So when I told him I was selling my truck and he said "let me know when and I'll drop it". So I shot him an email right after submitting the release of liability online, and he terminated the policy that day. No questions (but then, my wife's car is still with him, so he's still getting something from us).

Also, I think most policies terminate automatically when you don't pay. Problem solved!

Make your written communication by certified, return receipt mail.

Even if you got a different vehicle, it would be none of their business.
They're just trying to continue billing you.

I got the same kind of resistance with my insurance company, USAA, when I dropped my car. We had two cars, one needed more in repairs that it was worth and we're now working at the same place, same hours, so going to one car was a no-brainer. I called to drop it and the first thing they wanted to do was add the new car. They were incredulous that I was dropping the only vehicle from the policy without adding a new one. Tried a couple different ways of asking it, too, in case I was not understanding it... and then asked if we'd like to cover the other car, which is already covered with the wife's insurance.

I think it's more greedy business practice than any kind of commentary on bikes. But yeah, the thing to ask that shuts them up is asking if they have a vehicle policy to cover your bicycle. They won't so tell them that until they do, you won't be needing their services, thankyouverymuch.

I'm not sure about stolen bike insurance but I would love to be able to have real PL/PD insurance on the thing. I know what damage could a bike possibly do!? but hey that should be reflected in the rate. I could potentially cause an accident whether I'm in it or not. If I did survive it would be nice to be covered for any damage I was found at fault for like I would if I drove in a automobile.

This certainly varies from state to state, but I spoke with my USAA agent and this is how it supposedly works in WA:

-If my bike is stolen, it can be covered by my homeowner policy (renter policy if you're a renter)
-If I am in an accident with my bike, liability is covered by my auto policy

This information is also handy to dismiss some drivers' beliefs that it's unfair that bicycles aren't required to have insurance. The fact is, most already do, since most cyclists have an auto policy.

The above example is the reason I want an bicycle insurance policy. What covers liability and property damage if I don't have an auto policy?

I have USAA (have since I was 15) and when I went to one car last summer, they just said "No problem, if you get another vehicle, let us know, and we will be happy to give you a quote". They insure my house, cars, motorcycle (when I had it), they have my Checking, savings, IRA...... Pretty complete orgonization. The only hassel I got was from some new girl in the checking department.... I needed three months of statements to get my morgatge, and she tried to charge me $50 to fax them! Once I pointed out that not only my immediate family, but parents, uncles and grandparents all have acts with USAA and all would drop them like the plauge if this was how we were to be treated, she appologized and sent SIX months worth of statements

The BBB is a private organization that receives money from businesses: it is not in their interests to pursue complaints against "member" companies vigorously. Better: contact your state's Attorney General's office. Their obligation is to the public.

Depending on the state, you cannot simply cancel your insurance (liability insurance). This is to make sure people are not driving without insurance.

You must first surrender your plates and you will receive a form FS-6T (in NY).

You submit this form to the insurance company and they will cancel the policy effective from the date the plates were surrendered and send you any applicable refund.

In reality, this is a good system that works.

Well, that depends. If you seriously never drive, or drive only FlexCar/ZipCar type shared vehicles then I don't know of anything that is a good deal for you.

However, if you're like many car-free people, you still drive sometimes, renting a car periodically (I did this for a year - Enterprise weekend rates are excellent). In this case it is beneficial to have a non-owner policy, which would then cover your bicycle liability. It also allows you to decline the car rental company's coverage, saving you money whenever you rent a car. It would also cover you if you drove a friend's car and he did not have adequate insurance.