question if any insurance folks

[Rahmota]

Ok I just got a used van the other day. when I called my insurance company to add it to my policy the person on the other end asked me a question that was kinda different as I had never been asked it before and so I was wondering if anyone might know why or what the reason for the question might be. Or if I am being paranoid. There was no other problem or anythign sucky on either end (a bit of a confusion over a letter as I was on my mobile but otherwise ok) of the call.

The question was "am I goign to be selling any of the cars?"

This had never been asked of me before.Now I do have 4 vehciles on my policy but it has never been an issue before. If anythign another person I talked to joked with me about getting a fleet discount if I keep getting cars. Since I tinker and like to play with cars, as well as not having the money to go out and get a brand new one, I get a lot of beaters that I wring the last drops of good out of and then pass to the junkyard or someone else wanting to see what they can do with it in some frankencar project. This sometimes means that I have a slightly higher turnover of cars I guess. Having owned about 2 dozen vehicles in the past 15 years.

I know it wasnt really a sucky way of being asked or a sucky question in and of itself it just kinda strikes me as what does it matter to you or the company? Am I being a bit sensitive or is this a wierd question. I didnt ask her anythign about it as I didnt think to do so at the time. What do you think?

[Gurndigarn]

The insurance is probably a base fee plus so much per additional car. Many people sell one when they buy one, so it would lower your insurance if you weren't going to keep the additional ones.

Possibly. The way corporations think and the way reality works are two different things...

[Rahmota]

I dunno. *shrug* Maybe she was interested in buying one of them. Oh well just thought if anyone was in the biz they might be able to explain it but then again like you said reality and corporate mindthink are two different dimensions. Thanks for the help.

BTW the way my policy works I get charged based on the vehicle type and usage. Ie my truck which is used for the farm is charged at a different rate then my wife's car which is used primarily as a people/kids/groceries mover.

[Auto]

The insurance person may have been trying to do you a favor.

Usually, rates per car decline as you own more cars. For most people, rates really drop if ythey have more cars than drivers in the household.

If it's a truck that may end up sitting in your garage, ask if you qualify for a discount if you're planning to drive another car most of the time.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I think my mom was asked that years ago back when we had five - yes, FIVE vehicles. All running and all with tags and stickers.

She was also asked if she had a dealer license. She didn't, but probably could have applied for one.

[Rahmota]

Auto spoke and we listened:The insurance person may have been trying to do you a favor.

That is true. I am just not used to that from a company so it took me by surprise. If so I do appreciate it. Especially as I've already got the vehciles listed as per their usage and milage driven all that stuff. Doing homework helps.

Dgoddess: Yeah I hear that.

[digilight]

She probably asked simply for the fact that when most people buy a new/used vehicle they are getting it to replace a existing vehicle. She probably is used to people calling to add a vehicle but forgetting to mention that they have sold/are going going to sell one of their other vehicles. If you said yes that you were going to be selling your truck/bike/bently in 2 months to your brother-in-laws next door neighbors pet elephant then they may just make a notation and give you a reminder call in a couple of months to see if the transaction went thru (saves them for an irate person calling when they are charged for insurance that they no longer have the vehicle for).

Or maybe she just was hoping you had a car for sell.

[Rahmota]

Possibly. Oh well its all good in the end.

[Banrion]

Something I know a little bit about ( not alot, just a little) - I'm not an underwriter but did work for and auto ins co.

There are probably a couple reasons. One is that once you reach a certain number of vehicles, the automated underwriting system can no longer handle it, and the policy would have to go to an underwriter for manual rating and review. The company I worked for the limit was 4, anything above and beyond would be manual.

Another is that different states have different definitions of what a dealer is. In CT simply registering 12 vehicles in a given year can qualify as a dealer. Other states it is based on revolving titles etc.

Another reason could be for customer service issues. When my company put a new vehicle on a policy without adding a driver we would ask about a possible future sale for the purpose of the agent setting a reminder to call and confirm the vehicle had been sold, so that we could remove the vehicle and therefore give the customer the credit that is due. It also helps prevent more manual rating issues in the future, when the customer gets their renewal with the old vehicle listed, and calls because they sold that vehicle 6 mos ago. The automated system we have can only process up to 60 days in the past.