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Can anyone tell me whether this is legal - and if legal, if common industry practice. I am seeking new auto and homeowner insurance and got a reasonable quote from an agent today with a certain well rated company. I agreed to buy policies but because the homeowners policy will not be effective (it's not due to renew) until the end of August, we agreed we would also make the auto insurance effective on that same August date. As we were winding down our phone call, he told me he would need a credit card today for the auto insurance in order to lock in the premium rate, or else I would risk having it possibly increase between now and the end of August, even though I'm signing paperwork commiting to the auto and homeowner policies now. I'm pretty sure I've never encountered this before. In other instances, agents have written policies with effective dates several months out, but I am pretty certain I did not have to make payment immediately. Is this something new? Thank you.
Sounds like your agent used to sell cars. Doesn't make any sense to pay now. If the rates could go up by waiting - tell him that's a risk you're willing to take.
The policy he writes is only valid on paper if it's paid. I have had some agents that require some payment upfront to "lock" in the quote. Others give you 30 days to pay it. Either way, payment need to be received before the effective date you are asking for.
If you don't feel comfortable about giving that information, try somewhere else. I had a situation where a agent tells me I have to provide 3rd party information (my flood insurance) in order to buy their home insurance quote. I told them it's not their business to know, it's between me and my lender, and I'm keeping my home and flood carriers separate. They still refused to sell me the quote. That ended up better for me because I found a much cheaper quote with Liberty Mutual for less than half the $$ and they never once asked about my flood insurance.
We are billed every 6 months. We asked about paying in advance and were told no. So, months out won't work with Allstate. Premiums can change, car could be damaged by falling tree middle of the night, etc.
Can anyone tell me whether this is legal - and if legal, if common industry practice. I am seeking new auto and homeowner insurance and got a reasonable quote from an agent today with a certain well rated company. I agreed to buy policies but because the homeowners policy will not be effective (it's not due to renew) until the end of August, we agreed we would also make the auto insurance effective on that same August date. As we were winding down our phone call, he told me he would need a credit card today for the auto insurance in order to lock in the premium rate, or else I would risk having it possibly increase between now and the end of August, even though I'm signing paperwork commiting to the auto and homeowner policies now. I'm pretty sure I've never encountered this before. In other instances, agents have written policies with effective dates several months out, but I am pretty certain I did not have to make payment immediately. Is this something new? Thank you.
I'm not an agent in PA, but an agent none the less. I was a captive at Farmers for 10 years and have been independent for 2. I know of no company that has required payment to obtain the advance purchase discount. This should be keyed off of the quote and effective dates, not the payment date. Just my penny.
Can anyone tell me whether this is legal - and if legal, if common industry practice. I am seeking new auto and homeowner insurance and got a reasonable quote from an agent today with a certain well rated company. I agreed to buy policies but because the homeowners policy will not be effective (it's not due to renew) until the end of August, we agreed we would also make the auto insurance effective on that same August date. As we were winding down our phone call, he told me he would need a credit card today for the auto insurance in order to lock in the premium rate, or else I would risk having it possibly increase between now and the end of August, even though I'm signing paperwork commiting to the auto and homeowner policies now. I'm pretty sure I've never encountered this before. In other instances, agents have written policies with effective dates several months out, but I am pretty certain I did not have to make payment immediately. Is this something new? Thank you.
You don't have to wait until your homeowner's is set to renew. Just start the new policies today and you will get a small refund from your old homeowner's policy.
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