Hello. I know my story is like so many others, but I’ve never been in this position before.
I had auto insurance for years with Liberty Mutual. I always paid on time because my premium was automatically deducted from my bank account. So, I never thought about paying…it was coming out like clockwork.
April was no different until I logged into my account on April 26th and couldn’t locate my account. I called customer service and was advised my policy was canceled earlier that month on April 3rd, 2021. I WAS DEVISTATED!!
Not only is it a misdemeanor to drive without insurance, I could face jail time if in an accident without insurance!!!
Why was I dropped from Liberty Mutual? I have my son on my policy who has had 5 accidents. 3 were not his fault, but we had to pay because 2 were hit and runs. With the first hit and run, I have no idea how he survived the accident by the look of his car. The other not at fault was a teenager on a moped who ran a stop sign and into my son. My son thought he killed the teen, but the teen was thankfully ok. Unfortunately, the teen’s guardians would not take responsibility, nor assist us with the car repairs, so we turned to Liberty Mutual to get the car back to working condition. The 3rd no-fault accident was with my son sitting at a red light, a 3rd party driver ran into him and tried to speed off. My son caught up with the driver, as risky as it was, and called the police. That 3rd party driver was found to be at fault and ticketed for an attempted hit and run. Unfortunately, the driver was not the owner of the car, but was given permission to drive the car by the actual owner. The owner’s car insurance denied liability because their insured would not cooperate. So, back to Liberty Mutual to get the car repaired. I then had an accident in July 2020 on the highway going to Nashville, TN to visit my other child. It was raining heavily! I hydro-planed into a semi truck, was soun around 180 degrees and hit the truck again. I have no idea how I wasn’t hit by other cars because traffic was heavy. It was by His Grace that I made it through. The police showed up eventually and advised there were so many accidents reported within the 1 stretch of mile I was on. The officer advised it was due to the new roadwork and poor pooling. Someone had lost their life that day in the many accidents that occurred, but my life was spared, and no injuries! Thank God!
I called an attorney to see if I had a case against the KY department of transportation, and my case was accepted. That is until the attorney found out the DOT couldn’t be sued. They also found out that same stretch of road was responsible for hundreds of accidents and deaths within a 10 year period.
All these accidents added up to us being an insurance underwriting nightmare, so we were dropped, not notified and I had a lapse in coverage!
When I found out I didn’t have insurance, it was April 26th, 2021. I had gone 23 days without car insurance, and I had no idea!
I was frantic! I searched so many companies, and was able to get insured by The General. The down-payment was $2300, which thankfully I had due to receiving the stimulus checks. I made the down-payment on April 26th and was informed my next monthly payment wouldn’t be due until June 26th. I had a little bit of time to come up with the entire monthly premium of $1924 because I could make payments towards the new outrageous payment. I downloaded the insurance company’s app, and to my surprise, the next monthly premium was not due until June 26th, not May 26th! I had to rob Peter to Pay Paul, but I made it happen, and it was a struggle!
I searched for lower insurance, and thought I found it through the search engine, The Zebra. The agent had me on hold forever after he got mine and my son’s social security numbers and driver’s license numbers. The agent came back several times with questions and gathered more information.
The agent then told me he found a much lower premium for $800 monthly, and I had to put down the 1st month’s premium. I gladly did that, because my insurance with The General was due in a week’s time. I could more afford $800 monthly than I could $1924 monthly.
I had a newer and lower premium! The next day, I got an email from my new carrier advising me I owed $1089 more in order to keep my policy. I was shocked, angry, anxious and in tears.
I called the carrier and was advised because of my son’s accidents, they raised my premium. I called my agent and asked what happened. He said the underwriting department did a back-end review and that was my premium. So, I was back where I had started.
I have no idea how I’m going to make this premium monthly. I started a second job this past Friday, but I won’t be working enough hours to make a difference. My son is seeking other employment as well.
My son is young and unable to afford his own coverage.
I don’t know what to do outside of turning in his car, which is in my name, and would ruining my “fair” credit score. A lower credit score would only make my rates higher when looking for other coverage. I’m in a bind and have no idea how to get out, or above water.
H.E.L.P, and Thank You!!
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