Quote of the Week:  “A fun game to play with car insurance companies is to see how long you can keep them on the phone before they realize you’re trying to insure the Batmobile.” – Adam Newman

Having just traded in my old vehicle for a new Insight Hybrid, I called my auto insurance company to get a quote for the revised premium. As I usually do whenever I need to contact them, I asked if there were any other discounts that I qualify to receive. Already I am getting the good driver and low mileage discounts. The customer service rep informed me of a Business Owner’s discount which would lop off a substantial 20% from my premium. “How long has the company offered this?” I inquired. The rep said this has been obtainable for a long time. “I’ve been a customer for 27 years, a business owner for 31 years. First time I’ve heard of it. Has it been in effect that long?” The rep replied, “I believe so.” Now I am feeling a bit cheated.

I continued: “What evidence do you require to get a Business Owner’s discount?” I was told either an academic degree, professional license, or business card would suffice. Easy enough, but what about all those other years that I qualified? I had the rep transfer me to the supervisor, who then turned the issue over to their Special Services Department.

Yesterday I received a call from Eileen in Special Services, who stated that the Business Owner’s discount has only been offered since 2006 (front line customer service seldom gets these things right). Still, seven years of being qualified for the discount. Why wasn’t I informed? “We’ve sent out information by mail, updating our customers on new discounts,” she asserted. Initially, I thought I went paperless for this, as is the case with everything else, but it turned out I was wrong. Yes, I suppose it’s my responsibility to rummage through those envelopes typically stuffed with sales offers, the kind I typically discard before opening. I’ve never seen a discount update inserted with a policy renewal notice. After all, most everyone would notice that.

If discount updates were sent and I didn’t read them, it is a moot point to request a rebate for all the years that I qualified. And, according to Eileen, “We can’t go back into the system to calculate any sort of rebate.” Still, doesn’t 27 years of customer loyalty count for something? Why wasn’t I told about the Business Owner’s discount when I asked about other discounts on the phone? Is it fair that other business owners are getting the discount, just because someone told them or they sift through every letter received from the company like gold miners?

The insurance firm is sending me a form to sign so that my premium will now reflect the added discount. They are maintaining their position that they cannot do anything about the previous seven years that I qualified for this discount. Do I deserve a rebate for those years? What do all of you readers think? Feel free to send comments!