Filling out an insurance form given a lot of flux
May 20, 2014 8:51 AM Subscribe
What do I put on a car insurance quote form? I am moving (NJ/NY/CA), changing jobs, and going through at least 3 unique stages of driving frequency/behavior over the next few months. And it really feels like most of this isn't the insurance company's business.
But clearly I need to put *something* in each field. :) Help? Here are my facts, what parts of this should be put into the form?
Work
1) I've worked full time in NY for just over a year now
2) I am unemployed between now and the end of June and for most of August
3) I have a full time, residential job in NY during July
3) I'm interviewing for jobs in CA that will begin in late August/early September and have already gotten at least one offer. But I haven't made the choice yet and won't for at least another month.
Location
1) I've lived in NJ for just over a year now
2) I'm buying a used car from a friend in NC (my home state) next week
3) But I'm moving to CA and the car will be parked in CA starting in July
4) I myself will be in NY for the duration of July
5) I will begin renting and driving in CA in August
Driving Behavior
1) Between June 1st and June 30th, I'm doing quite a bit of inter-state driving, although not all at once.
2) I'm parking the car and not driving it at all in July
3) I'm using the car to commute in CA in August and beyond
Here are my facts, what parts of this should be put into the form?
Work
1) I've worked full time in NY for just over a year now
2) I am unemployed between now and the end of June and for most of August
3) I have a full time, residential job in NY during July
3) I'm interviewing for jobs in CA that will begin in late August/early September and have already gotten at least one offer. But I haven't made the choice yet and won't for at least another month.
Location
1) I've lived in NJ for just over a year now
2) I'm buying a used car from a friend in NC (my home state) next week
3) But I'm moving to CA and the car will be parked in CA starting in July
4) I myself will be in NY for the duration of July
5) I will begin renting and driving in CA in August
Driving Behavior
1) Between June 1st and June 30th, I'm doing quite a bit of inter-state driving, although not all at once.
2) I'm parking the car and not driving it at all in July
3) I'm using the car to commute in CA in August and beyond
Here are my facts, what parts of this should be put into the form?
Work
1) I've worked full time in NY for just over a year now
2) I am unemployed between now and the end of June and for most of August
3) I have a full time, residential job in NY during July
3) I'm interviewing for jobs in CA that will begin in late August/early September and have already gotten at least one offer. But I haven't made the choice yet and won't for at least another month.
Location
1) I've lived in NJ for just over a year now
2) I'm buying a used car from a friend in NC (my home state) next week
3) But I'm moving to CA and the car will be parked in CA starting in July
4) I myself will be in NY for the duration of July
5) I will begin renting and driving in CA in August
Driving Behavior
1) Between June 1st and June 30th, I'm doing quite a bit of inter-state driving, although not all at once.
2) I'm parking the car and not driving it at all in July
3) I'm using the car to commute in CA in August and beyond
Best answer: You are radically overthinking this. Your insurance company doesn't care about the future, and doesn't care about short deviations (~1 month long) from what you put down. You are always able to get a new insurance quote in the future when your situation changes. At most, what you put down will only matter for six months.
Work: You are unemployed. Future employment is not definite and can be revoked at any time. Once that changes, update your insurance.
Location: You live in NJ. Future locations are not definite and can change at any time. Once your location changes, update your insurance.
Driving Behavior: This can't really be verified very well by them except in aggregate (ie, ensuring that if you say you drive 1,000 miles/month, that your car's odometer goes up by about 12,000 miles/year). So, pick option 3 because it will result in the lowest insurance rates while still being reasonably true.
On preview, I would suggest that calling them about this would simply result in a prolonged painful conversation with a customer service representative who has no idea how to process all of the information you gave us. This doesn't fit into a customer service script, which generally means it's a good idea to avoid unless absolutely necessary.
posted by saeculorum at 8:57 AM on May 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Work: You are unemployed. Future employment is not definite and can be revoked at any time. Once that changes, update your insurance.
Location: You live in NJ. Future locations are not definite and can change at any time. Once your location changes, update your insurance.
Driving Behavior: This can't really be verified very well by them except in aggregate (ie, ensuring that if you say you drive 1,000 miles/month, that your car's odometer goes up by about 12,000 miles/year). So, pick option 3 because it will result in the lowest insurance rates while still being reasonably true.
On preview, I would suggest that calling them about this would simply result in a prolonged painful conversation with a customer service representative who has no idea how to process all of the information you gave us. This doesn't fit into a customer service script, which generally means it's a good idea to avoid unless absolutely necessary.
posted by saeculorum at 8:57 AM on May 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
the material in your question is way, way too much information for a car insurance quote.
you are currently unemployed, but your occupation is __________. sometimes, you will get a discount for a favorable occupation, or even a favorable undergraduate degree that you haven't used since.
you drive approx. __________ miles per year. the insurance company doesn't need to know whether you drive to church, or the bordello, or both. just the _________.
call the company and ask what discounts they offer. i've always been able to jack the quote down a little by providing seemingly unrelated snippets from my multifarious past.
posted by bruce at 10:50 AM on May 20, 2014
you are currently unemployed, but your occupation is __________. sometimes, you will get a discount for a favorable occupation, or even a favorable undergraduate degree that you haven't used since.
you drive approx. __________ miles per year. the insurance company doesn't need to know whether you drive to church, or the bordello, or both. just the _________.
call the company and ask what discounts they offer. i've always been able to jack the quote down a little by providing seemingly unrelated snippets from my multifarious past.
posted by bruce at 10:50 AM on May 20, 2014
Driving behavior, the fewer miles the better, but they don't hold you to it. So if you primarily expect to drive the car about 20 miles a day, put that on there. Sure, you'll drive it a bit more over the summer, but your regular commute is what they're after.
If you live in NJ, then get NJ insurance. When you move to CA, get CA insurance.
As for a job, tell them your a contractor for company X (the one you'll be working for in July.)
They don't really want to know every damn thing about you, they just want to know how much they should charge you for insurance. They will check your credit to determine your rates as well.
Don't over complicate this.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:21 PM on May 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
If you live in NJ, then get NJ insurance. When you move to CA, get CA insurance.
As for a job, tell them your a contractor for company X (the one you'll be working for in July.)
They don't really want to know every damn thing about you, they just want to know how much they should charge you for insurance. They will check your credit to determine your rates as well.
Don't over complicate this.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:21 PM on May 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by desjardins at 8:55 AM on May 20, 2014