Just another day in the retail insurance biz

[d's insurance store]

This is worthy of a post only because I was on the IJ site when my agency receives an unannouned walk-in looking for a quote just moments ago.

He's welcomed to sit down and wants a quote for a pick up truck that's sitting outside with some landscape material in the truck bed. I ask about current insurance and he says it's with AARP/Hartford. I ask what he does for a living and he says he just 'retired' from the landscape biz. I ask if he's still working part time and he gets a sheepish look on his face and says, yeah, he's probably working 30 hours a month.

I then ask if he's got a policy for artisan/business use or did he just tell AARP he's retired, and the answers was he told them he's retired. I came back with telling him I would need to rate for the use, even if it's part time, because if he files a claim while performing work duties, the insurance company is going to be pissed off.

He looks at me and smiles and says 'I guess I just picked the wrong guy to get a quote from this morning', turns and walks out.

As a regular forum member uses as their tag line...'just another day on the road to utopia'...

[Kay-WA]

Good one. Thanks for sharing.

[Wanyang]

it seems to me everyone is trying to cheat the system, I think you did the right thing asking him detail questions and offering him artisan/business use. Not worth losing your appointments.

[William Graham]

D -- I bet you probably saved yourself & your carriers a boat load of claims by asking the right questions over the years.

[NYagent301]

I'm not so sure this guy was looking to cheat the system necessarily. 30 hours a month is really on the low side of part time. If he does not have signage on the truck, in his personal name, and is not registered commercial, and does not transport persons or property for a fee, what really is the issue from an Auto liability standpoint?

[jackwehoca]

If he is involved in an accident and the other party has powers of observation, sees landscape material in the truck, and he is dressed in work clothes appropriate for landscaping, odds are he is coming or going to a work site, not going to a presidential fundraiser.
If his is a personal auto policy he might have some explaining to do!

[rodgwag]

Good for you; never allow anyone to LIE on an application. It is always better to let a dishonest fool go. Also beware of potential clients that defend him, they are dirty too. These losers are everywhere, always trying to beat the system.

[William Graham]

NY Agent
you have some good points but as you know==as a general rule usage questions and rate class questions are there to otherwise help distinguish one risk from another.

so is the risk higher??, going to & from various work sites part time versus someone who is truly retired?? probably

by itself it probably does not make much of a difference but the aggregate over time of the risks you take on as an agency will no doubt affect your loss ratio & with all the losses from cat storms who knows how the cumulative UW loss from these small risks will affect your agency ??-- maybe agency appointments??, & if you are large enough -- rates for your area etc.

the frustration of D is probably that this gentleman can go down the street and shop for a retired rating & may get it from another agent who writes with the same companies as D- it takes discipline to manage UW loss potential at the agency level.

[gmann1957]

Send him this link and then ask him about the 2 illegal aliens that work for him without workers' comp while he's not working those 30 hours.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/ea ... 251281.htm

There are some carriers that will write that account as long as that is his onluy vehicle. State Farm and Allstate and they'll rate him for both personal and commercial use.