Insurance Won't Cover My Deer Accident, They Didn't Add Comp. when I Asked Them To

[leashg8]

My question involves insurance law for the state of: NY
About 4 months ago I hit a rock in the road and it did some damage to my car. When I called in to submit the claim they said I had no comprehensive coverage and asked if I would like to add it on. I repsponded yes, ofcoarse and the representative said they would contact my local insurance office to have comp. added to my policy. A month or more passed and I was in an accident with a deer. I called to claim the accident and was told the coverage was never added. I gave as much information as I could and called the complaint line. The rep. I worked with would say she would get back to me within 2 days minimum. I wouldn't hear back for wks at a time and then I would have to call her. She did this several times. I feel she was just avoiding the situation and wasnt even looking into it. The last thing she said was that she wasn't finding the call that I made and she really wanted to help and she would continue to try. I finally put a complaint in with the Better Business Bureau. The company responded saying they had no proof of any request or call for that matter so they will not be covering the cost of repair. I find it funny they say they cannot find the call when that call was the first claim I submitted that was denied. So basically there saying they dont keep track of any calls where a cliam is denied. Oh and the other thing is that they rang my phone off the hook to make sure they added the coverage asap($ in there pocket) god forbid they have to pay out for there customers. Please help, my car is in rough shape and I can't afford to fix it.

[Mr. Knowitall]

When you make changes to your insurance coverage, you would get a document to sign ordering the changes, information about the increased cost, and (once you authorize the changes) a bill for the increased cost and a new declarations sheet.

I can see how you would believe that you had initiated the process of changing the policy by making your request over the phone, but I have difficulty believing that you thought the process was complete even though you heard nothing from your insurance agent, signed nothing, paid nothing, and didn't get any new declarations sheet describing the increased coverage.

[aardvarc]

Afraid I have to agree with Mr. K here. I've had reason to change my policies multiple times over the years and although I've been able to make changes via the phone without a signature, I always gotten a new copy of my updated coverage (along with the new charges) within just 2 or 3 days in the mail or was able to see those changes to my policy online. Obviously the company dropped the ball customer service-wise and didn't get your policy updated as requested, but until you had a new contract in hand that showed the coverage in place, it's doubtful you'll have any claim against them. Companies are able to process those changes at different levels of quickness - some might make the change with you still on the phone, others might have to go through a larger office where it takes a few days - and without the agent confirming a start date to you when the coverage would be in effect, you'll have a hard time convincing anyone that you had reasonable expectation that coverage was in place.

[KeyWestDan]

I find it incredible that anyone competent enough to get a driver's license doesn't know exactly what their insurance coverage is.

Obviously if you did not get anything confirming that comprehensive was added to your policy, if you did not make a single payment for that coverage, you don't have comprehensive coverage. It was your responsibility to follow up on the alleged telephone call.

There is so much insurance fraud, that is exactly what this will look like to an insurance company. You further don't have any legal theory or leg to stand on.