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It's a crazy busy time of year for us at BlueCircle, since it's motorcycle season and not only do we have lots of renewals happening, but a lot of people hear about our excellent motorcycle coverage and are calling to get quotes and write up new policies. Last year about this time,  a 'gentleman' called me to get a quote for a motorcycle he was wanting to buy at a dealership. He was so anxious to get the bike that he cut me off in the middle of a question I was asking about his license particulars and blurted out in a rude manner "f**k all these questions man, just get me the insurance!". Of course, no-one wants to be spoken to like that, let alone be pressured to not perform their job in a professional manner, as required by their employer or the insurance companies they represent. I told him so and,  realizing he obviously had no idea of how these things worked, made the effort to explain why the questions were important. Needless to say, he hung up on me, so no real surprise there, and it went into the journals as another life lesson about "some people".
Fast forward to today and I am reading an industry news article about an insurer who states the intention to do away with all the questions, though I am not sure exactly what that means since there was no real explanation in the article about how this would work, just that they felt insurance companies were asking too many questions and 'annoying' their clients or potential clients.
As with anything else I've ever written about insurance from an educational point of view, this is another topic worthy of a few words. We, at BlueCircle, ask a lot of questions because all that information form the basis of the rating system. Your birth date and your subsequent age is an indicator of your behaviour, and your experience, as is your actual insurance history, your license status and history of convictions, and some of those other facts on which you are queried. The type of vehicle you are operating is also a critical piece of information, with make, model, age and value being part of the puzzle. Perhaps you drive a vintage or classic car, have an old beater, or a custom bike, but how that vehicle is valued and how it would be repaired or replaced is of concern of course. and, things change so rapidly, updates are constantly required too.
Anyway, you get the gist of what's being said and understand why there's so many ??????? Perhaps it is annoying to go through the process and get the third degree every time you deal with your broker or insurer but, really, would you want it any other way? Each client deserves to get their asset covered properly and for a fair price, and they certainly don't want to be just lumped in with everyone else out there, even though actuaries do that to a degree. If you choose to drive a basic car, why would you want to be rated the same and pay the same as the person who goes exotic and has a $100,000.00 car. if you're a good driver, with a clean record and no claims, you want to be rewarded for that and not have to pay the same as Joe Leadfoot, with multiple tickets.
So, why all the questions? Just to get the facts and make things fair, that's why!