🚀 go-pugleaf

>I'd say MAIF is an expensive alternative for drivers who have
>no alternative. When insurance companies decide that you aren't
>being a good customer[...]

	Well, I've been on MAIF for 4 years now, and my rates are
cheaper than I'd have with Allstate. Not because I have loads of
points on my record, but because I had 2 accidents in one year
(hit some road debris and mangled my front end, and rear-ended
a buick s/w and folded my hood) and they paid out under my collision
policy. So they dropped me and blackballed me.

	I did a little interesting running around before I figured
out what was going on. Finally, I was at a Geico agency at Ft Meade
and the lady was letting me more or less idly watch over her shoulder
as she typed stuff at the computer. Much to my surprise, the vehicle
serial number for a motorcycle I owned 6 years before cropped up on
her display!!!! She was friendly and I chatted her up and told her
I was a programmer and was interested in the system they used, etc,
and she said, "oh, that's not our system, it's a database in Atlanta.."
Turns out there's this thing called CLU or CLUE or something like
that that all insurance companies tap into. As you'd expect, it's
totally unregulated and unmanaged, and whatever goes in you have
no way of reviewing, correcting, or querying. So, even when the MVA
takes the points off your license, they're there forever.

	Ever call GEICO? While the lady is patiently asking you
about your driving record and "taking notes" she's not -- she's
checking the database to make sure you're not lying. If you're
lying they either won't write you a policy, or they'll gouge you.
So, when Allstate dropped my policy because of 2 claims in one
year, they nicely updated my record in the database in Atlanta
with some flag that I had cost them money. Cute. I was especially
pissed off about this because for a variety of reasons, about 2
months before they dropped me, I went around asking for quotes
because I thought I could get a lower rate. When I called a few
of the places that had quoted me rates that were fairly reasonable,
well, surprise, surprise, surprise... the quoted rates mysteriously
went through the roof.

	So, all that was left for me was MAIF. I went to one of
those shops that remarkets MAIF and got a policy (Allstate gave
me a 2 week notice at Christmas time for crying out loud!!)
and while I was there I was amazed that the policy was more than
$1,000 lower than the estimates folks like GEICO were returning.
The agent's secretary was friendly and we talked about this stuff
at length and I finally asked her about CLU and -- turns out
MAIF wasn't hooked into it! So, since my MVA record is spotless,
my rates were actually very reasonable. MAIF, if you have
points for violations, is *incredibly* expensive, but the MVA
doesn't track what my agent calls "insurance points" -- yep.
It turns out the insurance companies, via CLU, assess you
"points" based on stuff like when they have to pay out on you.
Again, there's no oversight on any of this stuff.

	The story got uglier the next year. Halfway through the
year I got one of those charming "your rates have gone up $700.
please pay within 30 days or we are cancelling your policy"
from MAIF. Ever notice how if you make a contract with me you
can't suddenly change the price? Insurance companies can. :)
I called my agent and asked WTF was up and she remembered me
and our discussion and informed me that she knew MAIF was
planning to hook up to CLU and she guessed this meant that
they'd done it. Happy, happy, joy, joy.

	So, now I'm paying pretty mind-numbing rates. And
there's no recourse left me. I swear, if I ever win the
lottery (not likely, since I never play) I will hire some
good lawyers and start a class action suit for price fixing.
Never win it, though, since the government's in on the take,
too. MAIF is supposedly non-profit. Ha. Last year they made
a huge profit. Interestingly, it doesn't go back into the
state coffers -- MAIF is handled just like a separate
insurance company, except that if it ever cuts a loss, the
loss is underwritten with our tax dollars.

	You can go puke now.

mjr.