Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some advice because this situation feels insane.
On April 23, I was quoted $2,280 for a one-year auto insurance policy (paid in full). The agent told me documents would take a few days since I’m in Hawaii, but that I’d still be covered in the meantime. She also mentioned that if I didn’t bundle with home insurance, the price might go up by about $100–$200 annually, but nothing drastic.
I agreed to the policy based on that quote, and my credit card shows I was charged about $2,200 on April 25.
Fast forward to today (May 6), I find out my annual premium is somehow $22,000. Yes, twenty-two THOUSAND. More than the cost of my car.
I immediately called and canceled. Now they’re telling me:
- They never received my $2,200 payment (even though it shows on my bank statement)
- I still owe ~$700 for coverage from April 23 to May 6
- The massive increase is because I allegedly “withheld info” on a 2024 speeding ticket (I don’t believe I did, and I have no reason to hide that.)
They also said nothing can be changed and that I owe the $700 regardless as the policy was in effect during that less than 2 week period.
So with the limited things I could do, here’s what I’ve done so far:
- Filed a dispute with my bank for the inital $2,200 charge, since they said they never got it anyway.
- Put a stop on any future charges they try to run
- Got insurance with a different company IMMEDIATELY and they issued me insurance cards right away, no delays or questions asked.
My questions now are:
- Can they legally increase a policy from $2.2K to $22K without notifying me or getting my consent? I would have NEVER agreed to that price.
- Can they charge me $700 when I never agreed to that price and never even received policy documents? They are insisting they sent it but I checked my junk box.
- What should my next move be? Insurance commissioner? Lawyer? Is it even worth it or should I just cough up the $700?
This feels completely wrong, but I want to make sure I’m approaching it right. It feels like a total bait-and-switch. Any insight would help.