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My policy with Progressive ended yesterday (April 30, 2013). I pre-pay 6 months at a time so I don't have to worry about it, but a number of factors delayed my continuing insurance:
Progressive upped my "legal bare minimum" policy cost from around $300 every 6 months to almost $400 ... they 'excuse' this my claiming my worsening credit score somehow magically makes me a "riskier" driver. Male bovine faeces! I have not had a ticket since 2008 (and prior to that around 2005), have never had an accident, have driven likely more than 1 million miles since I started driving (or a million and a half kilometers for you fancy folk with your fancy metric system). This system of punishing people for bad credit scores with higher fees on things that have nothing to do with taking loans is obscene. It's time to call it what it is: REGRESSIVE. That is, it is designed to make poor people whom have trouble keeping a job pay more.
I am effing sick and tired of my medical and student loan debt (which, between the two, is -the only debt- I have ever had any trouble with -- I took some payday loans when my paychecks were delayed several years back, but I paid all of those back within one week; I have never had a real credit card, never had a car loan, never had a mortgage) lessening my employability -- even for medial labor jobs, employers factor in your credit history for no good reason I can think of. I find it a tragic irony that attempting to pursue a degree incurred heavy debt for me and, due to shenanigans by my school (Scamversity of Phoenix), I was unable to complete the degree so I have the stifling debt of a student loan, no piece of paper granting me access to better-paying jobs, they locked my academic record I paid for (out of pocket + incurring debt) and academically earned due to our dispute, but I am still stuck with the student loan I have no means of paying and cannot be discharged through bankrupcy nor will it ever be written off as most debts are after 10 years or so.
Anyhow, irony of all that -- especially the label I apply to this charge-more-to-poor-folk, 'Regressive' -- is that the insurance company I just dumped calls itself Progressive. Progressive is regressive. Bah! I'm now back with eSurance, whom I was with quite a few years ago. I honestly don't give a rat's arse whom my insurer is, I only get insurance because it is a legal requirement to drive ... its taxation without representation; not one penny of my insurance premiums goes to fill potholes, fund public schools or pay a solder -- nope, the primary destination of my insurance premiums are the CEO's pay and stockholder dividends. Payers have no say, no representation with how their premiums are spent.
Anyhoo ... rant over. My savings had finally ran out ... this job has been a last minute lifesaver. Even if they can me tomorrow, I am at least good now to drive legally another 6 months (I again prepaid 6 months in advance, so I'm set through November). This was the absolute most pressing priority, as without a legal right to drive, I'm pretty much screwed ... can't go to work, can't look for work, can't really visit friends. That's not to say my next priorities aren't also important: new prescription glasses and new shoes. The work I am doing, changing price labels for JC Penney, is very difficult with my out of date prescription; they demand precision straightness and alignment with work tables that are below my waist, and my current glasses (which are a prescription I got probably in 2008 or so). Further down the line, I would like to finally invest in some kind of GPS navigation device, a new computer and several monitors and, eventually, purchase another RV (one in better condition) to eventually move out on my own again.
Progressive upped my "legal bare minimum" policy cost from around $300 every 6 months to almost $400 ... they 'excuse' this my claiming my worsening credit score somehow magically makes me a "riskier" driver. Male bovine faeces! I have not had a ticket since 2008 (and prior to that around 2005), have never had an accident, have driven likely more than 1 million miles since I started driving (or a million and a half kilometers for you fancy folk with your fancy metric system). This system of punishing people for bad credit scores with higher fees on things that have nothing to do with taking loans is obscene. It's time to call it what it is: REGRESSIVE. That is, it is designed to make poor people whom have trouble keeping a job pay more.
I am effing sick and tired of my medical and student loan debt (which, between the two, is -the only debt- I have ever had any trouble with -- I took some payday loans when my paychecks were delayed several years back, but I paid all of those back within one week; I have never had a real credit card, never had a car loan, never had a mortgage) lessening my employability -- even for medial labor jobs, employers factor in your credit history for no good reason I can think of. I find it a tragic irony that attempting to pursue a degree incurred heavy debt for me and, due to shenanigans by my school (Scamversity of Phoenix), I was unable to complete the degree so I have the stifling debt of a student loan, no piece of paper granting me access to better-paying jobs, they locked my academic record I paid for (out of pocket + incurring debt) and academically earned due to our dispute, but I am still stuck with the student loan I have no means of paying and cannot be discharged through bankrupcy nor will it ever be written off as most debts are after 10 years or so.
Anyhow, irony of all that -- especially the label I apply to this charge-more-to-poor-folk, 'Regressive' -- is that the insurance company I just dumped calls itself Progressive. Progressive is regressive. Bah! I'm now back with eSurance, whom I was with quite a few years ago. I honestly don't give a rat's arse whom my insurer is, I only get insurance because it is a legal requirement to drive ... its taxation without representation; not one penny of my insurance premiums goes to fill potholes, fund public schools or pay a solder -- nope, the primary destination of my insurance premiums are the CEO's pay and stockholder dividends. Payers have no say, no representation with how their premiums are spent.
Anyhoo ... rant over. My savings had finally ran out ... this job has been a last minute lifesaver. Even if they can me tomorrow, I am at least good now to drive legally another 6 months (I again prepaid 6 months in advance, so I'm set through November). This was the absolute most pressing priority, as without a legal right to drive, I'm pretty much screwed ... can't go to work, can't look for work, can't really visit friends. That's not to say my next priorities aren't also important: new prescription glasses and new shoes. The work I am doing, changing price labels for JC Penney, is very difficult with my out of date prescription; they demand precision straightness and alignment with work tables that are below my waist, and my current glasses (which are a prescription I got probably in 2008 or so). Further down the line, I would like to finally invest in some kind of GPS navigation device, a new computer and several monitors and, eventually, purchase another RV (one in better condition) to eventually move out on my own again.
