In an effort to 1) not do everything myself, and 2) let G-man be responsible for something (and maybe get an idea what it is like!), I handed the reigns over to him regarding our home and auto insurance.
When we got the renewal notice for our policies, and saw that they skyrocketed, we decided to look into switching companies. I gave this task to G-man, and stepped out of the process (sort of!) I wanted him to experience what it is like to have to make a ton of phone calls, wait for answers, compare numbers.
It has been almost 6 weeks since this process started, and although we are not 100% done with the switch, we are getting close. And while I haven't been the one making the calls or doing the communicating with the companies (gosh I wish I was!), I have been the "puppet master" on the sidelines making sure it all got done.
We got 8 different quotes. This process took FOREVER. G-man would call....they would say they have to get back to him. Days would go by. I asked him about it, and he said "well, they said they will call." Yeah....so do lots of people, and they never do. Nudge, nudge....you have to call them again.
This was a ping pong process that took at least a month.
Finally we decided on a policy. I said great, go get 'em Tiger! and sign us up. *sigh* And here we begin the part that I have had to really control myself on and not shove G-man aside and say "MOVE! If this is how you are going to do it....I will do it myself!!!!"
I have no idea if the agent he was dealing with is new....or an idiot....or a little from column A, a little from column B. But this has taken more phone calls and double checking than it really should have. This guy will call and ask for info, then call 3 days later for the same info he has already asked for. When we got the paperwork, there were mistakes on it.
Then we got into the whole payment thing. I asked if there was a discount for paying every six months. This took 3 phone calls to figure out. The answer was YES, but....1) we would have to pay six months up front, and 2) the savings was only $5 a month. We decided that having to come up with that bulk cash wasn't worth $5 in savings. So we would pay monthly.
They wanted the first month upfront.
G-man didn't listen to me, and put it on his credit card. Fine....I will just take the money from the other account and pay the credit card. But I was adament that I wanted the monthly debit to come from ING. I gave G-man the acct info to give the agent. And I asked him to confirm what day the debit will happen.
G-man says....I gave him the info. Dunno when the debit will happen.
*sigh* Why does he think this is ok? Every question just leads to more questions.
Then the mail came today. Does G-man OPEN it? Nah. Just put it on the table. And even if he did open it, I doubt he would have even noticed the problem.
We got the direct debit confirmation. 1) Found out the debit will happen on the 8th (ok). 2) The account information was aaaaalllllllllllllllll wrrrrrrrrrrong. It had the debit coming from a checking account with XYZ routing number and ABC acct number.
Let's look at this a second. The routing number WAS correct for our checking account. But we wanted it to come from a savings account with ING. And the checking account number listed wasn't even ours! It had way too many numbers (and most of it was Xed out anyway for security). And the last 4 numbers listed didn't match any of our credit cards.
G-man's response....ok. I will e-mail him. NOOOOOOO! Call him and get this fixed!!!!
UPDATE: G-man talked to him and he said that they put in "mock" information until the first withdrawal. HUH???????????
I am worried that this is going to get all messed up. I am trying to let him work it out, but I how many problems can these two men get into?????? The policy is paid through Dec 7. So as long as we have it worked out by then, it will be fine. But we are also trying to stop the auto debit of the "old" policy.
G-man's thought.....well, I guess they will figure it out. NOOOOOOO!!!
Am I the only one who sees some problems????
Misty,
ReplyDeleteWhen I met and married my husband, his finances were completely out of control. He admitted he sucked at it, and gladly - with an audible sigh of relieve - gave me the reigns and said "Have at it". The only thing I don't do is make insurance decisions because, number 1, I don't get it, and, number 2, Hubby works in insurance. I let him figure that crap out. I get to deal with all the $, to the point where Hubby hands over his entire paycheck, except for a $75 "allowance" every week. He does not have access to our checking or savings accounts - GOD FORBID. (I tried letting him him have the debit card for our checking once. He freaking spent $1000 on NOTHING in a month - groceries we didn't need, fast food, etc. I demanded the debit card back. Even he couldn't believe he'd spent that much.) Now he had his own credit cards and own money. He can only spend what he has cuz he knows I'm not giving him any. I know this probably all seems harsh - he makes the bulk of our money - but it's the only way we can survive financially. He actually doesn't mind this at all and knows it's only because of me the bill collectors aren't knocking on our door.
@Gina - we have been married almost 13 years, and for 12.5 years of it, I have had TOTAL control of the finances. He was allowed to put gas in the car, and that was the only purchase he could make. He is horrible with money management.
ReplyDeleteI let his run with this because I knew I was in the background overseeing it. But wow....what a mess!!! I swear, sometimes I just think it is easier to do it myself.
Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses if this is one of your strengths why not just run with it?
ReplyDelete6 weeks for auto and home insurance?! You can sign onto netquote and get 8 people calling you begging for your business
@Evan - and here in lies the fundamental problem. This is my strength, and I have always done it. So G-man checked out a long time ago, and doesn't do anything. Nor does he even want to know. So it leaves me stuck to handle it alone, and figure it out alone.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this supposed to be a team effort?
Mysti,
ReplyDeleteI think it only needs to be a team effort if you and the other person want it to be. If it pisses you off to not have him helping, then say so. However, if it's not his forte and you don't mind, just do it. It's less stress and gray hair that way.
I'm way too OCD about money to let Hubby take the reigns. Plus, I'm way better at it, so it has become my job from the start. Like I said above, the only thing I don't deal with is the insurance because it makes my eyes roll to the back of my head. I don't understand it. However, hubby translates for me and I say yea or nay and weigh in when it comes to choosing a plan. Maybe you should have done all the legwork and then asked him his opinion on what would be better. Even though I do all the finances, I usually run stuff by Hubby if their is a decision to be made.