The Online Insurance Quote eXperience
There are a handful of sites that offer online insurance quotes. These quotes begin online by collecting a bunch of personal information such as your address, age, and so on, then eventually they send you an email with a quote.
Looking for a better insurance rate than my current provider, I thought I’d give a few of these sites a try. To my horror the following questions were required to get a home quote from this un-named insurance provider’s site. 
The questions that you must complete to even begin the process:
- Do you enjoy golfing?
- Do you enjoy skiing or snowboarding?
- Do you have children away at post secondary school?
- Do you enjoy game hunting or fishing?
- Do you have concerns about identity theft?
I’m guessing if you answer yes to any of these you can’t even get insurance or the rate is sky high. Needless to say, I won’t be choosing to purchase insurance from this company even though I don’t enjoy golfing, hunting or fishin’, nor have children in high school. I’m also not concerned about identity theft.
It makes me wonder how this insurance company even gets away with asking these questions? Aren’t there certain privacy rights that kick in somewhere in this process of purchasing insurance for a house? When are these lines crossed? What is fair to ask and what isn’t?
Who would be willing to provide such info without even thinking twice about it? Would you fill in the information and continue to the next step? Would the choices you’ve selected be honest?
I don’t golf or snowboard but I do like climbing trees and setting small fires! The questions they ask to assess risk factors seem pretty hit and miss! Short of asking questions about religion or ethnicity, they can probably ask whatever they want.
I couldnt agree more. I am now subscribing to this blog.