Am I speaking Greek?

One of the fun aspects of moving to a city where you will not be driving is adjusting your auto insurance policy. I am not going to completely cancel coverage, because it's inevitable that I'll be driving at some point while I'm a no-car person.

And even if I was tempted to cancel coverage, I am haunted by my former boss' nightmare story about obtaining insurance coverage. She completely cancelled her policy when she moved to Chicago upon graduating from college because she was no longer in posession of a car or in need of being able to drive.

Fast forward four years to when she moved back to Texas. Apparently auto insurance is a lot like health insurance - they don't like it when you have gaps in coverage. She had to fight tooth and nail to be covered, and she had to pay out the ass once they agreed to it.

Thus, I do not want to have to fight with people and pay out the ass when I am in posession of my very own shiny automobile again in the future.

I called USAA this afternoon. Dina answered the phone and promised to help me make the call easier in any way possible.

Awesome, Dina.

After she verified my identity, she asked how she could help me.

"Well, I'm about to move to New York - I am going to be selling my car and will not be purchasing a new one or driving on a regular basis. I need to change my policy to reflect that."

"So you are selling your car?"

"Yes."

"And you are moving?"

"Yes."

"OK, so, do you know where you are moving to in Texas?"

"Uh, I'm not moving to another city in Texas. I'm moving to New York."

"Oh, I see. And you don't have a date yet, correct?"

(Thinking that I never mentioned anything about a date at all, much less to say that I didn't know when this was taking place.)

"No, I have a date. February 25th."

"Oh, OK. So... what do you need to change?"

*sigh*

"I am selling my car, and will not own one again in the forseeable future. I am also moving. I need to maintain coverage for the rare occasions when I do drive someone else's car."

*silence*

Finally, Dina seems to get it.

"Oh, so you need to shift to a Non-Owner's Policy?"

(Comprehension!)

"Yes, that's exactly it."

"Please hold for just a moment."

(While listening to bad hold music, I assume that Dina is working on getting rates for me. Three or four minutes pass.)

"Thank you for holding. I have Debbie on the line to assist you with this policy change."

(I wonder why on earth I ever thought Dina could handle actually changing the policy since it took her five to ten minutes to grasp what I needed her to do. Then I thank God for Debbie, because she is a rock star.)

The net net of this fiasco is that my policy will change on 2/25, and I will pay a mere $40/month for auto and renter's insurance.