Where We’re Going, We Won’t Need Wheels…

Some years ago, I worked in an insurance call center that focused on car insurance.

The brand I worked on was focused on new drivers and, as such, required that a black box tracking device be fitted to the car so that how you drove could be monitored. We needed the box to be fitted by one of our engineers, who would come to you and install it. While they were doing this, they would check over the car to make sure it wasn’t modified.

One of my first calls of the day goes as such:

Me: “You’re through to [Insurance Company], how can I help?”

Engineer: “Hey, man, one of the engineers here. I came to fit a box to the car, but the wheels and probably the exhaust are very much not standard… the wheels look to be the wrong size.”

Me: “Okay, thanks, yeah, don’t worry about fitting the box. Want me to talk to her to explain the deal?”

Engineer: “If you can, she’s not happy about it.”

The phone gets passed over, and I do the various data protection stuff.

Me: “Okay, so the wheels and exhaust on your car aren’t standard, you’re going to need to get them changed back before we can fit the box, and you need the box for the insurance.”

Customer: “But I’ve spent hundreds on those!”

Me: “Well, it’s against the terms of your insurance policy to have them, so while they’re on your car, you aren’t actually insured.”

Customer: “But the wheels on my last car were modified and you didn’t say anything then!”

Me: *Trying to ignore her admitting to insurance fraud on a recorded call.* “That may well be, but it is against the terms of this insurance to have any modifications on your car; you’re going to have to revert them if you want this policy.”

Customer: “I don’t see the problem… It’s not like the wheels are even part of the car.”

Me: *My sarcastic a**.* “They’re not part of… how far do you think you can drive without them?”

At this point, she escalated to a manager, luckily, when he listened to the call, my manager laughed. Got told to try not to do it again, but it was funny enough that he’d let it slide this time.

Oh, and she did get the modifications removed. She got her insurance cancelled for speeding a couple of months later anyway, but that one is another story.