Can a Leasing company force the leasee into buying a specific insurance?

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pharmeceutikle

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
Can a Leasing company force the leasee into buying a specific auto insurance? No other choices. Current insurance is double the minimum coverage required! But, I have to go with their choice or options or no car!
 
Yes. They can call the shots on the insurance. If you don't like their rules then don't lease the car from them. Go someplace else.

It's that simple.

On the other hand, if you already signed the contract without reading an understanding it, oh well.
 
There's nothing unethical about it either.

They can demand any amount and type of insurance that they want as long as they aren't telling you what insurance company to buy it from.
 
Bingo, that's it! They ARE telling me what insurance company to buy from! They are choosing which insurance comapny they are endorsing. These are all big recognizable companies i.e. Met Life that they excluding. They want to go with a small startup insurance company named MetroMile!
 
Adjusterjack, do you know what violation this is? I'm trying to research this. You're the first of all the legal board to nail this situation on the head! I know it has to do something with the Department of Insurance.
 
So far, all I've found about Metromile is this article on Wikipedia:

Metromile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Two things alarm me:

1 - I have not found the company listed with A. M. Best, a company that rates the financial strength of insurance companies. It's to insurance what Standard & Poor is to stocks, Dunn and Bradstreet is to businesses, and Moody's is to bonds.

2 - It has not come up in a search on the CA Insurance Department website.

Unfortunately, CA statutes are way to complicated to wade through looking for one provision about the leasing company practices so I suggest you contact the Department of Insurance and make some inquiries:

Company and Agent/Broker Information

Again, your choice is to walk away from the deal.

Update:

My curiosity got the better of me so I looked around some more and found this:

MetroMile Review & Complaints

Turns out that Metromile is not an insurance company but is an insurance broker/agent. The company does hold an insurance license with the CA Department of Insurance. License number OH79351 in the name of Metromile Insurance Services LLC.

: License Status - Agency Details

It's still up to you to contact the Department of Insurance and find out if the leasing company or Metromile are doing anything illegal.
 
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pharmeceutikle said:
Thanks. I'll continue my research.
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If you aren't committed to this idiocy, trickery, treachery, and GREED; STOP.
The MONEY you save will be YOURS!!!!!

The reason anyone would have YOU commit to this SCAM is the SCREW you, savagely, repeatedly, aggressively, and successfully.

Have you signed the lease and taken delivery of the vehicle?

If YES, what's the name of the leasing company?

If YES, when did that occur?

If YES, start by READING the COMPLETE leasing contract.
That is essential as you seek any possible remedies.


If you haven't signed the lease, STOP, do nothing in furtherance of the lease!!!!

Thank your lucky stars, your fine instincts, and your business acumen for saving you money, grief, and aggravation.

Bottom line, if you signed the lease, your remedy becomes a contract dispute.

However,most leases bind BOTH parties to arbitration or mediation.

In any case, YMMV.

Again, read and know your lease.

If the lease violates any of your state's laws regarding insurance, you complain to your state's insurance commissioner Dave Jones.


Getting Help



Consumer leasing laws and protections:

Checklist of Significant California and Federal Consumer Laws: Legal Guide M-1 - California Department of Consumer Affairs



More CA laws for car buyers:

Consumer Action :: California Car Buyer's Bill of Rights


If you're INVOLVED with UBER or LYFT:

Uber Xchange Leasing Program: A Game Changer
 
adjusterjack said:
Have you already leased the car?

Signed the contract?

Bought the mandated insurance?
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No. Not yet. But, shame it's one of a lifetime deal. Contract is ready. It actually bends the dealership and lender backwards if I can get around their conditions which I feel, as so far as I have found out, is unethical. Code of ethics section 2 bullet number 18: As long as an agent can provide the same type of insurance you can purchase insurance from the agent of your choice. A loan agent cannot force you or dictate you to purchase insurance from a particular company or agent.
 
pharmeceutikle said:
Code of ethics section 2 bullet number 18: As long as an agent can provide the same type of insurance you can purchase insurance from the agent of your choice. A loan agent cannot force you or dictate you to purchase insurance from a particular company or agent.
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You really need to provide links or proper citations when you post stuff like that as there is no "Code of Ethics" listed in the directory of California statutes:

Find California Code

Without a link or proper citation there is no way of determining the validity of your statement.
 
Sorry, it was during a verbal discussion in passing with an insurance agent from his memory. I'm currently looking to validate that. Anyone here is welcome to look that up also. I haven't been succesful.
 
pharmeceutikle said:
Sorry, it was during a verbal discussion in passing with an insurance agent from his memory. I'm currently looking to validate that. Anyone here is welcome to look that up also. I haven't been succesful.
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The only one that will be bent over backwards is the one dumb enough to sign a contract with those crooks.

Your SPIDEY senses were tingling, and have so far caused you to hesitate.

Don't get hooked up with those crooks.

Getting out of that crooked deal will be your worst financial nightmare.
 
Well, the closest I got on the net is this case scenario:

Robert,

You asked: "Is it legal for a listing agent to force a buyer to use their preferred lender as a term of the purchase contract?"

The answer is NO and the proof is in the standard CA purchase contract, RPA-CA, Paragraph 18:
"SELECTION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS: ...Buyers and sellers may select ANY providers of their own choosing."

Although it dealt with real estate, it is the closest I got to anything I've found concerning a loan agent forcing a particular insurance or agent.

Agent2Agent: Is it legal for a listing agent to force a buyer to use their preferred lender as a term of the purchase contract? - Trulia Voices
 
BEWARE of comparing apples to oranges.

AVOID posting irrelevant information about oranges when we are talking about apples. It wastes our time and gets nowhere.

BEWARE of anything you are "told" unless it's accompanied by a verifiable citation of a statute or court decision.

Tomorrow is Monday. Call the Department of Insurance tomorrow. If you are "told" (and I don't care by who) that it's a prohibited practice, insist on a statute number.

Update:

I found something but I still want you to call the insurance department and see if it applies to your situation:

California Insurance Code

790.02. No person shall engage in this State in any trade practice which is defined in this article as, or determined pursuant to this article to be, an unfair method of competition or an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance.

790.03. The following are hereby defined as unfair methods of competition and unfair and deceptive acts or practices in the business of insurance.

(c) Entering into any agreement to commit, or by any concerted action committing, any act of boycott, coercion, or intimidation resulting in or tending to result in unreasonable restraint of, or monopoly in, the business of insurance.

CA Codes (ins:790-790.15)

By the way, above is what I mean by a proper citation of a statute.

Report back tomorrow after your conversation with the insurance department.
 
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pharmeceutikle said:
Well, the closest I got on the net is this case scenario:

Robert,

You asked: "Is it legal for a listing agent to force a buyer to use their preferred lender as a term of the purchase contract?"

The answer is NO and the proof is in the standard CA purchase contract, RPA-CA, Paragraph 18:
"SELECTION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS: ...Buyers and sellers may select ANY providers of their own choosing."

Although it dealt with real estate, it is the closest I got to anything I've found concerning a loan agent forcing a particular insurance or agent.

Agent2Agent: Is it legal for a listing agent to force a buyer to use their preferred lender as a term of the purchase contract? - Trulia Voices
Click to expand...

Don't confuse REAL ESTATE transactions with the purchase of personal property.

I'm sure it's illegal to FORCE or COERCE a choice as you've described.

In your case you aren't being FORCED to sign the lease.
You're being ENTICED or INCENTIVIZED to do so.
The issue you'll discover, LATER, is that the insurance isn't as inexpensive as it appears, solvent as one might think, and very hard to deal with when the insurance is required.

I also suspect the DEDUCTIBLE will be in the $1,000 and up range!

Beyond all of that, the lack of an A M Best rating would be more than enough to cause me NOT to sign such a lease.

If the insurance requirement were removed, the deal might be more tolerable to you, as a buyer.

Finally, most contracts are written to favor the author. In this case, it means the seller, not the buyer, YOU!!
 
Your best bet is to stay away from Uber. As far as I'm concerned they are shady and not worth dealing with. Why don't you get yourself affiliated with another company? Or better yet, you claim to be a RN so why don't you work in your field and make your money? Seems to me you have other issues besides leasing a vehicle from Uber.
 

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