Returning to Your Old Insurer: What Carries Over and What Doesn't
People go back to old insurers for good reasons: they liked the service, the company has a new programme, or the record that caused a nonrenewal has since aged off. Going back can be the right move. It just should not be the automatic one, because several things you remember from last time may not come back with you.
What carries over, and what does not
| Item | When you return |
|---|---|
| Loyalty (persistency) credit | California's regulation allows persistency at renewal, or on a new policy for someone currently insured with the company or an affiliate. A former customer insured elsewhere is not in that group, so expect to start fresh. |
| Your history with them | The company keeps its own records of your claims and payments, alongside your DMV record. |
| An unpaid balance | Some companies require it to be settled before writing a new policy. Varies by insurance company. |
| A past cancellation for nonpayment | Whether it affects eligibility is the company's own underwriting decision. |
| A past nonrenewal | Depends on the reason. If the reason has expired, ask directly. |
| Good Driver status | Set by statute, not by the company: if you meet the criteria, you meet them everywhere (Insurance Code 1861.025). |
Find out how you left before you ask
Your exit decides your welcome. If you simply switched at renewal, the company sees an ordinary former customer. If the policy was cancelled for nonpayment, the company may want the old balance resolved and may treat the application differently. If it non-renewed you, ask whether the reason still applies; a violation that has since aged off may mean the door is open again. Look up your old cancellation or nonrenewal letter so you can answer precisely.
The Good Driver point
If you now meet California's Good Driver criteria, the company's past view of you matters less than you might think. Insurers must write a Good Driver Discount policy for a driver who qualifies, regardless of their underwriting guidelines, priced at least 20 percent below what that driver would otherwise pay (Insurance Code 1861.02). A former insurer that once non-renewed you cannot use that history to refuse a Good Driver policy if you qualify today.
How to compare the return offer
- Ask the former insurer for a quote at your current coverage, from your current declarations page.
- Get at least two other quotes at the same coverage.
- Line them up on the same term and the same payment basis.
- Add a row for what you remember about the old company's claims service and billing, and be honest about whether the memory is about the company or about one bad call.
- If you go back, start the new policy when the current one ends, with no gap.
When going back makes sense, and when it does not
It makes sense when the offer holds up at matched coverage and your experience with the company was genuinely good. It makes less sense when the main attraction is a discount you remember, because that discount may not exist for you now, or when the reason you left, such as a billing problem or a claim dispute, has not changed.
Either way, the return offer is one quote among several. Send your declarations page through our quote form and say which company you used to be with; we will include it in the comparison if we can quote it, and tell you if we cannot.
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Will my old insurer remember my claims?
Expect so. Companies keep their own claim and billing records, and your DMV record shows convictions and collisions for the reporting periods the law sets.
Do I get my old loyalty discount back?
Generally not as a returning customer. California allows a persistency credit on a new policy only for someone currently insured with that company or an affiliate.
Can a former insurer refuse to take me back?
It can apply its underwriting rules, except that it must write a Good Driver Discount policy for a driver who meets the Good Driver criteria.