I only noticed because I got a second bill for the same amount that prompted me to see wtf. It has the same policy # w/a -A stuck on the end. The front page of the new one laid out how much it increased by, and then there was a note on the next page about why.
$40/year to churn credit cards is fine by me, but it def seems weird that it's coming about via a car insurance premium increase.
But to sd's point, it's also worth $40 to not eff w/any of this. For me to really do something about it, a car insurance competitor would have to come to my house, sit on my couch quietly and look at my crap and do the math and present me with a simple apples-to-apples proposal that I could OK and get a new card and never think about it again.
Your premium was determined by information from consumer reports:
The length of time since the most recent customer-initiated inquiry is one of many pieces of information that was used to help determine your premium. This generally means that we've considered the amount of time since credit was last sought. But we do not consider inquiries resulting from a non-solicited promotional mailing, account reviews done by existing creditors, or inquires from insurers. All other things being equal, minimal recent inquiries can have a favorable effect on insurance premiums because account inquiries often indicate a possible increase in credit obligations. Consequently, only applying for credit when necessary is beneficial.
You have the right to request, no more than once during a 12-month period, that your policy be re-rated using a current credit-based insurance score. Re-rating could result in a lower rate, no change in rate, or a higher rate.
