‘A HUGE slap in the face’: This Florida woman's car insurance provider charged her $222 after she missed this 1 thing — how you can avoid hidden fees

User Competitive_Snow126 asked why her car insurance had more than doubled month to month.

It started when National General increased her rate to $289 from the $220 they initially quoted her, after she couldn't provide "immediate proof of residency.” Since zip codes affect premiums, she was fine with the new rate since she was moving back to that address anyway, where her parents live.

It’s what happened next that made her question their ethics.

She noted that “they made me add my parents as excluded drivers for $35/person despite my mom being disabled,” bringing her new rate to $346 a month.

Again, she accepted this new rate as she was busy with school and didn’t have time to shop around for another provider.

But that’s not where the added fees end.

She went on to explain that, upon paying her most recent bill, she found it was now “a whopping $538, and they want $421 a month after that?!... That extra $222 I wasn’t expecting this month is a HUGE slap in the face!!”

She stated that National General’s payment portal did not provide a billing breakdown of the extra fees.

Why was she charged this fee?

The woman later updated her post, clarifying that she now understood why they jacked up the price:

“A little over a month ago, I emailed them from my student email (on accident) while doing schoolwork asking for my old roommate to be removed as an excluded driver,” she wrote on Reddit.

“I explained in full that I had spoken with a representative over the phone and now lived with my parents and had already provided their ID’s, my ID, my paystubs, and so on and so forth and signed documents for them to be my new live-in excluded drivers.”

She realized the issue happened because she used her student email — which she never checks until the semester begins again — so she missed their reply to her request.

“They responded to this student email telling me I needed to respond via notarized letter that this person no longer lived with me and didn’t live at my parent’s home, and if I didn’t send it to them by 7/29 they would drop me OR increase my rates.”

That’s when they increased her rate and continued charging her for her former roommate to be an excluded driver, even though she no longer lived with the roommate.

The Florida factor

It’s no secret that car insurance rates tend to increase over time.

In fact, Bankrate found that as of August 2025, the average full coverage car insurance policy has increased to $223 a month — up 12% from 2024 and 50% from the 2020 average.

In Florida, where this Reddit user is based, insurance pricing is notably higher than the American average.

Bankrate reports that the average full coverage car insurance rate for Floridians is $323 per month, 45% higher than the national average, and minimum coverage is 31% higher than the national average.

Florida is notorious for extreme weather, natural disasters, high tourist populations, high vehicle theft rates, ever-inflating vehicle repair costs and weak competition due to insurers leaving this market — insurance rates tend to be higher here than almost anywhere else in the country.

So how can you avoid similar price gouging?

There are a few ways she could have avoided this situation. Namely, use the same email address for all important financial requests — not one you stop checking for months at a time.

But beyond her missed email error, there are other ways you can protect yourself from predatory insurance practices.

Avoid insurance providers with a bad reputation. It’s good practice to look up a company online and read what customers are saying about them before signing anything. Stay away from any provider with multiple customers pointing out problematic or unethical behavior.

If you do find yourself stuck with a difficult provider, ask for a detailed billing statement and a copy of their declarations page, which provides a summary of costs.

But the most effective way to ensure you’re not being ripped off is to always shop around when looking for insurance. Pricing varies widely depending on the provider, so use a comparison tool to find the best rates for your particular zip code.