My late father receives an insurance offer

A piece of mail addressed to my father arrived at our house the other day. This was surprising, since my father never lived in this house. In fact, he never even lived in this town or this county.

But the real complication is that my father died in 1993.

The envelope contained an offer for bundled auto and homeowners insurance. Apparently, the insurance company believes my father is currently in the market for both.

This came as news to me.

When he was alive, my father never owned a house. He spent his life in rented apartments. Nor did he own a car. He was a master of the CTA, familiar with every stop on the El line and the 151 bus.

Yet according to the sophisticated marketing databases of the modern insurance industry, he is now apparently both a homeowner and a motorist.

This raises some intriguing possibilities.

One is that the insurance company has discovered a new marketing channel to the afterlife. Perhaps the deceased represent an untapped demographic. From a business standpoint, I can see the appeal. Customers in that category are extremely stable. They rarely move. And they almost never file claims.

Another possibility is that my father’s desires have changed dramatically since his passing. Perhaps he finally developed a taste for homeownership that he had avoided throughout his life. life. Maybe he and my mother now live in a pleasant celestial bungalow with a nice view of the clouds and an “eternity” lawn that never needs mowing.

If so, homeowners insurance would make perfect sense.

The automobile is harder to explain. I’m not sure what people drive in the hereafter. A cloud? A chariot? Something electric, perhaps?

Still, if there is traffic in the afterlife, accidents must occasionally happen. A drowsy octogenarian backs a Tesla into a harp. A distracted cherub plows into a Rivian.

Naturally, responsible drivers would want proper coverage.

So I suppose the insurance company may be onto something.

But if they actually manage to sell my father a bundled auto and homeowners policy, I would very much like to meet their marketing department.

And ask whether they offer life insurance to the deceased as well.