Xiaoyu's car insurance is coming up for renewal. At a competitor she compares the price and how quickly claims are paid.
Xiaoyu
您好，我的车保险下个月到期，想换一家公司。
Nínhǎo, wǒ de chē bǎoxiǎn xià gè yuè dàoqī, xiǎng huàn yī jiā gōngsī.
Hello, my car insurance expires next month and I would like to change company.
The adviser
好的。请问您现在一年交多少？
Hǎo de. Qǐngwèn nín xiànzài yī nián jiāo duōshao ?
Very good. How much are you paying a year at the moment?
Xiaoyu
四千二。三年没有出过事故，价格还是一样。
Sìqiān èr. Sān nián méiyǒu chū guò shìgù, jiàgé háishi yīyàng.
Four thousand two hundred. Three years with no accident, and the price has not moved.
The adviser
三年没出事故，在我们这儿能少五百。
Sān nián méi chū shìgù, zài wǒmen zhèr néng shǎo wǔbǎi.
Three years with no accident is five hundred less with us.
Xiaoyu
除了价格以外，我更关心理赔快不快。
Chúle jiàgé yǐwài, wǒ gèng guānxīn lǐ péi kuài bù kuài.
Apart from the price, what I care about most is how fast claims are paid.
The adviser
车被撞了以后，您在手机上拍几张照片就能报。
Chē bèi zhuàng le yǐhòu, nín zài shǒujī shàng pāi jǐ Zhāng zhàopiàn jiù néng bào.
After a collision, you take a few photographs on your phone and file the claim.
Xiaoyu
一般多久能收到钱？
Yībān duō jiǔ néng shōudào qián ?
How long does the money usually take to come through?
The adviser
材料全的话，三天。材料不全就说不准了。
Cáiliào quán de huà, sān tiān. Cáiliào bù quán jiù shuō bù zhǔn le.
Three days, if the paperwork is complete. If it is not, there is no saying.
Xiaoyu
那旧的那一家，我要怎么退？
Nà jiù de nà yī jiā, wǒ yào zěnme tuì ?
And how do I get out of the old company?
The adviser
不用退。到期了不交钱，合同自己就结束了。
Bùyòng tuì. Dàoqī le bù jiāo qián, hétong zìjǐ jiù jiéshù le.
There is nothing to do. At expiry you simply do not pay, and the contract ends by itself.
Xiaoyu
我想先把条款带回去，晚上仔细看一看。
Wǒ xiǎng xiān bǎ tiáokuǎn dài huíqu, wǎnshang zǐxì kàn yī kàn.
I would like to take the terms away and read them carefully this evening.
The adviser
应该的。您看完了再给我打电话。
Yīnggāi de. Nín kàn wán le zài gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà.
Quite right. Ring me when you have read them.
车被撞了: the car was hit. The Chinese passive is not the neutral turn it is in English; it most often carries something unwelcome, which is why you meet it everywhere in insurance, policing and complaints. For a happy event the active is kept: 我被选上了 does not come as easily as 车被撞了.
材料全的话 reads "in the event that the paperwork is complete". 的话 sticks to the end of the hypothesis, whereas 如果 goes at the beginning; the two often combine (如果材料全的话) without the sentence being redundant. In spoken Chinese, 的话 on its own is the commonest.
到期了不交钱就结束了: this is the standard answer, and it surprises anyone from a country where insurance rolls on by itself. In China most car insurance contracts stop at their term and are bought again each year; there is no letter to write. The verb 退 that Xiaoyu uses is the one for refunds, and the adviser corrects her.
