So how good ( honest ) is your vehicle insurance

[drivesafe]

My daughter recently purchased a new Subaru and when she went to bring it home, as you do, she tried to organise insurance through her preferred company over the phone.

It was Saturday morning and after trying for 45 minutes to get through she decided to get coverage with the dealership as it could be done on line, there and then.

So far so good!

One of the required questions was, “ have you made any claims in the last 5 years”

Again, nothing out of the normal.

My daughter had made two claims, one was her fault, where she clipped a trolley bay as she backed out of a parking spot, and they added $120 to the annual bill.

But when my daughter told them that the second claim was made when a woman backed into my daughter’s stationary vehicle and my daughter was not at fault and the other person’s insurer paid for the damage, they then added another $120 to the annual bill.

My daughter was anything but impressed and decided to get an insurance quote through her bank.

Same cost and same problem.

She took the dealer’s insurance so she could drive home, but on the following Monday, she managed to get on to her proffered insurance company, and first checked if they had the same crooked coverage.

They DID NOT and as soon as she was covered by her original insurer, she cancelled the other and they refunded her money.

So it LITTERALLY pays you to check your vehicle insurance.

[Pickles2]

Yes, I believe comprehensive motor insurance is a minefield, particularly if you want to choose your own repairer.
All of them sound good,....until you make a claim,...and for sure sometimes there's no drama, but sometimes there is.
I've no direct inside info, but aren't there a lot of insurers who whilst going under a different name are actually owned by the same group?
I know a few repairers who actually will not take on any work for some insurers, as they say that do so would send them broke.
Pickles.

[JDNSW]

The "trying to get through for 45 minutes" sounds like my insurance company! But they have not tried that sort of stunt with me.

The major issues I have had with insurers is how difficult it is to talk to them or get sensible answers.

[87County]

Yes Pickles, just for example Suncorp owns a few - I just lifted this list from the net :)

Interestingly the list includes Shannons which has customers that think is the ant's pants. Now NRMA has its own Classic Car Insurance with similar conditions.

Suncorp is the parent company of insurance company GIO, which is mainly used as a general insurance company representing Suncorp outside Queensland, offering similar products to the Suncorp branded insurance product in Queensland.
Suncorp trades under a number of brands,[15] including AAMI, Apia, Just Car Insurance, Shannons, InsureMyRide, Vero, Terri Scheer, Bingle, CIL, Asteron and Tyndall insurance brands in Australia, and Vero, Asteron, Guardian Trust, Tyndall, Vero Liability, AA Insurance, SIS, CMV/AXIOM and Autosure brands in New Zealand. These assets were acquired with the Promina Group in 2007.

[incisor]

never had an issue with suncorp, other than the price of their policies.

15 years ago i had a holden combo van that i bought new from a northside dealership that arranged everything including insurance etc as part of the deal.

i was given paper work for the insurance with suncorp being the insurer.

fast forward two years, i am t boned by a flash Mercedes Benz saloon. damaged the van badly but i was able to drive it home, same cannot be said for the Mercedes ...

rang suncorp re insurance to be told no policy in their records... rang dealership had a word to the manager who pulled out a policy number and contacted suncorp..

lots of tooing and frooing and suncorp ring me after a couple of days and say, their was no policy but as a token of goodwill they will repair the vehicle etc and to take it to local suncorp repairer.

job was done as well as could be expected.

they arent all bad... all the time..

in fact i have had 3 repairs though suncorp, none my fault thankfully, and they have been excellent every time. no out of pocket costs on two as i had the other parties id, 3rd one i had to pay $250 more as i didnt know who sideswiped the vehicle while i was upstairs in a shopping centre.

i use shannons for the older stuff and suncorp for the newer stuff.

works for me.

[Ferret]

...fast forward two years, i am t boned by a flash Mercedes Benz saloon.

... rang suncorp re insurance to be told no policy in their records...

So in the 2 years since initially taking out the suncorp insurance had you not received an annual insurance due notice from suncorp?

[incisor]

So in the 2 years since initially taking out the suncorp insurance had you not received an annual insurance due notice from suncorp?

all was suppsedly sorted for 48 months in the initial purchase deal.