We're currently with NRMA with everything - home, contents, comprehensive, CTP and roadside for two cars.
We got hit in the April storms and due to their "mismanagement" we have only been recently paid out.
I base picking our providers in cost and service. NRMA was the best for cost but after experiencing their service in handling a claim they will either need to drastically cut their premiums or they lose everything.
If they don't decide to play ball I need to know where else I should be looking or avoiding. Can I please get your reviews on how you've gone with dealing with claims with other providers please?
Additionally, can anyone recommend who else offers roadside assistance?
Insurance Provider Reviews
staceyasinme on 22/11/2015 - 19:41
Comments
I know where you're coming from and unfortunately all insurance companies seem to be as bad as each other. Before I changed my provider I checked www.mozo.com.au for reviews, all the companies are rated in order so it can help you make a decision on which one to switch to. Most of the ratings are below 2/5… tells you something about this industry.
Speaking from the perspective of seeing nearly 15 years of our finance clients who have vehicles they are insuring - cheap is always cheap for a reason. There is no such thing as a free lunch in the insurance game. Chase price after ensuring coverage and terms are identical and you aren't dealing with an insurer that has a reputation for being difficult (resulting in a large number of complaints). You can see the stats for insurance complaints here: http://www.fos.org.au/public/download/?id=38200&sstat=313012
The complaints stats tell a much more honest story about insurer performance than online reviews. Remember to check through to see how the complaints are resolved and whether they are resolved in favour of the customer or insurer (complaints resolved in favour of the insurer were likely to be trouble makers and not necessarily the fault of the insurer).
Lastly, many of the online review sites are simply advertising portals for the major insurers masquerading as consumer review sites. They typically have a lot of highly dubious (possibly fake) reviews as well. Productreview.com.au, however, is not bad if you're really keen to used such a site.
Hope this helps.
Thanks everyone, lots of good tips. Now I just have to start on the quotes.. yea!
I don't have much personal experience with claims, but I used to work at an insurance assessors for home & contents (as a typist). Most of the insurance companies we had dealings with were pretty similar, the big exception being CommInsure (Commonwealth Bank Insurance) who were miserly, and took absolutely ages to approve any works or payments, and always required 3 quotes and took the cheapest even if they were rubbish. Most of the others would take the assessor's advice about immediate works, and we only had to have 3 quotes if it was a lot of works in an area where it was reasonable (i.e. not small towns or small jobs).
I would generally recommend getting insurance through a union or building society if you can, those insurers generally left everything up to the assessor and paid out quickly. Otherwise APIA, AAMI and GIO were some of the other big names we dealt with. (I use AAMI but have yet to make a claim)
Allianz and AAMI both offer roadside assistance, although I haven't used either.
Also I always advise to double-check your insured amounts. I dealt with so many people who lost everything in floods or fires and only got paid out a fraction of what it would cost to replace. Many people had insured their houses for what it cost to build in the early 80s, and their contents based on what they had before they had a family. Seeing the reports where the insurer was paying out 80k for a house or 10k for contents worth twice or three times as much was heartbreaking. Always insure for replacement cost, and update with inflation (some insurers have a tick-box to 'keep up with inflation', but not all).