I've just compared some comprehensive car insurance quotes and Bingle (~$1K) is coming up about half the next cheapest for similar coverage. (Except Bingle has an "unlisted driver excess" of ~$2K that I can't seem to remove - maybe that's their money making angle). Sounds like pretty good value. Does anyone have any experience with them, particularly claims?
(I see a similar post but is from 4 years ago.)
Yeah I've seen lots of negative reviews but this is true for most online review sites - reacting to bad experiences is natural, few bother to document good experiences.
There is a consistent theme though…
Seems like you have already made up your mind?
To consider actual experiences from people here - yes.
People are very quick to get online and report a bad experience, not so much with good experiences. Take what you read with a grain of salt. I firmly believe you are getting what you pay for, cheap insurance probably means you will have issues when you need it the most.
^^ Agree 100%…
Sometimes it doesnt pay to go with the cheapest…
cheap insurance probably means you will have issues when you need it the most.
Which is what the reviews say about Bingle.
People find them impossible to contact. They just have a chatbot.
I had bingle car insurances when all the hail came and damaged everyones cars in melbourne. The wife was with RACV. Both cars were fixed but the difference I had was that I had to pay my excess to be able to claim… however with RACV we paid the excess when the car was fixed and claim was finalised…. being some months apart.
I've been with Bingle for years and have made two claims; one they deemed shared fault, the other was fully other person fault. I had to pay the excess upfront when making the claim so keep that in mind if you like to make the excess the max you can.
They refer you to Capital S.M.A.R.T. for the assessment (owned or heavily subsidised by Suncorp I believe) but they only do the smaller repairs, for anything bigger they will send your car to the broader network repairers - maybe I got lucky but my car ended up at one of the best places in my area.
I've had 2 claims with Bingle. First time I was at fault, I submitted claim online, paid excess on the spot, booked in repairs at Capital SMART in the web portal for the next week, they repaired the car in 3 days. They even provided free ubers after drop off and before pickup.
Second claim I wasn't at fault. When I submitted claim online they requested excess but you can just skip it and they will remove it after they deem you not at fault. Same process as my first claim but I decided to just claim directly from the at fault party's insurance since Bingle didn't want to deal with the hassle of claiming a hirecar.
In regards to the common complaint that they don't have a phone number, they actually email you a contact number after you open up a claim. Wait times were virtually non-existent when I called them. Overall, I have no complaints about the company. Its a cheap, no-frills insurance policy so don't expect them to go above and beyond. As an added bonus they barely raised my premiums after my at fault claim.
I was at fault
How refreshing to see someone on OzB admit liability for a car smash. This might be a first!
I’ve been with Bingle for years and have had 2 or 3 claims against other drivers. In all cases I found it easy& concur with DOGGYWOWWOW that they use Capital SMART plus Uber drop-offs. I also agree that the premiums do not go up excessively after making a claim.
Easy, cheap & reliable insurance
Thanks folks. 3/3 so far- Bingle looks decent based on actual experiences here.
Ok so have made a few claims with Bingle over the last couple years. All not at fault luckily, or unlucky really. Has no issues with any of them.
As mentioned you get sent to SMART for repairs. Have found them to do a decent job and fairly quick and organized to get the job done. Last claim our car was deemed undriveable (got rear-ended which busted the brake lights) and the car had to be towed. As Bingle didn't have one of there repairers close that took undriveable cars, I got to just pick whichever repairers I wanted.
Edit. The car premium actually went down $50 last renewal
Have claimed 11 years ago, no issues
Except Bingle has an "unlisted driver excess" of ~$2K that I can't seem to remove - maybe that's their money making angle
The unlisted driver excess is not an issue if you list all drivers.
Been with Bingle for last 12 odd years for all my cars. During the period, one car written off. 1 at fault and 1 not at fault claim. All smooth with no hassles. Just with last not at fault claim, premium went up but otherwise its been pretty good. Looking at thousands of dollars i saved over the years in premium, I'd say it's well worth it.
Does anyone know how the unlisted driver access work during a claim of theft? The “driver” a.k.a thief is most likely unlisted (unless you got a disgruntled, listed partner😝).
Not at fault, standard excess apply
read the reviews on choice…
https://www.choice.com.au/products/money/insurance/car/bingl…