Comparing insurers

[heidrek]

Someone posted a while ago that meaningful posts are needed on this forum, which is a good point I believe.

To that end I'd like to start a thread that can serve as a reference guide for feedback on various General insurers. If it works out, perhaps a similar thread could be set up for specific classes of cover in other forums.

What I'd like people to do is post their comments here with their views of how different insurers they've had dealings with have performed in terms of price, service, flexibility and overall satisfaction.

Have you changed insurers at some point? If so, what made you change?

Have you had a great claims experience? A terrible one?

This thread should be used as a repository for info from the "coal face" with real experiences rather than simply link building. I'd be happy to share my own experiences, however they wouldn't be relevant to the USA insurance Market, which is where this site is targeted.

Look forward to getting some great responses from both customers and also from agents, adjusters and anyone else who wants to share their perspectives.

[johndale]

I wish you can start to share something about your experience even if they wouldn't be a relevant in US. It's okay you can still share it with us.

[calebdylan]

Someone posted a while ago that meaningful posts are needed on this forum, which is a good point I believe.

To that end I'd like to start a thread that can serve as a reference guide for feedback on various General insurers. If it works out, perhaps a similar thread could be set up for specific classes of cover in other forums.

What I'd like people to do is post their comments here with their views of how different insurers they've had dealings with have performed in terms of price, service, flexibility and overall satisfaction.

Have you changed insurers at some point? If so, what made you change?

Have you had a great claims experience? A terrible one?

This thread should be used as a repository for info from the "coal face" with real experiences rather than simply link building. I'd be happy to share my own experiences, however they wouldn't be relevant to the USA insurance Market, which is where this site is targeted.

Look forward to getting some great responses from both customers and also from agents, adjusters and anyone else who wants to share their perspectives.

good move, your idea of starting a new thread is a good one,nd you can share some important informations about the insurance and other topics too.

[heidrek]

I've has dealings with a number of insurers in Australia and New Zealand, and while they differ from Us insurers in many ways some things remain the same.

1. Claims turn around times and service remains the key. My current insurer for Vehicle Insurance is AMI Insurance, and I am pleased with their service. They are the cheapest in the market given that I've placed all my domestic insurance business with them (house, contents, rental property and vehicle), but their performance at cliam time has been better than you'd expect from a bargain insurer. Very contactable and good communication.

2. Reasonable underwriting can either turn away or attract business. I have both Medical and life insurance for both myself and my wife. I actually moved insurers from Southern Cross to another provider - Soverign Assurance purely on the basis of Southern Cross's rigid and unreasonable underwriting team. What I found really frustrating was their inability to explain their decisions or provided a reasoned response to many of my questions regarding exclusions in place on my wifes policy. Dealing with their underwriting team directly was impossible - all communication was via a 3 party system where the call centre was in the middle iof every exchange - highly frustrating.

As a result I went to their more expensive competitor and now have a clean policy with full cover for both myself and my wife. A small amount of being reasonable on Soverign's behalf won them my business.

Another good insurer I've deal with in a professional capacity is Chubb insurance in Australia. Their agents are a little bureaucratic, but in our 1-1 dealings they have been nothing but reasonable and seem to avoid the sterotypical "how can we decline this claim" approach the industry is (in)famous for.