Here goes the very exciting topic .....
Insurance companies - throw your advice at me as well as your good and bad experiences, I’m about to review all our policies with NRMA .
So far , I can’t say I have any complaints with NRMA so far other then having to keep an eye on their sneaky price rises , however that seems nothing out of the ordinary with any of them . And usually when I call them ranting and raving we’ve been able to find a result somewhere In the middle .
Ive got 9 policies with NRMA , 8 years of loyalty , I think about 20% no claim bonus , and 0 claims . BUT I’ve just done a green slip quote and they’re dearer than almost all of their competition which then motivated me to look at a few other policies and after punching in a few numbers it seems that they’re dearer on these to ,even with my “ discounts “ added . To date although I don’t check them as often as I should , NRMA were a little dearer here and there but nothing worth changing my portfolio of policies to another suplier .
Well now I’m motivated , so who are we all using and what advice do we have ?
Cheers fellas ,
ladies , if you could ask the man of the house for their opinion it’d also be equally appreciated .
Replies
Wizard, nrma roadside assistance is that little extra you are paying for that makes them worth a few dollars more.
I don’t think I have roadside assistance ( both our cars have dealer warranty and roadside assistance )
we’ve got
home and contents
boat
caravan
car 1 + greenslip
car 2 + greenslip
peronal liability
policies with them , and yes they were slightly dearer which is fine ( even though I’m supposed to be getting all these earned discounts ) , but now I’ve noticed they’ve been gradually pulling away from the pack over the last 24 months and positioning themselves in the “ fair bit dearer “ category . Which has led me to look at my options . I haven’t even given them the luxury yet of rectifying the price yet, I will ... but unlike prior times I’m doing my homework so if they piss me off I can tell them to go jump with knowledge there’s a better option for me .
They may well fix it up , but I’m sick of having to call them every couple of years begging them to keep me as a customer because they’ve snuck in a 25% price hike without me knowing .
Loyalty to insurance companies is worth nothing, and often it's a disadvantage.
Other companies will cut you better deals to poach you. Either call around or get online and go to live chat and see who will give you the best offer. Make sure you speak to someone, they have a level of discretion to give you better deals.
Basically all insurance companies underwrite each other so there's similar risk regardless of who you're with.
NRMA won't pay to retain you. It's just not worth their time or money. Another company will pay to acquire you though.
Just go with whoever is cheaper for comparable cover. Be aware that the really cheap ones will only insure you if you're low risk and if you make a claim they'll probably refuse to reinsure you after they pay your claim so will force you to switch.
Start with the usual places (finder.com.au, comparethemarket etc) then jump on the individual companies websites and tell them what you want and keep pushing for a lower price. Rinse and repeat yearly.
The only thing loyalty gives you is a worse deal because the company knows they don't need to spend money to retain you. Sucks, but true. (For the record, have worked in multiple finance and insurance companies, I know most of the ins and outs of the industry).
Thanks Captain , yeah I won’t be going near any of these Budget or Woolworths / Coles type insurers . As for loyalty , yeah I’m a bit dissapointed with NRMA . I’ve touched base with a few of the bigger ones via messenger and asked for call backs , it just seems like a massive job to go through each policy one by one to take them over . Hence why it’s been convenient to stay put .
Do you have any horror stories about any of the ones you’ve worked for finding loopholes to not pay out ?
They will pay to retain if you calmly but assertively express your disgust at being a current, loyal, paying customer who appears to be being treated as an inferior and they are basically discriminating against you - (to single out a type of person or thing for special negative treatment or denial of equal treatment). I have always been able to get a price match or a better deal from my current banks, insurance companies, utilities etc when they advertise "special incentives" to attract new customers.
They always have a standard fine print or line they try to argue, saying current customers are ineligible. I don't yell and scream and carry on, just clearly ask them to confirm my call is, as stated, being recorded for their claimed training, feedback, quality assurance. I ask that as a 'loyal paying customer' I would like my feedback to be acknowledged and request a response from a team leader or supervisor or manager. I tell them that as a current customer, I am deeply offended to be treated differently and in an inferior manner than a person who currently contributes no payments to the company. I tell them that I expect that they should offer me the same or better deal as an incentive to stop me from taking my business somewhere else.
EG. HCF was offering $400 Visa Card for new customers (through One Big Switch Campaign). I've been with HCF for years and was close to renewal time. I asked for the same $400 Visa Incentive to remain with HCF. - Was told "...New policies only. Is there anything else we can help with today..." I asked for my policy to be cancelled, effective immediately, pro rata premium refund and that I would then like to take out a new policy with the $400 incentive. Was again told I am ineligible for the "new policy" incentive and that even if I was, it would be silly as I would have all waiting periods re applied just like I would have to serve if I took my business to another provider. No problem, I said. Please go ahead and process the cancellation of my policy. I explained that a number of other providers will waive waiting periods for customers who have served these periods with previous insurer. I was then asked if I would stay with HCF and offered a refund on final month of current premium and a $400 discount on renewal premium.
Regarding excessive premium increases - Last month, NRMA reduced my agreed value & more than doubled my excess (without consent). After having a hail damage claim previously, my no claim bonus was due to increase from 30% back to 60% - still tried to tell me my caravan premium would increase by 50%. A quick call to ask for an explanation - met with standard line that many variables determine the premiums. I asked for some specific details of the variables which led to the calculation of my specific premium renewal. Of course they had nothing constructive to offer other than the "many variables" line and an offer to re quote in case there had been a mistake - definitely no mistake apparently and a repeat of the "many variables" line. Always remaining calm, I acknowledged that I was aware of that and requested them to respond in writing with detailed evidence and explanation of their 'variables' & calculations which justify the massive premium hike considering that reduced agreed value, more than doubling of my excess and moving from 30 to 60% no claim bonus should probably lower my premium. They asked if I had any other concerns to report. I told them that as a loyal customer of 20 years with 11 policies, I have more recently experienced an appalling decline in their customer service and claims handling when compared to my past experiences and that I am currently reviewing all of my policies. 24 hours later, I had a response - Agreed Value increased, excess reduced and premium 20% lower than last year, rather than 50% higher.
Tidy work Old School, take it to the them! If more of us had the time and energy to put up
a fight we’d all be better off.
Thanks Vico,
I try to keep any of these calls as quick as possible - straight to the point and stick to facts. Stay calm but very clear on what you expect to be reasonable. I have found quickest way is to politely say hello, give your name and immediately ask to deal directly with the person who can make a decision/offer without giving any specific detail. Different companies have different terminology which is helpful to know and to display some knowledge. (Could be simply a manager, supervisor or team leader that you ask to speak to or something like retention team or discretion team).
There is normally 2 outcomes. Straight through to who you want/need to speak to without having to retell your story.
OR
The person tries to bend over backwards to please you, to stop the call progressing to their next in line.
Wizard, we used to be with NRMA but switched to Budget Direct probably 10 years ago. The price difference was pretty significant at the time. I have again recently looked at NRMA, but the difference was still pretty big.
We have Home & Contents plus 2 cars with Budget Direct.
The potential downside of this change is that in the time we have been with BD we have not had to make a claim, so I really have no idea of how good or bad the experience will be if it happens. The upside is that we have had 10 years of much cheaper insurance. I do have a friend that was with BD and they made a claim, and their next policy went up by 30 or 40%, so they then went elsewhere, which is consistent with what Captain is saying in his post above.
Also, 2 years ago we bought a new Mazda CX9, so I thought I would test the water at that time, but didn't find anything with a reasonable name that was cheaper than BD. I tried Youi and they were terrible. Make you talk to them on the phone and take 30 minutes to ask you 5 million questions, then turned out to be 50% dearer than BD anyway.
This is where the blessing of corporate vehicle coming into play. Even my home in the us for the moment is provide by my firm. So I don't really don't need to be bother with insurance companies per say. Our home in Sydney is covered by our credit union insurance arm.
Hey mate , I’ve been with Budget with one car for about 4 years and were quite happy until we found out that a friend had been knocked back after writing his brand new Landcruiser off when he hit a roo . They knocked him back as he’d had aftermarket wheels on it ( not illegal wheels just aftermarket from Bob Jane ) . The loophole was that he hasn’t advised them , mind you in the very small print it said that and he hadn’t read it .
When I called them and told them I had a few aftermarket parts to cover my arse , they went right through everything from the wheels right down to the stereo I’d installed . Then I mentioned that when one of our original exhaust manifolds had cracked so I had the local exhaust guys put on a set of small extractors on it as the genuine manifolds were stupid expensive , boom ... they cancelled our insurance on the spot as it was “ engine modifications “ . Mind you they’d had their recommended mechanics inspect the car from top to bottom including the extractors before they insured us . So pretty much for 4 years I was driving around totally uninsured .
So make sure if you’re insured with them you car is either 100% as it was brand new , or they’re aware of every single minor change that has been made to it .
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