Car Insurance

[j*oono]

I dumped my old car insurance with GIO and took up a policy with Coles, underwritten by Wesfarmers.

I was a bit shocked with the renewal policy from GIO, or Resilium.  $763 with a $500 excess on a car that is only insured for $12,900.  No claims in the past and with 65% no claim bonus.

Coles/Wesfarmers gave me a quote and with extras it came to $490.  It's fully comp.  Has anyone else switched to Coles and any problems?

[cherry*135]

Family member used to be an Insurance Assessor for vehicles, then just property & content claims and some ship or train claims. Mostly burglary and wet carpet claims!

[tall_bearded01]

Had a similar problem with Allianz.

At one time all of our insurance was through them. House and content, 2 cars, 1 van, boat and two trailers, with payment being by direct debit from the same bank account.

No problems with the house and contents with the premium being deducted every month as per the agreed schedule. However, from the date of the first scheduled payment for the cars etc it was a nightmare. On the date the first scheduled payment was due noted it was still in the bank account. Called Allianz. They say they found the problem and the payment through the next day. The next month same things happened.

This went on for about 4 months. We then went on a driving holiday Queensland, but before we left we called them (Allianz) just to make sure everything was OK. Yep everything has been fixed.

Got back and found a letter in the post advising that, while we were halfway through our holiday, our car policy had been cancelled due to our poor payment record.

Called them and cancelled all policies. A week later, received a letter requesting we reconsider our decision. As this is a public forum I won’t detail our response. Suffice it say ‘‘where the sun don’t shine”...

[amber-eyed-girl]

I had a problem with them too.

also a payments issue on their side.

With any insurance company, a lifetime guarantee is only a promise they will stand behind the work.

if the work is done properly, you do not need a lifetime guarantee. If it's shoddy, does one want to take it back to the same people?

I am happier having the option to go to any repairer, and get a good job done, even if the guarantee is 12 months. Some companies flat out refuse to get work done unless it is their own network.

Joono, before you sign up, is it worth asking what repairers the insurer has on their network near you? That way you can check them out on the net. If you are concerned about limited repairers for a lifetime guarantee.

Also, it is worth noting here, that specific policies have different fineprint. What I might have, or am3, or anyone, could very well be different to anything you are offered, Joono.