Fucking Insurance Companies

Descendant X

Wow.

I am fucking angry.

I have my house insurance with Wawanesa (I'm in Canada) and my rates were increased for this year. Because of this, I decided to change companies because I got a better deal with another company. Last week I went in and filled out the cancellation form. I was informed that I would not be charged for my new year of insurance.

I just checked my online banking, and the fuckers charged my account for my new year of insurance.

What I'm wondering is if there's anyone I can report the insurance company to? I know that I'll get the money back - I'm more interested in reporting the issue with some sort of consumer group or government agency or something...

(edited for clarity)

Xaquin

call them up and notify them of their mistake.

be prepared to wait a LONG time for them to fix it. (PNC (USA) Bank took over 4 months to straighten out their insurance fuck up)

Skoal Cat

Have anything in writing to that affect?

Descendant X

I filled out the form and gave it to my broker, who was supposed to get everything done. I've got a call into him, but Wawanesa is closed until next week.

Unless, of course, I call the emergency claims line...

kedinik

They screwed up and owe you your money back.

It's a big deal if you cancel your policy and they continue to unnecessarily double-insure you.

This should not be hard to clear up if you just call them, though it might take a while.

Xaquin

Descendant X wrote: »

I filled out the form and gave it to my broker, who was supposed to get everything done. I've got a call into him, but Wawanesa is closed until next week.

Unless, of course, I call the emergency claims line...

do it. anything to talk to an actual human.

get every single persons first and last name and the time you started the conversation. this will halp you so much.

because the next time you call them, you'll be able to pin the conversation on someone. knowing that you're not giving up will be motivation for them to resolve the issue.

ask for an e-mail and paper confirmation of anything you get done.

Six

Call them up on Monday. They'll refund the amount, and it shouldn't be a big deal.

If you call the emergency claims line, they'll just tell you they can't help you and you should call on Monday.

Descendant X

You know, maybe I should have been more specific with the OP.

What I'm wondering is if there's anyone I can report the insurance company to? I know that I'll get the money back - I'm more interested in reporting the issue with some sort of consumer group or government agency or something...

I'll add this to the OP to clarify.

Xaquin

Six wrote: »

Call them up on Monday. They'll refund the amount, and it shouldn't be a big deal.

If you call the emergency claims line, they'll just tell you they can't help you and you should call on Monday.

either way, it's good to start a trail. I'm not sure about Canada, but in America (using a recent BBT misfortune) there isn't always a way t actually speak to a human unless you call the afterhours emergency line and ask them to put you through to someone who can actually help you.

Xaquin

Descendant X wrote: »

You know, maybe I should have been more specific with the OP.

What I'm wondering is if there's anyone I can report the insurance company to? I know that I'll get the money back - I'm more interested in reporting the issue with some sort of consumer group or government agency or something...

I'll add this to the OP to clarify.

ooohhhhh

no, don't even bother with it. they'll claim it's automated (which it is) and that they didn't receive your paperwork in time (which may or may not be true)

Six

Yeah, don't bother.

Veevee

and if the insurance company can't or wont return the money, then immediately call your bank and start a dispute on the charge. In fact this might even be easier if the person you talk to on the phone even hints at it not being possible. Not sure how it works in Canada, but in the US you'd get a provisional credit (yours to keep if you win) within 10 business days by law.

Descendant X

Veevee wrote: »

and if the insurance company can't or wont return the money, then immediately call your bank and start a dispute on the charge. In fact this might even be easier if the person you talk to on the phone even hints at it not being possible. Not sure how it works in Canada, but in the US you'd get a provisional credit (yours to keep if you win) within 10 business days by law.

This is good to know, although it's unlikely that they will not return the money.

If it wasn't obvious, I was really angry about this yesterday because this happened to me last year when a different company auto-renewed me without my agreement. It doesn't help that I have a deep-seated hatred for insurance companies in general.

I'll get the money back, I just have to wait until Monday so that I can talk to either my broker or a company rep. It probably won't even take very long for me to get the money back.

ceres

If you get your money back quickly then they rectified the situation on their end and their customer service actually did what it was supposed to. I don't see why you would report them unless that doesn't happen.

Kate of Lokys

My earnest advice for you is to try to be a bit more rational about all of this, and don't let your dislike for a particular type of business influence your actions or emotions. You are kind of foaming with rage here over an easily-correctable issue that was probably an honest mistake in the first place. If you filled out the insurance form last week and gave it to your broker, it's entirely possible that he didn't mail it out the same day, and even if he did, it's also quite possible that it didn't reach its destination until after the payment was already withdrawn.

Your insurance company has nothing to gain by taking your money after you've canceled, because that just creates extra work for them when they inevitably need to refund you, so I really don't think this was some kind of "rawr let's fuck over the customer" move on their part. Just let it go, dude.

Seattle Thread

Kate hit the nail on the head. Vengeance for a minor inconvenience--and one that you already know will be amended--is overreacting to the highest degree.

Descendant X

This'll learn me for making a thread while I'm angry about something.

I have calmed down significantly. Indeed, I'm not even angry anymore. Now I'm just dreading how long I'm going to have to wait to get my money back.

Fucking insurance companies... :P

The Cat

ceres wrote: »

If you get your money back quickly then they rectified the situation on their end and their customer service actually did what it was supposed to. I don't see why you would report them unless that doesn't happen.

Well I don't know how it is elsewhere, but I and several friends have only managed to get consumer fuckups like this guys' case solved by eventually threatening them with our local Consumer Commission (the ACCC). In my case, it was a gym that didn't stop charging me fees for six months after I ended my contract, even though I let them know they'd stuffed it up as soon as I saw the first extra charge. They kept 'forgetting' to tell the subcontractor handling the billing to fix it up and refund the money until I said the magic words, at which point it was fixed within a couple of hours.

You don't threaten them with a complaint straight off, but if an issue is not solved after two calls, the third call is where you put your foot down. There's no reason to put up with that kind of nonsense in the age of electronic transactions; the root cause is either an unacceptable degree of incompetence, or deliberate malfeasance - you'd be surprised how many people just roll over when this happens to them, and businesses know that full well.

I'd imagine Canada would have a similar body, or even an industry ombudsman - looks like this page lists a bunch for various industries.