Insurance policy hit !

[DoubleChevron]

My wife's tank is due for rego. She had a bingle a few months ago, backed into another car, minor, but was an insur claim. My son, a P-plater 'may' drive it (he has his own car, but if he drives my wife's car once, has a prang where greenslip involved, they unleash the hounds). Answering the yes/no binary questions required (eg a driver is any driver, anytime, not just a regular driver, an accident is any accident), 12 months greenslip best quote tonight was: $1100. Yes, that's a greenslip, yes I used the nswmaa comparitive site. In Sydney.

My daughters little C2 is insured and registered in my name. She was nearly $1000 a year for 3rd party property insurance. I'm $153 a year. Its a no brainer. The excess is obviously a lot higher if someone under 25 is driving. I was suprised last time I talked to shannons, apparently she can drive all my old cars. Apparently young people statistically don't crash classic cars Previously no-one under 30years old could drive them.

 

[Sans_sagesse]

Got it down to $440. My son can drive his own car (and does anyway).

 

[N5GTi6]

Hi Justin. Most insurance companies will have a "retention team". If you call your insurer and threaten to switch quite often they will negotiate a discount for you to stay.

Seems it didn't work this time. I did get a 5 min spiel on how the floods in Queensland had made my policy in Sydney more expensive.....urgh

So if they expect to lose customers through churn it's working then.

One annoying aspect was that the agreed value range is waaaayyy more than what I paid for the car. I'd be happy to insure it for what I paid for it, but the insurer is insisting that it's insured for nearly $10K more than what I paid for it 3 years ago. Crazy !

Cheers

Justin

 

[505604]

Then again, maybe they're stalling so they don't have to take another call, and get abused for something that's not even their fault.

That might make sense if they (Shannons staff) weren't getting paid bonuses for the new and repeat business they generate. It's stated in one of their in-call messages.

 

[Greenpeace]

That might make sense if they (Shannons staff) weren't getting paid bonuses for the new and repeat business they generate. It's stated in one of their in-call messages.

I wouldn't mind betting they have a system that displays the caller's prior history of interaction with their staff.
A "flag" system so to speak.
Maybe if the call waiting queue all have a little red angry faces displayed next to their names, they aren't in a hurry to answer them, or maybe not allowed to answer them?
Maybe they have a select team that are more skilled at dealing with "difficult" customers.
Maybe I'm wrong?
Hard to imagine in this day and age, they don't have some sort of WH+S process in place to shield their general population.of operators from known abusive customers?
To do otherwise, would leave them open to negligence in a worker's compensation claim related to stress etc.

I have never felt I am being rushed or pressured by Shannons' staff while on the phone.

Anyhoo, either way it costs nothing to be cordial.

 

[DoubleChevron]

I wouldn't mind betting they have a system that displays the caller's prior history of interaction with their staff.
A "flag" system so to speak.
Maybe if the call waiting queue all have a little red angry faces displayed next to their names, they aren't in a hurry to answer them, or maybe not allowed to answer them?
Maybe they have a select team that are more skilled at dealing with "difficult" customers.
Maybe I'm wrong?
Hard to imagine in this day and age, they don't have some sort of WH+S process in place to shield their general population.of operators from known abusive customers?
To do otherwise, would leave them open to negligence in a worker's compensation claim related to stress etc.

I have never felt I am being rushed or pressured by Shannons' staff while on the phone.

Anyhoo, either way it costs nothing to be cordial.

Nah, they were just massively understaffed. utterly hopeless.

 

[COL]

I wouldn't mind betting they have a system that displays the caller's prior history of interaction with their staff.
A "flag" system so to speak.
Maybe if the call waiting queue all have a little red angry faces displayed next to their names, they aren't in a hurry to answer them, or maybe not allowed to answer them?
Maybe they have a select team that are more skilled at dealing with "difficult" customers.
Maybe I'm wrong?
Hard to imagine in this day and age, they don't have some sort of WH+S process in place to shield their general population.of operators from known abusive customers?
To do otherwise, would leave them open to negligence in a worker's compensation claim related to stress etc.

I have never felt I am being rushed or pressured by Shannons' staff while on the phone.

Anyhoo, either way it costs nothing to be cordial.

Nah, they were just massively understaffed. utterly hopeless.

I have always found Shannons great to deal with both on the phone and also in person. When I have had a premium increase that is above what I consider fair, Shannons have always negotiated a deal that was fair for both parties.

Shannons support many car shows/events around Australia, well down here in the Island State anyway.

 

[505604]

I’m not one of those people who has had a bad experience with Shannons staff on the phone. I didn’t state that before, but neither did I state that I had had a problem.

Like you, Greenpeace, I have always found them to be very helpful and I have never felt rushed.

Cheers,
Andrew

Sorry.
I have just remembered one staff member. He could not understand my request. He certainly fulfilled the request as he had understood it; he kept saying that one thing and I kept saying that was not what I wanted! Nevertheless, he did what he had understood me to be asking, and he did it within minutes. Very prompt, I must say! I just wish that he had understood my request.

 

[505604]

I have always found Shannons great to deal with both on the phone and also in person. When I have had a premium increase that is above what I consider fair, Shannons have always negotiated a deal that was fair for both parties.

Shannons support many car shows/events around Australia, well down here in the Island State anyway.

Yes, I have had the same experience when I have queried an increase in my premiums.

I was very wary about the impending phone call as I’m an anxious person. But I needn’t have worried. They were super helpful and very understanding, both of my anxiety and my questions about the premium increase.

No complaint from me.

 

[Peter C]

As someone who has GAD and PTSD, I share your concerns about this sort of interaction.

 

[DoubleChevron]

Yes, I have had the same experience when I have queried an increase in my premiums.

I was very wary about the impending phone call as I’m an anxious person. But I needn’t have worried. They were super helpful and very understanding, both of my anxiety and my questions about the premium increase.

No complaint from me.

I've never had a bad shannons person ...... The first person I ever spoke to there got really excited and told me "I'm there ideal customer .. the exact person they are looking for" ...... English has always been there first language too (which is a huge help).

The only issue I've had is over the last couple of years I just CANNOT get through. I'm not exagerating when I say this. Like I said, the C2 is the first car I've owned in 20years that is insured elsewhere. I just COULD NOT get through to add it to my insurance policy. I tried over 4 days .... sitting in phone queues .... trying any and every phone option .... getting more and more frustrated and angry.

 

[lowpugV2]

Well, I just called Shannon's. Took 5 minutes on hold before speaking with a human. Questions answered, policy quote done. Unfortunately they are $500 more than AAMI for a way lower agreed value. So I looks like i still have to spend $986 with AAMI for the pug that gets driven twice a week... Is it worth it anymore?!

 

[lowpugV2]

Edit. Just spoke with AAMI who shaved a little more off for having good tenure. So slightly better off and have to say, both companies answered quickly and I spoke with two helpful people. Maybe Wednesday morning is a good time to call insurance co's.

 

[dimistyle]

Daughters Bingle insurance just went up 55% at renewal. Never had a claim, I guess I have to remove myself as a named driver see if it reduces down by 30%

 

[JAJEA]

Well, I just called Shannon's. Took 5 minutes on hold before speaking with a human. Questions answered, policy quote done. Unfortunately they are $500 more than AAMI for a way lower agreed value. So I looks like i still have to spend $986 with AAMI for the pug that gets driven twice a week... Is it worth it anymore?!

That's a good question.
The insurance company takes your thousand(s) dollars on the belief that you will not have a accident.
You hand over your thousand(s) dollars on the belief that you will have an accident.
Who is right?
I reckon that it is a worthwhile risk that you will not have an accident.

 

[David S]

AAMI and Shannons are both part of Suncorp and I would think they both have access to the same actuarial, risk and repair costing information. Why the different premium then? I would suggest the higher price is likely intentional as AAMI are probably better placed to handle the late model / daily driver type of car.

It's a result of the increased repair cost and the latest vehicles have features that are expensive. Check out the Cadogan story on the $10K Subaru camera repair. If you want adaptive cruise and AEB than you need to factor into the insurance premium the reality that a minor parking bumps can destroy a $5-10K radar unit. Even breaking a leg off the mount, if it's not sold separately, means buy a new one. Apply this to many other components, mix in recent local and imported inflation, higher labour and equipment costs, weaker AUD and you get a higher premium.

 

[Greenpeace]

AAMI and Shannons are both part of Suncorp. Why the different premium then?

I changed one of our homes from Suncorp to AAMI 2 years ago. AAMI was 40% cheaper like for like.

The following year AAMI put that policy up by 32%.
Budget Direct gave me a like for like policy that undercut AAMI's price from the previous year.

I've asked various companies a few times over the years if they use a "dartboard approach" to calculating premiums.

 

[Greenpeace]

That's a good question.
The insurance company takes your thousand(s) dollars on the belief that you will not have a accident.
You hand over your thousand(s) dollars on the belief that you will have an accident.
Who is right?
I reckon that it is a worthwhile risk that you will not have an accident.

You'd at least have 3rd party property though?
Imagine giving an EV a light nudge and it's written off because you upset the battery?

 

[Russell Hall]

A case in favour of specialised insurance from Shannons. Basil Moran restored a 504 automatique injection. It was well done, reconditioned motor and a new silver paint job. Left running at a paddock gate while it was opened the car took off and got quite a lot of speed down a hill until it met a tree. Because it was on a private farm track and not a proclaimed road some insurers may have disputed the claim. It took a long time for an assessor to come because the claim was run from Sydney but they paid full insured value and he kept the wreck.

 

[N5GTi6]

Looks like I'm moving yet another policy over to Shannons. Very easy to deal with - all 'onshore' staff, and by far the best prices.

I'll never give AAMI any business. I had a traffic accident with one of their customers a few years back - they admitted full liability. I was uninsured. I made a claim on her policy, and after getting 'yes, yes, yes we'll pay you sir' for a few months ,they then backed out completely. I had to take them / her to court. They turned up with a Barrister - so did I. I won but it was pretty much a moral victory as after the Barrister costs I only got a couple of hundred bucks in my pocket. The stinkers never made me an offer and fully expected me to back down. The whole thing still grates me to the core.

Cheers

Justin