Anyone recommend AA Insurance or not ?

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Snowflake

#992300 22-Feb-2014 13:15

I've used AA for Content Insurance for several years, believe they have the best product, and have had no problems with 3 claims over that time. They do full replacement, new for old, on everything. Most other companies charge you extra and exclude sports gear (and other gear).

I don't use them for House or Car though -there were better products elsewhere, at least there were last time I looked.

Don't be fooled by the "have all policies with us and save" campaigns. If you drill into the details of the policies from each provider you find you're not comparing apples with apples... I have my policies spread, doesn't cost me any more than a buy three, save $, campaign and I have better all round cover.

Geektastic

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#992464 22-Feb-2014 17:53

TimA:
JamesL:
TimA: It costs me $1000+ to insure a 18 year old (Myself) with a BMW E30 or 320I 1990.
I have a motorbike too (I mean mum does) and im a nominated driver, $350 a year...

Having worked in the insurance industry, before moving into IT, if/when you need to make a claim on the motorbike it'll be easy for the insurance company to determine if you're the main rider of the bike in which case your policy will be cancelled and claim declined

Not worth it

I dont plan on crashing, It was so i could get finance.
I have my own policy with it now.

*As i was 17 when i got it i couldnt have finance, She had to own it and insure it and nominate me.

Be grateful you are not in the UK! Cheap insurance is one of the benefits of being here for sure.

Under 25 the insurers probably would not cover you fully comp for vehicles like that - just Third Party Fire & Theft. Or they would charge maybe $5,000 a year equivalent if they did.

And you get HUGE fines for not having insurance.

Elpie

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#992914 23-Feb-2014 17:36

I was with AA Insurance for many years. In that time I had two claims. The first, was for a burglary in Auckland where the theives took almost everything, slashed every painting and photo on the walls, piled what was left in one room and set it alight with a candle. They defecated all over the house and pissed in my appliances. Unfortunately, they used a beeswax candle to set the things alight and it went out - I wished it hadn't. AA would not settle on any contents because I had no receipts - these had been destroyed in the burglary. They did pay for a cleaner to go in to clean the place, leaving me with a fridge that had been crapped in and slashed paintings and photos on the walls. They wouldn't even pay for the motel I had to stay in until the place was finished with by the police and cleaned up. They were within their rights but it was hard to take.

The second claim was the one that had me leave. They say you don't know an insurance company until you have to make a claim and this sure proved to be the case with AA.
My then husband was killed in a car crash in the car we had insured with AA. The claim was initially refused because, despite me stating the driver was deceased, AA insisted the driver needed to sign the claim form. Then they refused on the basis that the inquest had not been held so they could not be certain he had not caused the accident. Then, after the coroner's finding, they refused because a claim must be accepted within a certain period. However, in the meantime, they held onto the wreck and because it was nominally their car they would not release items from inside the car that belonged to us. By the time they did, contents had been stolen and - you guessed it - with no proof they were in the car there was no payout. You can also imagine the state my husband's briefcase was in after being covered in oil, water and blood and left in a hot car over summer. (I did get that back). The claim was accepted after six months and then not paid out. Eventually, I received a bunch of flowers as an apology and the claim was settled around ten months after initially lodging it. Not before several letters from my lawyer though.

I've had one claim with my new insurer - AMI- and this has been a nightmare too. There was no assessors available after the Christchurch quakes and the repair is finally getting done now.

I don't really think other people's experiences with insurance companies are much use actually. So much depends on the type of claim, the timing, and which agent you get on the day. For every negative experience there will be others that have had great experiences. Mine with AA were horrible but then my one claim with AMI hasn't been great either. Both were fantastic to deal with until I needed to claim.

Buzz Bumble

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#992996 23-Feb-2014 19:33

They're all fantastic when taking your money (unless of course you're late paying, in which case they hound you constantly) ... it's getting money out of them where the problems occur and they try to penny pinch and small print their way out of as much as they can.

mattwnz

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#992998 23-Feb-2014 19:36

Buzz Bumble: They're all fantastic when taking your money (unless of course you're late paying, in which case they hound you constantly) ... it's getting money out of them where the problems occur and they try to penny pinch and small print their way out of as much as they can.

Insurance companies are 'Fair weather friends'.

Kingy

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#993153 24-Feb-2014 09:58

I have my car insurance with AA. Cheapest quote I could find, and having just recently rear-ended another car they were great to deal with. No issues at all.

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Klipspringer

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#993155 24-Feb-2014 10:04

Buzz Bumble: All insurance is a scam. The greedy scum always try to wiggle out of it and pay out as little as they can get away with. X-(

Simple solution. Then don't have insurance. NZ is one of the few places in the world that allow you to drive an uninsured car on the road.

And good luck to you when an uninsured driver rams into your car.

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Inphinity

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#993156 24-Feb-2014 10:08

I've had good experience with AA, including when dealing with a claim. I would recommend them.

TinyTim

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#993196 24-Feb-2014 11:24

Elpie: I was with AA Insurance for many years. In that time I had two claims. The first, was for a burglary in Auckland where the theives took almost everything, slashed every painting and photo on the walls, piled what was left in one room and set it alight with a candle. They defecated all over the house and pissed in my appliances. Unfortunately, they used a beeswax candle to set the things alight and it went out - I wished it hadn't. AA would not settle on any contents because I had no receipts - these had been destroyed in the burglary. They did pay for a cleaner to go in to clean the place, leaving me with a fridge that had been crapped in and slashed paintings and photos on the walls. They wouldn't even pay for the motel I had to stay in until the place was finished with by the police and cleaned up. They were within their rights but it was hard to take.
The second claim was the one that had me leave. They say you don't know an insurance company until you have to make a claim and this sure proved to be the case with AA.
My then husband was killed in a car crash in the car we had insured with AA. The claim was initially refused because, despite me stating the driver was deceased, AA insisted the driver needed to sign the claim form. Then they refused on the basis that the inquest had not been held so they could not be certain he had not caused the accident. Then, after the coroner's finding, they refused because a claim must be accepted within a certain period. However, in the meantime, they held onto the wreck and because it was nominally their car they would not release items from inside the car that belonged to us. By the time they did, contents had been stolen and - you guessed it - with no proof they were in the car there was no payout. You can also imagine the state my husband's briefcase was in after being covered in oil, water and blood and left in a hot car over summer. (I did get that back). The claim was accepted after six months and then not paid out. Eventually, I received a bunch of flowers as an apology and the claim was settled around ten months after initially lodging it. Not before several letters from my lawyer though. I've had one claim with my new insurer - AMI- and this has been a nightmare too. There was no assessors available after the Christchurch quakes and the repair is finally getting done now. I don't really think other people's experiences with insurance companies are much use actually. So much depends on the type of claim, the timing, and which agent you get on the day. For every negative experience there will be others that have had great experiences. Mine with AA were horrible but then my one claim with AMI hasn't been great either. Both were fantastic to deal with until I needed to claim.

That's a terrible story. I do remember AA rated very poorly for a while when they dropped their partnership (with AMI?) many years ago, but they have improved since then.

The latest Consumer NZ car insurance survey rates them 'average' - along with 7 other insurance companies. (Only 2 above average, none below average).

dacraka

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#993257 24-Feb-2014 12:29

The good thing about AA is that they pay for your taxi ride to and away from their car assessment address.
The bad thing is that they have to use their own chosen car repairer and you can't choose your own!

They are also the cheapest when I was ringing around all the car insurance companies.

Buzz Bumble

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#993296 24-Feb-2014 13:16

Klipspringer: Simple solution. Then don't have insurance. NZ is one of the few places in the world that allow you to drive an uninsured car on the road.

And good luck to you when an uninsured driver rams into your car.

Makes no difference whether I'm insured or not if the other driver isn't and it is their fault ... as I've already found out the hard way, even with me having full car insurance, they still wiggled out of paying anything.

bazzer

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#993315 24-Feb-2014 13:41

Buzz Bumble:

Klipspringer: Simple solution. Then don't have insurance. NZ is one of the few places in the world that allow you to drive an uninsured car on the road.

And good luck to you when an uninsured driver rams into your car.

Makes no difference whether I'm insured or not if the other driver isn't and it is their fault ... as I've already found out the hard way, even with me having full car insurance, they still wiggled out of paying anything.

Then something went wrong. I once had third party insurance (which should be considered a minimum imo) and was hit by an uninsured driver. My insurance (and I believe most third party insurance) has a benefit where as long as the other driver admits fault (or I suppose if it can be proved they are at fault if they won't admit it) they will pay out (and presumably recover costs from the uninsured driver) rather than you having to deal with it. Also, no excess and no loss of NCB!

If you have comprehensive car insurance, then they will pay out regardless. I would be interested to hear what excuse they used for you? Even if it were your fault they should've still covered you.

stevenz

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#993321 24-Feb-2014 13:52

Been with AA a while, found them good to deal with, although the "agreed value" of my car dropped without notice by about 30% suddenly last year, I've yet to have them up on it as to be honest I'm not very worried about it.

@KnightNZ

andrewNZ

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#993343 24-Feb-2014 14:10

I was with AA until about 8 years back. Had one minor claim for stolen bikes and it was dealt with quickly and easily.
The problems arose when I changed the value of my contents insurance and then a week later moved. When I moved the value reverted to the previous, and when I corrected it, the address reverted. I eventually gave up and went to AMI.

I've had one fairly significant claim and one minor claim with AMI and the process was pretty quick and easy for both.

I'd go back to AA if I needed to change providers.

kingjj

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#993357 24-Feb-2014 14:36

dacraka: The good thing about AA is that they pay for your taxi ride to and away from their car assessment address.
The bad thing is that they have to use their own chosen car repairer and you can't choose your own!

They are also the cheapest when I was ringing around all the car insurance companies.

When I got repairs done to my car last year (minor bumper damage after backing into a car in a carpark) they let me pick any repairer I wanted (gave me a list or said nominate my own). Picked one off their list, was sorted within a few weeks and that was the end of it. Pretty painless process (except for paying the excess

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