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Economical Insurance Auto Insurance Reviews

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(227 reviews)
Economical Insurance
1.4 out of 5 stars:
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Negative a Million Stars

by L.diemert on Sep 4, 2020
1 out of 5 stars

It started back at the very beginning of July. My vehicle was stolen from my driveway on the night of July 1st. I immediately reported it stolen to the police and called my insurance company. They informed me that if the vehicle hadn't been recovered in 2 weeks that the issue would be settled and the vehicle would be paid out after an investigation was complete. They assured me it would all be completed in a timely manner. A few days after that, I made my official statement to an employee of Sonnet Insurance Company. Two weeks rolled on by without hearing once from my assigned adjuster. I called the office, left 3 messages over 3 days. I emailed her several times over the next coming days. I still did not hear a word. I called Sonnet insurance directly as I had not heard when to return the rental they had approved. No one there seemed to want to help me, they just informed me that I must speak with my adjuster who they promised would contact me within the day. Big surprise, she did not. I asked to speak to a supervisor on another occasion, they said I had to wait up to 48 hours to hear a call back from a supervisor. No one ever called me back. I knew my policy only covered 30 days, and as this was fast approaching and passed by, I was getting worried about costs incurred to myself. Still, I had not heard from my adjuster. On day 36 of driving the rental vehicle, I decided to return it, because Enterprise called me and told me that the adjuster had called them and informed them that they would only be covering the first 2 weeks of the rental. I was shocked because my policy clearly states 30 days. Also, I was upset that my adjuster took the time to call the rental car company to cut off the rental but didn't have time to call me. If they were only planning on covering 14 days it would have been nice to know at the very latest on day 14. Not day 36. Enterprise Rental Company wanted to charge me on drop off, but we came to the solution that they would give me a week to sort things out with Sonnet, which was fair. I called and emailed Sonnet and my adjuster again, I was told I would have to talk to my adjuster directly and customer service could not do anything to help me. Finally, the adjuster emailed me, briefly apologized and asked questions that were already previously answered by me during my initial interview. She also required more documents to be filled out, but she did not address my immediate concerns about the charges for the rental vehicle. I emailed her again, I called Sonnet again, I even called the Office of the Ombudsman for Sonnet. They assured me they would have a supervisor contact me within 48 hours. Again, that never happened. We are up to August 18th at this point, and I've had no access to a vehicle, I couldn't work. Being a single mother and not being able to work was extremely difficult for me. As you can understand I have bills to pay. So, on August 18th, I get a phone call from a customer service representative in the total loss unit. He tells me he is the one in charge of deciding the worth of my vehicle for a settlement payment. We discuss payment of $8073.00, minus $500 for the deductible which was satisfactory for me. He mailed me the cheque. Meanwhile, I desperately looked around for a vehicle, found one, put a deposit of my own money down on it to hold it for when the insurance settlement came in. I received the cheque, deposited it, got a bank draft for the vehicle purchase and went out to buy it. I was so relieved that everything was finally settled and I could work again. But, I was wrong, everything was not settled. I received a call yesterday from my adjuster saying they just confirmed with the police that the vehicle had been recovered on August 12th. I had never heard a word from the police or anyone else about this. Then the adjuster informs me that they have put a stop payment on the settlement cheque because now that they have the vehicle they are going to reassess it, test it for mechanical issues. If they find it to be mechanically sound, they will be giving me back the vehicle with no payment. Also, if the vehicle is unsound, and they find it to be worthless money than they originally gave me, that's what the new cheque will be. I am furious about this. My bank account is now in an overdraft because of the cancelled cheque. How can they agree on the settlement, cut a cheque to the customer and then just change their minds? Also, how can they fairly reassess the vehicle when they have no idea the condition it was in before it was stolen? Also, last Friday I received a call from Enterprise saying they hadn't heard anything from Sonnet yet about the money owed and now they were charging my credit card $1683.00. So now, my bank account is in overdraft, I have no money, my credit card is billed $1683.00. Sonnet has screwed me for $9256.00, and according to my adjuster, now that the situation has changed I am expected to be patient and keep waiting for them to get everything sorted and figured out. If I never went out right away and bought a vehicle I would still be out of work waiting for them to figure things out. Meanwhile, I've again contacted a supervisor which, surprise, I still haven't heard from. It has been on an ongoing battle and huge stressor for me for 2 whole months now, with still no solution!

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Horrible

by Zhen on Jul 17, 2020
1 out of 5 stars

Fast on taking your money but very long wait on waiting for your money when you do the claim. Took me a month to get a hold of the adjuster. Had to go through the management. They wanted me to do all the work and police reports when they have to do it. They have the right to do a 2-month investigation but you are covered for rent only for a month. While they do the investigation they don't pay for your rent and even after the investigation is over I still have to hunt them for rental money that I paid. The case happened in the middle of January. Still don't have the money for rent...

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Horrible service!

by Dodgeram on Jul 9, 2020
1 out of 5 stars

They are the worst insurance company! I have full coverage! And my truck Abs electrical went on the highway there was a fire and I paid 400$ to get my truck towed to my mechanic. They told me he can’t even look at it that they will tow it to their shop and start an investigation. They waited a month and a half to tell me my claim didn’t go through! I use my truck for work so I needed a rental so far paid 2000$ for the rental while paying for my truck payments and car insurance. They never got back to me even my broker had a hard time contacting them. This is my first claim in 15 years of driving. They are not reliable customer service! I’m annoyed! My broker even set me up with this insurance company. I have 0 clue where my truck is if they damaged it more or what. They tried to get me to back out of my claim looked for any way for them not to pay or help! I would never ever insure anything with them! A horrible service! They should loose their license to insure anyone! I have a year left on my finance paid $60,000 into it! Why would I make fraud or false claim! I still can’t believe they put me through this just to say no. Always get your car looked at before they take your car. I am scared to find out what the deal is with it. Think twice before insuring with them.

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Bad driving record? Your insurance rates can be double the standard insurance rate. Let us help you get the better auto insurance rate without breaking the bank.

I would give 0 if I could

by lindsay on May 26, 2020
1 out of 5 stars

I wish I had looked into this insurance company before agreeing to have them as my Insurance company. This company currently handles my home and auto insurance. I have had auto insurance with them for approximately 10 years and have never had a claim. I have held house insurance with them for just over 5 years ( I am leaving this company but currently still use them ) This company is not on your side, their customer service is beyond the worst I have seen. I am currently in the middle of dealing with their ombudsperson. I was hit in a parking lot while exiting my vehicle by a woman with no sticker or registration. My car was off, and I was exiting my vehicle when she pulled in very fast beside me and took the door off of my car ( my foot was on the ground as I was getting out) I had a witness and video of the women who was very erratic. I never received a rental car (which is in my policy). I am still working and was carless for over a week with no answers or callbacks from anyone (including smart coverage my broker) I was then deemed 100% responsible for this claim because my car door was open. Even though I had a witness who saw me exiting my car when the woman pulled in and hit me (very fast). This happened at the end of March and I just received an email back from the ombudsman person today. They do not work for you and are not on your side. After looking and reading about this company I see how many unhappy customers they have. I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong but this claim is absolutely absurd. I have never been more disappointed or disgusted by a company. Do yourselves a favour and stay far away from these crooks

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AUTO CLAIM VERY TERRIBLE !!!

by Grants on Sep 23, 2019
1 out of 5 stars

This is the worst insurance company ever! I have been tossed around like a coin for about 2 months. Now this company will do anything, say anything and tell lies just to avoid a claim! The customer service is a nightmare. The adjusters are very rude and always not available to return calls or on holidays, what a mess! This company should be closed cause they are thieves and a rip off! Worst of all, no car rental was given to me I had to spend my own money on getting a cheap car for me and my family. I will be taking legal actions since they have money to pay for lawyers than settle claims!

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Review topics

Terrible Company/Service

by Kevin on Sep 17, 2019
1 out of 5 stars

Wrote my truck off, gave me maybe %80 of the value and refused to even consider my concerns, resulted in me needing to finance a vehicle that didn't suit my needs at all (going from a 7000lb towing capacity to 1500lbs) They use an appraising system that assumes selling prices off of AutoTrader from within 100's of km from your area. Trucks in the rural area I live, in the condition mine, was in are not cheap and hard to come by, I am not driving 300kms to look at a truck that might be as nice with 280K on it when mine had 160K on it. They write things off and send them to auction with minimal damage as they know they'll recoup more of their loss at auction and they won't let you buy your vehicle back once they've decided this(which seems illegal to me, I intend on contacting FSCO about this) The ONLY thing they were efficient with, was setting up a rental car, that was quick and easy. They are not a good company, rates are good currently, but if I had to choose, they would be on the bottom of my list, pay a little more, go to Aviva, Intact, ANY Mutual, even CAA. Economical is right in the same category as TD, Desjardins, Sonnet, Bel-Air, yes they're cheap, but trust me, you're paying for it, one way or another.

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Absolute awful experience

by Anon11 on May 10, 2019
1 out of 5 stars

As far as I am concerned, this company is an absolute scam. My car has been hit almost a month ago at no fault of my own and we have gotten absolutely nowhere. They don’t even have the common decency to answer my calls, emails or even letters. They wrote my $12,000 car off as a “total loss” due to $1,500 worth of damage and have offered me less than half for my car. I have gotten the car appraised by another appraiser as well as multiple quotes from autobody shops and they all have said that the damages do not exceed $1,500 and that in no way is it a write-off. However, their appraiser claims the damages are higher than $5,800. In the beginning, they assured me a rental until my car was fixed (which was originally supposed to be middle of the month) but once they wrote it off two weeks before my rental was due to go back, they insisted that I had one day to return my rental. Despite all of that they even tried to tow my car off of the autobody lot before they even told me that it was wrote off. I so frustrated with this company and have no hope that this whole process will be settled soon based on their behaviour. This company does not care about their client's wellbeing. Insurance is supposed to be there as a “just in case” to assure the client's protection in situations such as accidents. I can’t even fathom the way I have been treated throughout this whole process, especially from the representative in the total loss department.

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Horrible Experience!

by Sporty on Dec 31, 2018
1 out of 5 stars

Please think it over, and choose a different provider, this is a great product until you need it. They really tried to screw us but I think we avoided the worst of it by continuing to push back. It does take its toll on you. This is an abbreviation of events we experienced, sorry for the long story, We’ve been with this company for two years with home and auto. The price was better than anybody as a result of an employee discount provided to the Airline that I work for. My wife was hit by a car while crossing an intersection. She was not at fault. Her car was drivable if you crawled in from the passenger side of the vehicle. Not knowing what to do with the damaged car she returned home after the police report was completed and called the insurance to begin the claim process. A message was left, and a day and a half later no reply so we called our broker and shortly after a claims advisor returned the call. We have vehicle loss of use insurance but were told a rental would be given until our car was under repair. I was told to go get some estimates. Got 4 then was told the estimates were no good because the shops charge more than $77 an hr. Still no rental car, and I feel like we’re being run around. After a lengthy argument about the purpose of loss of use coverage and insurance itself, they agreed to provide a rental car...almost a week after the accident. In exchange, we must leave the car at a repair facility. A repair shop was chosen and the car was left there in order to get the rental. Then, Economical didn’t like the estimated cost of repair and sent there own field adjuster to write up an estimate. This took a week and a half and there was a difference in costs due to the shop rate and what comical will pay. Economical wanted us to pay $3200.00 to cover the difference in charges. Unbelievable! So, remember that we did get a rental, they place a time limit on it, and we are now into the 3 weeks of 4 weeks allowed. The car hasn’t even begun to get fixed. As a last resort, I asked for the claims advisor for the at-fault party (another Insurance) and picked up the phone, explained the problem to her, I said there is a shortcoming of about $3200 from what economical will pay due to labour charges. She put me on hold and came back and said: “we’ll cover that go ahead with the repair”. That easy! The car begins to be repaired, parts ordered, etc. Now over a month since the accident. Rental car company calls and says, they need the payment for the rental car or return it, Economical only pays $ 900 worth of the rental. Again I call another insurance company advisor and ask to have that covered by them... No problem! Why is it I’m the one that had to do all these steps. I don’t do insurance for a living, that's why I bought insurance! You’d think that that economical would take care of the details like these. Nope! I did call them multiple times and never, never reached a live agent on the first try, always leave a message and we’ll call you back! Almost 2 months since the accident the car is fixed and we are back to driving our car. I now have an uneasy feeling about our current situation because we are still covered by this company and can’t switch companies until it expires without incurring a large penalty for cancelling in the middle of the policy year. Bottom line “You get what you pay for!”

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Liars&Poor Customer Experience

by Erin on Nov 9, 2018
1 out of 5 stars

After my accident, I was told by two individuals that because I've been paying car rental insurance that if I chose not to take a rental card, I would be compensated a daily rate. I jumped through hoops to borrow a car so I could use the rental car payment to help cover the insane deductible. On my last call to them, I asked how I would receive payment and was told via cheque. It's now been 5 months, so I called to check-in and have now been told I won't be getting a cheque and that it's not even an offer. I don't appreciate being lied to or misled. I do not recommend using this organization for your insurance needs. Go elsewhere.

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Fast and friendly

by JP on Nov 22, 2016
4.5 out of 5 stars

I got into a not at fault accident with my company pick up truck, a young kid pulled out infront of me from a side road and I wasnt able to stop in time. I have a small snow plowing and landscaping business. Because it wasn;t my fault they said I would not need to pay any deductible and that everything is covered. They quickly set everything up with my local body shop which was one of their company shops too. The shop gave me a rental but i realised that the rental truck that was provided didn't have a trailer hitch and I couldnt use it for work. I called the adjuster back and explained I need a truck with a hitch for my trailer, otherwise i couldn't pull my trailer with my tools and equipment. The adjuster knew his stuff and said he would arrange a half ton pick up truck just like mine, with a hitch and a bed liner. The adjuster was really friendly and understood that I needed a truck to keep my small business running. The rental company Enterprise, called me within the hour and got me into exactly into the rental I needed, After about two weeks the bodyshop called and told me my truck was ready. I pick up my truck and everything was repaired beautifully. I was able to continue on with my business and life without a hitch. I've been with Economical for 16 years and the one time I got into an accident they really took care of everything and then some. I could't have asked for anything more.

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