INTACT is a TERRIBLE COMPANY
by fundy on Oct 26, 2018
1 out of 5 stars
Have been using this App for just over a month; They are quick to add "Phantom Driving Events" which take away 10% from your projected discount benefit but very stingy in giving 1% back at a time. Have had 3 "Phantom" events recorded in just 3 weeks. No way I had any hard stop or hard start, but one trip recorded TWO events! Do not trust this App - suggests a consumer scam to me. Something to convince you to insure with Intact, you think you'll get all these wonderful discount rewards in a year, but then they tabulate "Phantom" events to take it away.
This app sounds appealing as a record of event-free driving could result in a discount on premiums. Instead, the app is unreliable recording events that didn’t happen. The tendency is to drive to the app rather than to actual road conditions. It’s frankly a dangerous app when the incentive is a discount for not breaking rapidly when conditions warrant it or not, accelerating to avoid a situation as either of those responses results in a reduction in possible discount. To prevent being penalized for responding to traffic conditions, the user simply says they are a passenger. Yet optimal driving conditions still register phantom hard breaks or accelerations. Intact has made a poor choice in predicting a discount on an unreliable app.
Did you know that on average Ontario drivers with good driving records pay $1,805/year in auto insurance? Is your insurance rate higher? Get a free car insurance quote and start saving today.
I will comment in my experience and you will judge by yourself. I have this app since November 2017. Problems started right away because the app was picking and choosing the trips that it wanted to judge. I complain and nothing good came out of it. And that has been an ongoing issue, never fixed. The worst happened this week. I went to VOLUNTEER for an Association in one casino in Calgary. When I came back, late at night, the app took 10% OFF my discount because I drove during a "dangerous" time of the day (from 12 AM to 4 AM) and I shouldn't!!! Are they saying that we shouldn't volunteer anymore, at that time? It said that I should be extra cautious. The average speed on my route was 69 km/h, and I was driven on Deerfoot and Stoney Trail most of the time. Do I need to be more cautious than that? Did the app praise me because of my cautious driving?There wasn't ANYBODY OR ANYTHING surrounding my car. Did the app notice? They said that I needed to rest before this trip. I had rested the entire afternoon before I went volunteering as the volunteering occurred from 6:45 PM to 3:15 AM. Did the app know that? How is it possible that they judge you just because of TIME OF THE DAY?? Then, when you try to contact them, they just come with "workbook" messages that do not address your situation at all. If you insist, they send you to your insurance broker and, voilá!! Here is the barrier that they want to put up between you and them, so you lose your power!! People are just unprepared to handle the situations and they should be ashamed of calling themselves customer services. Also, I had driven so far 452 km. Out of this 452 km only 13,6 km where during the "bad hours". Still, they took off 10%, which is completely out of proportion, do your math! Furthermore, they pick the trips they want to judge. How do I know that? Well, they had used the return from the casino, but there is no mention of the trips towards the casino!!! Also, I had driven more than 2,000 km since November 2017, but only 452 were marked down. Buyers, be aware!! These are a scheme. Don't fall for it. I have to stay on, otherwise, they won't give me back my discount! And they won't give back the 10% off because, according to them, I have to work for it! For something that they shouldn't have taken in the first place!! My recommendation is: Don't be fooled and do not get into this trap.
I purchased Intact insurance for my BMW 320i when I got it without looking at other companies. In my excitement to drive my new vehicle, I accepted 160/month with no additional coverages. The bare minimum. Suddenly, I was charged 190 a month, and a letter was sent to me saying my insurance premium had increased by 250$ or 5% of my total cost because I didn't sign up for a safe driving application on my phone. But 5% of my total cost (almost 2,000$ a year) is not 250, it is less than 100. So how does this make sense? I have made a stop payment request through my bank (TD) so they cannot withdraw money automatically anymore. Would not recommend to anyone. To make matters worse, over the phone I was told I would only get a 5% discount if I signed up for the driving app, but never that I would have to PAY an additional 5% for NOT signing up for the driving app. Well done broker, well done.
Was with Intact MDD my driving discount. If you are not aware (and they do not disclose that, ever) that every hard braking event HBE in the beginning of the program will bring down your potential discount with 1%, every HBE. They DO NOT WANT to answer how the device actually works!!! Quote from FSCO "Specific details on the algorithms used by the insurer would be considered confidential/proprietary information. These mathematical algorithms are quite complex and are not available to the public." Meaning we are stupid and it is a secret!!! I drove 8000 km, over 200 days, with 10 HBE (average 0.125 per 100 km) and the discount reached 23%, out of 25%. In addition, only 1 acceleration, 0 driving at high-risk times. How the algorithm works: The less km driven, even 1 HBE will reduce %. The higher km driven is harder to bring % up to the max and after a certain point, you can not. I am the example. Rules for whoever wants to achieve the maximum! In the beginning (consider at least 100 km, but I would target 500 km driven) you have to drive as a retard!!! Depending on speed, at least 4 cars length distance from the car in front of you!!! Watch for "might cut you off" and decrease speed, leave space for them! Red light approaching, be ready to stop, not go through!!! Adjust speed to do so, at any time!!! Actually, this was the best habit I can take away from the program, changing the prospective... And remember, the more km you drive WITHOUT ANY HBE, the more you could afford to do 'till the end of the program!!! Next, 14kmh per second decrease of speed is = if you drive with 70kmh is 5 seconds. Shorter than that will trigger HBE. Imagine you have on the dashboard a full cup of coffee without a lid, try not to spill it!!! Just FYI 14kmhs equals 3.8889 meters per second. Be gentle on the brake pedal! Most automatic cars will help stopping the car additionally with up gear of the engine as well, meaning you have to release the foot pressure you are applying towards the full stop of the car. Practice before you plug the device! No one is ready to drive like an idiot by default!!! And remember, the HBE is the most detrimental to the % kept!!! Neither accelerations nor hours have such an effect!! And just a question as food for thought... For premium purposes, your postal code is the base for the insurance company to evaluate the RISK (based on the data of claims in your area) BUT for the device, EVERYONЕ is equal, meaning, the algorithm of all devices are the same. That means, that if you pay higher premium because you are in HIGH-RISK area/postal code, your chances of getting/keeping higher discount IS LESS because you drive in HIGHER RISK area/postal code. Complaining to FSCO (which I did) will not help you because they approve of WHAT insurance companies suggest as a program and parameters, BUT NOT HOW it actually works!!! So, the potential of gaining/receiving a higher discount on your rate is there, but you have to educate and prepare yourself for it if you decide to "voluntarily participate" in those programs!! Good luck!!!
If you have a good driving record in AB, you should pay around $110/month (women - $105/month and men - $113/month). Do you overpay? Get an Alberta car insurance quote to start saving.
There is an issue with the evaluation model used to determine the "potential discount" a driver will get on their auto insurance renewal using the Plug-In device. Here's my story. I had a perfect history and a 25% potential discount showing on my data page from Intact. Then one day, a driver in front of me made a late, unanticipated move to turn right and he hard braked. Even though I was well back, I instinctively applied my brakes. Applying my brakes triggered a "low severity" braking signal to my device. To be clear, this was a reduction in speed only, no screeching rubber or anything like that. Immediately, the Intact website showed I was dropped from getting a full 25% discount to 19%! Wow. With only one slightly harder braking to keep my car and be safe, I lost over one-fifth of my savings. Very punitive and very poor judgment to program that level of reduced discount to what could only be described as perfectly normal driving action. I'm not impressed with the mathematical model being used in this program. I complained and was told I might regain a higher discount status by driving more and avoiding any more "incidents". In summary. Enrolling in the Plug-In monitoring program gets you an automatic nominal discount on your car insurance. But if you drive fewer kilometres than average and experience typical traffic situations, do not expect any further discounts beyond another nominal 5 to 10%. The 25% discount is rare and only seems to be awarded to some high mileage drivers who travel on clear freeways during daylight hours.
Like many others, we were clients for 10 plus years. Unfortunately got the not an accident, other drivers fault, and car was totalled. We are getting the run around, stalls, delays, excuses. Don't return phone calls or emails. They don't seem to know what the other is doing. We get different answers every time we ask the same questions. We will be switching companies the second our claim is finalized. Horrible, horrible horrible experience!
Secure and Certified
Your information privacy and security is very important to us. We use the same 256-bit encryption and data security levels as all major banks. Our practices are monitored and verified by VeriSign and Digicert.
Independent
InsurEye is not owned by any bank, insurance company, insurance brokerage or any other financial services institution. We collect, validate, and analyze insurance experiences of real consumers.
Insightful
We aspire to equip you with insights, data and knowledge to help in making informed decisions around personal finance, insurance quotes, and other important matters. We are always open for your comments.
INTACT is a terrible insurance company and is causing me grief as I write this. They are not quick to act on correcting their mistakes. I happened to log in online after they announced they were going paperless and I noted that there was a place you check claims. Under claims I noticed one from 2016 that is FALSE and I NEVER made. I have been at least two weeks with this between the broker and INTACT trying to get them to fix it. What happened was I called in with a hypothetical question and NOT - I REPEAT - NOT a claim. The person who entered the claim no longer works for INTACT and no money was paid out, obviously, but I am shown at 100% liability. To me, this is fraud and should have been corrected IMMEDIATELY. Instead, the claims manager stated she would investigate and made no promises. The best she could do was to change the 100% at fault over to 0%. This is ludicrous. While my driving record is a 9 (highest rated) if I was to join a different insurer, this claim would then count against me. Not only that but INTACT could not even tell me if this claim HAS affected my policy or not and this is something they need to consult underwriting for. Furthermore, I was bounced back and forth between the broker and INTACT, each one telling me to contact the other. I also had a windshield replaced years ago and apparently, this shows up as a claim. Unfortunately, I trust Carnaghan Taylor Insurance when they told me it was NOT a claim and that it would have ZERO impact on my insurance while this is not true at all. To add even more frustration, INTACT decided to offer this telematics program, where you receive some plug-in device for your vehicle, which monitors some of your driving habits, and as a result, you receive a discount. Well, back in August (we are now at the end of October) I renewed my policy and was adamant with the broker I absolutely did NOT want to be enrolled. I have zero interest in an insurance company monitoring what time of day I drive etc. This is truly Orwellian and I want none of it. So I was surprised to see an added charge of $177 to my policy in October this year. It took a week to find out from the broker that this was added back into my policy since I never enrolled into the tracking program. The problem is...I never enrolled. I spoke to the broker again the following week and they advised I asked to be signed up (enrolled) which is 100% FALSE. I relayed this information back to INTACT and they advised there may be nothing that can be done. I will take this matter to court if need be. The broker first stated that I requested to be signed up then later in the same conversation stated that INTACT automatically enrolls their clients and then when the client doesn't enroll after so many weeks, they automatically lose the discount. I never received the device, I never signed or authorized any enrollment, and I agreed to a binding policy agreement and nowhere in that do I see any mention of this program being applied. I am furious that I could have easily missed this information and furious that either the broker or the insurance company didn't immediately make things right with me. Well, if they want to make me wait on their clock, then I am going to make sure I expose this and do an investigation of my own!