Very displeased with aviva
by Not Happy on Jun 18, 2015
1 out of 5 stars
In October 2014 (nearly 5 months ago) my 11 yr old daughter and I were in a rear end collision. Both receiving injuries! I have been waiting and struggling and fighting for my section B, loss of wages benefits. Granted my particular claim is a little more difficult because I am self employed. I have/had 16 clients. I was replaced by 4 in the first 2 weeks.... Because I work "under the table" proving my income has become VERY diffe and stressful. I managed to get just 6 of my original 16 clients to provide letters for the insurance adjuster. This was not enough. I then had 5 of those 6 provide audio recorded statement to a private investigator backing up their letters, as to what I so, and how much they pay me. Since the accident MOST of my clients have replaced me, some because of the lwngth of time i have been off, and some because i harrassed them trying to get them to contact my adjuster. So, here I am, still not back to work almost 5 months after the accident. Its likely I won't have any clients to return to
Facing eviction, credit going down the tubes, unable to pay ANY bills,visiting the food bank just to get by, with a child. My adjuster has been notified of this, they do not care. My benefits still have not been paid. We will lose EVERYTHING, because someone else used my rear bumper as his personal breaking device, and Aviva does not care about the clients who hired them. This is a service I PAY for.... Well, as you may assume, I am canceling my insurance policy.
I understand my situation is more "complicated", but what do they want from me. I tried EVERYTHING to get my client's to cooperate with the company. Provided letters, provided interviews from 1/3 of my client's. The clients don't care, it's not their problem, they don't have the time to take from their busy schedules to talk to an insurance company, for services that I am no longer providing for them.
My car was stolen in the middle of the night right from my driveway as I slept only a few feet away. That was July, 2014. Aviva farms out claims settlement to Cunningham & Lindsay who seem determined to prove to Aviva that they save them as much money as possible. So you get caught in bureaucratic finger-pointing. The policy offered a rental vehicle which I had to exchange after only a few days as it was like a coffin on wheels and not equivalent to the 2011 V-6 Accord that was stolen. Within several weeks, I received an offer prepared by Aviva via C&L who then pulled the plug on the rental vehicle leaving me with nothing to drive. I thoroughly analyzed the 16-page offer and phoned up all ten dealerships to check on the comparables cited. There was no car for sale that low mileage. The offer was very confusing, listing the same ten cars twice using different prices. And only two of the comparable cars shown were the proper model (V-6 NAVI) which retails for at least $2000 higher. This evaluation was unprofessional and bush-league. When I complained and said I was not accepting the offer, it took many weeks more to get a revision which obviously didn't have any further research, nor did it correct for the wrong model. All in all, I didn't receive a cheque until mid-October, three months after the car was stolen and two months after my rental was cut off. Don't go with Aviva and assume that you're going to be protected from something like theft or an accident that's a write-off.
There are two other morals to the story.
1) Don't expect the police to be very helpful. They may pat your hand and say, "There, there.", but a stolen car is either carved up in pieces or on a ship across the ocean within 48 hours. Car theft is big crime but nobody seems to be effective or they're all toothless tigers.
2) Go ahead, buy a Honda and keep it in showroom condition. After all, the third world needs more black market vehicles and Hondas and Toyotas are at the top of the list. Realize that if you take your car in for service (and mine had been just the week before), some car jockey can easily get the keys (even electronic ones) easily duplicated at a car parts store or by a partner in crime.
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.
my truck was stolen while I was travelling i had reported a claim to aviva , in this case i knew the individual who had taken and crashed my truck, my truck was written off. after battling for a month with aviva over trying to settle this claim, they stated that i had to press charges against this person in order to settle the claim (last i checked its the RCMP's job to lay charges towards anyone not mine, i can only give a statement) i argued this point to the insurance for a long time, further more although offered at first they stated i was not entitled to a rental car although i had been told in the past i had 900 dollars credit towards a rental "the case is under investigation without prejudice and im not entitled to one i can get one and ask for reimbursement later" i was told, finally the Sargent of the police station had to phone the agent to tell him that a warrant had been issued and they are searching for the individual involved so the agent authorized a rental for a week and offered me a claim now starts the low balling they offered me 2000 less then what i had found the fair market value to be on my truck i told them this they asked me to submitt 3 similiar trucks kms make model year so i found two that are similar other then that it is hard to find a truck of this calibre ( it was well maintained with low kms for its year) i found two they were not from alberta so she dismissed them i also showed her the appraised value on kelly blue book they couldnt open the link. i am still battling over this its month two.
this story it stands to show that as a customer with aviva your words carry no weight and they drag on this process to try and make you except there low offer i have had 3 different agents they all have taken leaves of absence and have literally only received one email a day from 2 of the agents although i have sent several different emails and questions regarding the proccess that they have said i have to follow and they do not answer there phone so dont bother calling you can only request that they call you back via email which will take a day to reply and set up a call time, as well they have made me jump threw many hoops with the RCMP who has also told me its to seperate things your truck being stolen and someone being charged with theift.
they do not have your best interest in mind and they are trying to save money they are not on your side.
We had a dispute about part of our claim settlement.
The Aviva Ombudsman's Office called. He admitted he didn't review our emails/calls beforehand and it was very clear he knew very little about the actual claim and kept bringing up things that weren't a part of the actual claim dispute but in a very condescending way.
When we explained what happened, he kept implying we were wrong because that's not Aviva's process. He just didn't listen, was totally unprepared and said he is helping us but wouldn't actually help us but argue semantics over words he didn't know the meaning of. (It was frustrating listening to him try to be condescending about diction when he didn't have to understand the vocabulary he was using and just kept repeating himself.)
We just wanted to get to the disputed part of the claim but he just wanted to talk about random things that weren't an issue. At first, I thought maybe he was new and just didn't know what he was doing. Everyone needs to start somewhere, right? We asked to speak to someone who would listen. He flat out refused to transfer the call but, despite what he'd say in his many monologues, he wouldn't help. I looked him up, wondering how someone could be such a bad listener and so unhelpful in his position. This guy has a senior position in the company and wouldn't help. This is his job! I don't believe this is a fair practice.
From my experience, the Aviva Ombudsman behaved unethically in this instance by not providing the support they're supposed to provide customers and refusing to transfer the call to someone who didn't want to argue.
My Vehicle was hit 3 times in 4 years. The first time the driver stayed and all information were exchanged, he admitted FULL fault to me and the police. The second time the driver took off, the third time AVIVA refused to cover it (surprise) I had to pay for it. I was not in my vehicle any of the times it was hit by another driver making it NO FAULT of mine. Then a rock hit my windscreen and I had to have it replaced. This year in 2020 AVIVA sent me a letter cancelling my insurance due to "4 events in 4 years" now remember event one the driver stayed, event two the driver ran, event three AVIVA refused to pay, and event four was a rock. I have never had a ticket and have been driving for 20 years, also have NEVER had an AT FAULT accident. Also during event number two the hit and run where the driver fled, the garage that AVIVA insisted that I go to cause an additional 1400.00 in damages to my vehicle. I called their Ombudsperson who naturally sided with AVIVA and I had to pay to repair the 1400.00 in damages out of my own pocket. We had (I say "had" as I am in the process of cancelling) my vehicle, my wife's vehicle and my house insurance with AVIVA - Count yourself very lucky AVIVA that lawyers are so expensive and that you are simply not worth the headache because if I had the time and the energy I would sue them. You treat your customers like garbage. But boy do you guys like to make sure to collect your premiums. Sure like to break your contracts though. Dishonest, lying company.
If you have a good driving record in AB, you should pay around $110/month (women - $105/month and men - $113/month). Do you overpay? Get an Alberta car insurance quote to start saving.
Don't use Aviva insurance. Very unprofessional and terrible customer service! I've been with Aviva insurance for about 6 months now. When I signed up with my visa debit card, just like I did with my last car insurance company, I also pay several other bills without any issue. Well, in August I couldn't figure out why my payment hadn't been taken out on the 16th. So I waited a few days thinking they are just late taking my payment out. So on August 20th, I called to find out why it wasn't taken out yet. The guy says it's against their policy to accept Visa Debit they needed my checking account info. I said that everything was fine, however, I disputed my 50$ NSF fee. Because I had the funds in my account and it was their mistake to not inform me that they don't accept Visa Debit when I started the account. So he said he'd wave the 50$ fee. So in September, I called to give them a change of address and give them my bank info. The agent informed me that my policy would be an extra 500$, which is ridiculous, to begin with, but I agreed. As far as I'm concerned that's a verbal contract. I get my new policy today and it's a 546$ increase. That's an extra 46$ more than I agreed to. Continuing with that 2nd agent, at the end of the call she told me my amount owing for September was 50$ more than usual. Without getting a chance to respond, she hung up. So I called back immediately, realizing the mistake. The first 2 calls I got through to an agent in less than 20 min. I waited an hour before I could speak to the next agent. So, they've obviously flagged my number now. Anyways, I finally talk to an agent and informs me that I still have the NSF fee from August. She tells me they can only way to wave the NSF fee if I show the bank documents. She didn't give me an email address or anything to send the bank documents. Something the first representative should have said to me in August and it would have been dealt with. Being very frustrated now, I asked to speak to a manager to straighten this out. She informs me that she doesn't have a manager available. I said to her I pay good money for your services and it's unprofessional not to have someone to deal with this. She said the only thing she could do is make a note and have her manager call me back. Being a Friday Monday was the soonest I could get a callback. Monday was when my insurance was due. So I ended up paying the 50$ fee. Waited all week for a callback. I had one voicemail that I couldn't understand, which must have been them. So today I got my new policy in the mail with the extra 46$ added to my policy and still having paid the extra 50$ last month. So, I called today to deal with it again. Another one hour wait on hold. As soon as I get an agent, I insisted that I speak to a manager. Apparently, the manager isn't available again. The agent I was speaking to was one of the most condescending people I've ever spoken to. Spoke to him for about 30min. By the end of our conversation, he was literally mocking me. I worked in customer service and sales for a couple of years. I know my rights as a consumer. If it was anyone else besides the insurance company I would be compensated with free services. Which I've done several times in the past! Not to mention I would have been fired on the spot if I talked to anyone like that. If someone knows a good place where I can post this I would really appreciate it. This kind of customers service should not be tolerated.
At Aviva we expect you to be lawyers and read every word of our 30 pages welcome package for you to find all the scams because we jack your rates up by 25% overnight and then screw your over by charging an extra months worth of charges when you terminate your policy after noticing 1 month after you review the policy change. We try our very best to screw over our clients and then 'read from the script' when you call in and complain. You might as well use a computer for all your service agents because they all sound like robots that do nothing for their clients. 'No if, ands or buts, we cannot prove or deny anything and you should have read your contract fully before getting tricked by us". I have been in customer service for 20 years and I know garbage customer service when I see it. Aviva will go under in a few years and all those scripted speaking non-human agents will be looking for new jobs. Enjoy it!
Rear-ended December 2018. Opened claim, car towed from the driveway and provided with rental. Made several attempts to contact the insurer, eight days after opening the claim was told via email the car was a write-off and offered a ridiculously low settlement and that we needed to release the car, collect plates, and return rental within three days. Emailed our adjustor over the next few days, to arrange a phone call. Finally, scheduled time, he failed to call us. Call finally happened, we got nowhere. The adjustor was only interested in selling us insurance for our next car. Refused to budge on the return date for our rental, even after we pleaded, as it was the holidays and we didn't have the cash flow to go out and buy a new car. Cancelled weekend plans and went car shopping. The new car would be ready in five days, rental car was due back in three. We had to extend rental at our own cost. Researched comparable cars for sale, to negotiate a fairer settlement. Immediately found three comparables with higher selling prices, and sent those through. Two of the three were rejected as they were located out of province, we had never been told that would be a qualifying factor. Also, then told we needed to find at least TEN comparables. We found nine more and sent them through, eight of which were rejected due to "special features". We were told that our settlement would remain the same, even though it very well should have gone down. A cheap scare tactic. We took a closer look at the initial valuation report that had been sent through that calculated the initial settlement offer, and we found that many of the so-called comparables that they had used included the very same "special features", with a $25 deduction applied. We sent the same set of cars we'd found back, with the same $25 adjustment, and asked for our settlement to be reconsidered. Discovered snow tires hadn't been included in the valuation. Calculated a depreciated value of $600. We pointed this out to the adjuster, to which he replied that no value would be added. The only way we could get value out of the tires would be if we switched them out ourselves before releasing the car to the insurance company. Contacted the auto body shop that was holding our car. Advised us they did not have the equipment to switch out tires. Suggested we have the car towed to a mechanic, switch the tires then tow the car back to them, at our own cost. This would negate making the switch in the first place. We tried one more time with the adjuster for the value of our snow tires to be reconsidered, along with the ten cars we had sent. Furthermore, we also noticed they had failed to calculate mileage adjustments for their ten cars, so they were comparing our car with below-average mileage to much lower-priced cars with higher mileages. After days of waiting, we finally got an increased offer. It still wasn't enough, but it was an improvement. Based on the comparables we sent through and all the discrepancies we pointed out in their valuation, we got the value of the car increased by about $750, and they also added in $225 for the snow tires "as a goodwill gesture." We calculated the offer and hoped for a little bit more of an increase, but were stonewalled with a dispute letter. We contacted GIO to see if we had a case, but we were pretty much at a dead end. We sent the Proof of Loss form to our adjustor, finalizing our settlement. We didn't hear anything from the adjustor, followed up a few more times. He said we were "welcome" to collect our personal effects and plates whenever we felt like it. A week after we finalized the settlement, we asked our adjustor for an update on the delivery of our cheque, ONLY THEN he told us that we HAD to go and release the car in person before he would release our cheque! Received a letter from RBC Insurance detailing that our policies had been cancelled at our request, but we owed them money. Our policy had always been on a pre-payment plan, so it would only make sense that they would owe us a refund for the unused portion of the month. A "final notice" arrived only TWO days later advising if we didn't pay up, a collection agency would come after us. I paid the $100 balance owing, but only in protest. It then took over a month to get our correct refunds. They owed us around $300 now - even after acknowledgment of our cancellation, RBC continued to deduct our monthly payments. The cheque arrived at the end of January but we were told by our adjustor that we would be liable for a $500 deductible if we could not provide the police report with the other party's insurance details. We protested this sudden deductible appearing out of nowhere, as our paperwork indicated that we had a $0 deductible. The adjustor apologized and claimed he'd been "looking at the wrong file." In mid-February, another cheque arrived for the $500 deductible, which had been factored out of our initial settlement and was owed to us. Also received a $300 cheque from our cancelled policies. Still outstanding at this point is the liability of our case. We emailed the adjustor the week after receiving our settlement outlining what had clearly happened in the collision once again and with the police report attached. Months later, we still haven't received any confirmation on how our case was ruled, but we assume the case is now closed and that we would have heard something by now. It certainly would have been nice for our adjustor to let us know.
Aviva has been changing my insurance for a vehicle which has been a total loss for 2 weeks. When I called and complained they said I had to call a different department to cancel the policy. This is a scam. By the way, she hung up on me.
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.
I have recently stopped using Aviva due to the horrible customer service I have experienced using them; I had been with Aviva for about 5 years since I started driving. I didn't know until recently but they had been charging me Almost $100.00 more each month than any other insurance company I got a quote from.
In the last 2 years they have made numerous errors with my auto policy that resulted in me over paying on multiple occasions.
When I joined my home policy with my auto I was supposed to get a discount and received verbal and written confirmation that it was set up, only to find out that they didn't do it months later.
Although they eventually paid back the difference it took months to wait for them to give it back and I had to call them and leave numerous messages with no answer or reply.
It would appear that none of their brokers are competent in being able to manage their clients information and communicate with their coworkers about updates to their policies. I have had different brokers contact me stating that my information is out of date or incorrect when I had provided it correctly and have records of the conversations via email. This has happened many times. Their organization and care in dealing with clients is a joke from what I have experienced.
When preparing to leave Aviva my broker began to bad talk other insurance providers and warned that they will just rip me off and that their services suck. she essentially was trying to scare me into staying.
Based on my experience with this insurance provider and their team of brokers I highly recommend to NEVER insure anything with AVIVA. It is not worth the frustration, you will overpay for bad service and you will NOT be taken care of by careful and competent professionals.