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The Personal Insurance Auto Insurance Reviews

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(197 reviews)
The Personal Insurance
1.6 out of 5 stars:
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The WORST

by Robin on Aug 20, 2015
1 out of 5 stars

I recently switched to The Personal for my auto insurance. I unfortunately had my first claim and the experience I had with the insurance company was worse than the actual car accident. My adjustor NEVER called me back, despite numerous calls and voicemails. I would actually leave voicemails BEGGING him just to call me back. Finally, I called and asked for a different adjustor and they pretty much told me no. The person I was speaking to told me that as far as she can tell, my adjustor is doing what he's supposed to be doing because he had written some notes on my file. How am I supposed to know he's doing what he's supposed to when he NEVER calls me back. After making this complaint he still refused to call me back. It took him 4 weeks to tell me my car was a total loss even though he had advised me two days after my accident that I should remove my belongings from the car. It took 5 weeks to receive my cheque. They covered me for a rental for 2 of the 5 weeks in which I didn't have a car. DO NOT go with The Personal. Worst experience ever and I would hate for someone else to go through something like this.

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Worst Insurance company period

by Ron Veteran on Feb 2, 2017
1 out of 5 stars

I wish I could give less than no stars for this company. I will share my experience with them over the past number of years. If you don't already know and they do not tell you. They treat their insurance like a cell phone contract. If you wish to cancel the policy you will pay a penalty to have no insurance with them. These penalties will add up. When you talk to them do not let them get away with saying one fourteen. Make sure you get them to say the correct dollar value which means one fourteen is acually not $1.14 but $114.00. They call themselves a national insurance company but base their payouts on Ontario prices. So if you have to hire someone to cut up a fallen tree in your yard get them to give you a breakdown of cost they will cover. Here in Alberta they were only going to pay 15 dollars a hour to do this labour. Tim Hortons was paying 20 per hour to serve coffee. So get this clear before you do anything. I eventually decided to pay out of pocket. Which goes against the reasoning for having insurance. In conclusion the best thing I ever did was getting out of this company and staying out. Be aware that there is no peace of mind with the personal only ways to get more money out of you. Honestly going to a insurance broker was the best thing I ever did. I was paying 573 monthly to the personal and went to a broker and got a better rate at 318 per month and better coverage and better discounts on everything I own. Ps the personal will only cover 10k for flood damage due to backed up sewer. The company to clean up your basement charges 23k for this service so once again based upon prices that are not necessarily in your region of the country. In all honesty if I can say two words NEVER AGAIN.

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Negligence and inaccurate info

by catherine15 on Jan 18, 2017
1.5 out of 5 stars

I was in a not at fault auto accident. Over a two month period my adjustor only called me twice, once speaking to me and once leaving a voicemail. All of my other interactions were with various agents and finally my adjustors supervisor. She told me my car was being repaired, when the shop hadn't even ordered parts. Once the deadline of repair quoted passed I called the shop myself and they told me they had not begun nor heard from my adjustor. I then had to arrange for the repairs myself.

It took almost two months for the at fault party to be declared at fault despite them being charged by the officer on scene for proceeding unsafely. They only declared them at fault after I threatened legal action. It's been 2 months and I still do not have my car back. I have spoken to "managers" and been "escalated" several times only to be told on calling back that these were not managers nor had my case been escalated.

The company told me that I can not cancel my coverage until I have my car back, despite this being after my renewal date for another year comes up. They told me if I cancel that my repairs won't be covered and my physio/health coverage will end. It turns out both of the facts are false.

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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.

Good till you make a claim

by Chrisz on Jan 14, 2017
2 out of 5 stars

The Personal insurance seemed like a fairly priced insurance company. The over the phone experience was pleasant when I bought my policy.

When I signed up the representative offered me the depreciated value insurance and wasnt too expensive and so I opted in. When I made a claim the rep was very reassuring since I was pretty shocked over the experience.

When I needed to replace the whole vehicle the company said that I was never eligible for my Depreciated Value Insurance because my vehicle was purchased as a used vehicle that had only 13000 km on it. To qualify it needs to be a brand new vehicle or it needs 12000 km on it. For the difference of 1000 km they were going to disqualify my benefit.

They offered me 16000 for the vehicle when the vehicle had 19500 left to pay for the vehicle. I had to fight not only for the money but also we had the constant fight to get ahold of eachother. After winning my arguement they honoured the Depreciated Value Insurance I purchased and gave me 19000 after deductible of 500 was paid. Which I took before they changed their minds.

After this claim I cancelled the policy but that didnt stop them for starting a new policy without my permission and charging me 400 some a month straight out of my account. I got my money back but seriously after this experience the headaches arent worth it. Im with Belair Direct and have no issues. Save yourself the trouble and pass by this insurance company.

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3 weeks to get my car back

by Disappointed on Dec 20, 2016
1 out of 5 stars

Car was taken to their recommendation shop was in for 3 weeks
Now got a bill for rental $500. My limit was 1500$ they only paid 5 day rental, enterprise sent me bill for the rest . Have tried contacting adjuster at personal insurance Paul K. 4 times , 2 emails ... 3 weeks later no reply avoid personal insurance company .; no regard to customer after claim ...

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Auto claim nightmare fraud

by AlyssaDawn on Dec 18, 2016
2 out of 5 stars

Please do not get insured with this company. They have horrible customer service. They say they will call you back in 20 mins it's been a week. I called back and they said again I'll call you back in 15 minutes. Well I again waited 1 week called back again and was hung up on. Then they sent me to a insurance adjuster the office was full of children's bikes and junk. I have photos. They are rude and do not stand by their word.

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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.

No response to any of my calls

by PHARMAMAN on Nov 22, 2016
1 out of 5 stars

I was involved in an accident, immediately informed the Insurance company, spent 45 minutes to fill out all the questions. The Customer service representative was very nice, after that its almost 3 weeks of my accident and I left 3 or 5 messages every day to my adjuster but she never replied me. I talked to other representatives and they told me that they are unable to discuss my policy because this case is handled by another adjuster.
My advise is not to go with this insurance - its representatives are irresponsible. Please, don't make business with The Personal Insurance.

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The WORST

by Annoyed customer on Oct 1, 2016
1 out of 5 stars

I was in an accident on September 8th, t-boned by another car that was accelerating through an intersection. This was my first major accident (obviously not at fault), so I was freaked out and had no idea what I was to do in this situation. The other driver was almost a century old, and was no help at all.

I had a relative call the start the claim for me, because I was taken to the hospital for routine checks. Luckily I had no injuries aside from minor seatbelt injuries. My relative was able to get me a car rental, as my car was considered unsafe to drive. Probably the only really good thing about this ongoing experience.

The first time I had spoken with the company was with an agent the evening of this accident who just needed a statement from me, so I gave the statement and was told I would be contacted within the next 24 hours from an adjuster. The adjuster didn't call for nearly three days. And this is just the beginning. This company is awful to try and get a hold of, no one here seems to understand the concept of time and is incredibly rude and inconsiderate to the people who are technically paying their bills.

Every single time I spoke with my adjuster on the phone, she used a condescending tone, implying that I was too young to handle something like this. She told me that she needed a police report to understand who was at fault, despite the fact that it is clear that it was not my fault. She told me that it would take her weeks to get a police report if she requested it, and sometimes could cost the company a lot of money. So she asked me if I could get the report, however told me that some districts in Ontario charge over $500 for a police report. As she put me on hold to "confirm" that Durham Region was one of these districts that charged this outrageous amount for a police report, I googled it. What came up? Nothing shy of $65 for a full police report, $35 for a shortened and free for the drivers of an accident. When she came back on the phone, she said that she confirmed it was $500 for Durham Region. I just scoffed, and told her no, I can get it for free but I have a very busy schedule and it would need to wait. She was over-enthusiastic about it, so much to the point that it felt ingenuine for me to do this favour for her.

About a week later, I received a call from the collision centre/auto body shop that had my car telling me that the car was a total write off. It was fixable, however it would cost nearly $8,500. The internal computer of the car was damaged and would need to be replaced. He also told me that it was odd that the airbags didn't go off and it was quite obvious that the car had some issues. He advised me to not take anything less than $9000 (high mileage on the car) for a settlement. So, I patiently waited.. and waited.. and waited.. A week later, my adjuster called me back to tell me exactly what the shop had told me on the phone, and offered a settlement which was above what he suggested so together, with the other owner of the car, we took it.

The adjuster told us that we needed to return the rental car by September 27 and take everything out of our old car so that it could be moved. Now, I commute to Toronto from Oshawa, and it's not easy to get there without a car. The other owner of the car went on vacation, and can't have the settlement released until she comes back because the decision to buy a new car is going to be a joint effort. In addition to this, for me to go down to the body shop which already had limited hours was really unrealistic. The adjuster's fake sympathy came back, explaining that she would try to extend the rental, but of course had to remind me that I've had the car since the 8th. My only reply was that it took her so long to get back to me, and that we could have sorted this all out a lot sooner. She didn't tell me that she couldn't extend the rental until the day before it was due back (a week after the call I made asking for an extension). I asked a relative to empty the car for me, as one of the owners was on vacation and I was in between work and school in Toronto everyday. I found out that the car was not emptied as per my request, and received a very angry voicemail from my adjuster who just kept telling me that it should have been done. The call was borderline unprofessional, as I could sense every single urge of the adjuster's discontent with me.

As all of this is going on, I developed whiplash - as it is normal in the circumstance of the accident. My doctor recommended physio, so I booked an appointment and told my adjuster (who again, took a week to get back to me about it). She told me she opened a claim (On September 20th), and said another adjuster from a different department would be in contact with me. She said she couldn't offer me any details, but that this adjuster would be in contact with me soon. It is now September 30th and I have yet to hear back from the adjuster. It's been nearly a month since the accident, and the fact that I can't even get simple coverage for a follow up appointment is outrageous.

The other issue I have - aside from the already terrible communication - is the type of communication. This company seems to love phone calls (perhaps less to trace? I don't know, but it's definitely weird). I have told my adjuster numerous times that I can only be reached by email, yet she still calls and leaves voicemails and then ignores my emails.

Obviously this is still an ongoing dispute, however my advice to anyone that is considering choosing this company don't waste your time. If this accident was any worse, I don't know what I would have done. You never know what's going to happen in an accident, and you're better off with a company that you can trust to do their due diligence.

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Hopeless Insurer

by alanm on Aug 28, 2016
1 out of 5 stars

I was returning a leased car after 3 years on July 25th 2016. On July 10th I emailed The Personal to let them know. They replied telling me I had to phone them with this information!!! I phoned them and was asked what I would be replacing the vehicle with. I said I didn't know yet. That was an issue. The girl told me that once they cancelled the policy all of my good driving record would be eliminated and when I wanted a policy again (even in a week or two) I would have to be insured as a new driver, losing my excellent driving record of no accidents and no tickets in over a million km. I suggested therefore they could stick there Insurance company where the sun doesn't shine. A week later I received a call from the same agent who told me they had reviewed my policy and would like to offer insurance on my replacement vehicle after all, with my good driving benefits in place. I told her I had looked at a vehicle and would advise in a week or so when I had decided to purchase. On July 19 I purchased a minivan in London and arranged to have it certified etc. and pick it up in London when I returned my Smart Car and on the 20th I called The Personal and let them have some details of my change. On the 25th after dropping off the Smart Car I picked up the minivan and called the agent with the specifics. By email I received confirmation of insurance and subsequently a policy in the mail. A month later I received another policy from The Personal for the Smart Car which I no longer had, together with a list of the payments they planned to charge my bank for this policy.
By the way, don't waste your time putting one of those Ajusto devices in your car to save on insurance. They don't work. My Smart car was garaged each winter and when I checked on line it was driving erratically all over Ontario, then when I was advised I had saved 15 or 20% for my safe driving, there were zero savings. When I asked where the savings were I was told they were absorbed into the total price and in fact every year with these 15 or 20% savings my insurance went up by 15 or 20%. Just a bunch of swindlers encouraged by our Ontario Government to cheat the taxpayers. Sadly I have absolutely nothing to say "good" about The Personal.

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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.

Don't file a claim

by Kgroz on Aug 11, 2016
1 out of 5 stars

Don't file a claim with them. They are good taking your money but, good luck when you have a claim.
Suresh M.... thanks for not fixing my car and giving me and my family nothing but a headache. Still stuck with a car that smells like burnt metal and plastic.
Can't wait to switch insurance company when my term expires.

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