The Personal Insurance Auto Insurance Reviews

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.

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.

I had 3 vehicles insured with these bandits. First tip as to what they were like was when I called them, they seemed to have only voice-contact back office in India - would never confirm info by email. Second was when the company behind this brand, Desjardins, started pushing the 'get a 25% discount if we put a tracker into your car so we can spy on your ads. Turns out they just want to spy on their insureds so they will have reasons to increase premiums or deny coverage. I didn't fall for it. Next, when somebody rear-ended me, they had my bumper fixed but required me to drop off the rental car 50 miles from where the car repair facility was. Turns out I could have dropped it off at the repair facility - but they didn't tell me, so it necessitated huge inconvenience. When I picked the car up, it wasn't right but as it was 10 pm and in a scuzzy part of town, I didn't want to leave it. Not everything was fixed, and something that had been repaired by a garage just prior to dropping it off at the repair facility was broken. And a part that had been damaged in the accident had not been repaired. I telephoned the claims person and left word but they never called me back. EVER... OH YEAH, in the daylight I noticed that my car was covered in yellow crayon marks that the body shop ( one 'authorized' by Desjardins) had put on all the little paint defects, scratches, etc and marked them up - presumably photographing them for Desjardins so that if any of those parts of the car ever were involved in an accident, then Desjardins would be able to escape paying to fix these 'pre-existing' dings. SHEEESH!!! I have never dealt with any company that was so sleazy, underhanded, untrustworthy, and suspicious. When I reported the accident, they tried to get me into one of their doctors - no doubt so their paid lap dog could declare I didn't have any injuries - and really pressured me. They also did not advise me of my rights to have them pay for physio, etc. They are, in my experience, con artists who make sure they always take advantage of the un-advised and un-aware. Later they sent a letter saying they had advised me of those rights - an outright lie...BEWARE!!! WHEN you call their line, listen to their recorded message - it basically says if you stay on the call you give them permission to spy on you and post what they find on sites that other insurers can access. I find them absolutely awful, and the worst company I have ever dealt with.

Not worth it to go through to this company even cheap payment but no peace of mind if you have claims,

I got involve in an accident, it's not our fault on the first hand, but the adjuster never to be on our side, being rude, impolite, and aggressive. Everytime i talked to him feels like he's on rush to end the conversation.Matthew S. if this is your adjuster heads up
They never call you for update, I was left hanging figuring out what is happening, I am the one who always contact for follow up

Even in car rental they will not pay they will tell the rental comp. that they will give the final date, even my car is not fix. Ending up I am gonna be charge by my own pocket!!

So sad, worst ever, I will change insurance after I get my car

had an acccident which involved getting a rent from a rental(covered by policy) company they work with (Discount) 4 days before i was supposed to get my car back i got a call from rental company, they told me that insurance had stopped their payments, so i got charged just over $500 for extra couple of days. it was discovered later that The Personal's claim advisor miscalculated the dates so i ended up getting charged, now they refuse to reimburse me because they think the invoice that i got from rental company is too high, they have their own rates apparently.and now its almost been 4 months since they attempted to contact Discount rental, nobody has replied yet and im still fighting them, worst experience i've ever had.if you ever happen to have any sort of accident that needs to be reported to them you better make sure they do everything right since they're clearly not competent enough to do a bear minimum at least.

Our car was hit in our condo parking lot while it was parked. The offenders had personal. Their inability to return phone calls and relay information back to the victims caused massive delays in repairs, and we wound up getting charged insurance for the rental vehicle while ours was being repaired. Now in the process of disputing that charge, but not holding out much hope. Avoid at all costs!