The Personal Insurance Auto Insurance Reviews

Customer service is the worst, seems u have to repeat yourself 20x and they still don’t get the facts, they took money from my account for a second vehicle I no longer had and then tried to charge me $440 a month for one vehicle, when 2 vehicles were $480 a month. Cancelled right away n got insurance with another insurer for the same vehicle and coverage for $175 a month. Had a credit n once I cancelled they managed to find a way to still take money out of my account and it was not a cancellation fee. Getting a lawyer n going after them! Scammers all the way!

1. Applied for home and auto coverage, over the phone. The Agent used my branch's fax number, which he got on his own somewhere - not from me. as my chequing account number: Fail 1.
2. Insurance company agent after my call replaced that with my chequing account number, which I repeated and he recited perfectly: well, he sent in an imperfect number with 7 correct digits and 1 wrong one. Fail 2.
3. I was never consulted so knew none of Fail 2. In Dec., I got 7 letters in 10 days, 6 on 1 day, 4 that day had different pre-authorized payment figures for same policy; and 2 said policies were cancelled, 2 others sent within an hour of the others said cancelling was a mistake and policies were fine. 4 different authorization figures, 2 cancellations. 2 Renewals. 0 explanations. Fails 3 to 10.
4. Before a day had passed since the gaggle of mails. I called and the company said all was fine, numbers were fine, no problem - and, the corker, if more than 1 of the 4 assorted amounts were taken, I could check to see and just call back, and this would be returned at once. I called my bank and they said nothing got paid, the insurer had the wrong "transit" number. Fail 11.
5. 1 Feb., 4 months into the circus, the insurer called to inquire about Fail 11, and after 40 minutes, she tried a 3-way call, insurer, my bank, and me - which my bank says is not allowed with online banking. Now it was my job to check with my bank and then to see whether the insurer had things correct. That ate another hour. Fail 12.
6. Never did they call me back. I was back in the dark about (a) whether the insurer had the right transit and account number for CIBC, and (b) how much and how many payments had been authorized and/or sent. Fail 13.
7. So I surrendered. My bank was told the insurer had finished filing and been paid this same day. Hadn't they called me? Oh. I replied that I'd call the insurer to find out (a) and (b). My bank said that my decision should get me the answers I needed. Fail 14.
8. While on hold for many minutes, I tried to check my chequing account online to find out what of the 4 billings sent on the same day had been taken - but my online bank said they need an 8-digit account #, but my insurer only issued 7 digit account numbers. So I could not find out whether 2XX, 3XX, 19XX, or 21XX had been requested by that insurer - or all 3! - and w/o a personal call to Personal by me, the info apparently would never be known to me online, at least Fail 15.
8. 2.3 hours since my first call today, the insurer said the unaccountably brief digit count didn't count, no matter that my bank said it would not allow online registration for ANY 7 digit account numbers, least of all, I assumed, for an insurer, it had unceremoniously dropped after many buffs supporting it for CIBC customers. Fail 16.

My Resolution: I am moving home and car this month before the next Personal withdrawal date, and blasting CIBC for sending this nincompoopish company's name to me by mail, email, and investment advisor - then dropping it w/o a single word by email, mail, or call. The faulty transit number? I called Toronto and this was fixed by CIBC in, literally, 20 seconds. Getting should have never been a problem for a trained selling agent 11 weeks ago when he used a bank branch's FAX number instead of my chequing account number. 16 Fails, 11 weeks.
I am so out of here, as youngsters say.

We only claimed $385 for an ambulance and then when we are about to transfer to another company we discovered in the claim description that we've claimed $3,001! That's how greedy they are! Then when I spoke to the claim agent, he yelled at me on the telephone, what horrible customer service! You need to stay away from this insurance company at all costs!

Recently, I moved to a different "zone" that was apparently at a higher risk than what they were willing to insure. I figured that was what insurance was for... but I guess not. When I attempted to make the adjustment to update my address I was contacted by a representative who explained this to me. So despite I have been paying their company for 5 years, I was informed they would no longer insure me. I was also informed I had 10 days to get insurance before they would end my coverage. I was able to get coverage through a different agency for a significant amount less than what I had been paying. It has been 2 cycles now where they have billed me despite my coverage having been cancelled... by them. I contacted them the first time to get a letter indicating their mistake in case my bank required it. They sent this to me, which shows their mistake. Now I have to phone back a second time to correct their error, despite all of this being an issue that they created. Additionally, my payments continued to increase over time, despite I haven't been in any accidents. Needless to say, not overly impressed.

We lost three vehicles due to flooding. Two were insured by The Personal, the third by another party. While the initial response was fairly good (as soon as the water dropped a local tow company came to fetch the vehicles), it's been downhill from there. The assessor took a week to see a car that had been *underwater* and decide it was a write-off but didn't assess the car that was parked up right next to it for another week because someone hadn't told him he had to both. We had full, for-new replacement insurance. It took another two weeks to get the settlement figure because they couldn't check a website to get a comparison cost correct. We finally get the settlement figure (which is the exact price on the website), and they forget to send the payment. Twice. They tell us that it's been sent to our bank as a direct deposit and will clear in three days. Only this was a lie and it was never sent to the bank. First we're told both cheques were couriered, then both mailed, then only one couriered - and that it had been signed for at "reception" so why didn't we have it (as though we'd lie about not having a cheque for $30k?) Turned out they had couriered one cheque to the wrong address, so we have to run around town trying to find who had it because they couldn't tell us. There was no "reception", it went to an old address that we had changed with them online, corrected over the phone when it didn't update, and then specified to them on three occasions was the wrong address. Luckily, we know the people who live there, and they were home for us to pick it up. They claim they mailed out the second one via Canada Post on a Sunday, but as of Friday, it's not arrived despite the mail having been delivered. They won't even confirm where they mailed it to, so that's fun. It also wasn't registered or tracked so I can't find out where it is. They lie to you constantly. They say anything to get you off the phone, with no respect to your time or the truth. Good luck if you want to speak to a manager to make a complaint about the constant lying because they will claim it takes 48 hours to reply and then never contact you. I won't shout at the call centre staff as it's really not their fault that their company is incompetent, but I've been lied by so many of them that it's hard to find anything positive to say about the experience. Actually one thing. They have agreed to pay us out, so that's nice. It would have been nicer if we had actually received the money as promised when promised. I'm starting to doubt the second cheque was ever sent in the first place. We are now without vehicles as the rental allowance has run out (technically it ends the moment you agree to accept the settlement figure, so in our case a week ago) NOT when they get around to paying you. So now we're out of pocket on top of everything else. Huh, turns out I don't have anything good to say about them after all. Avoid like the plague - we're recommending to our employers that they no longer work with this company.

Honestly. Just don't do it. The worst experience I've ever had. Sending the claim online is easy, everything else is an uphill battle that will find you hella broke from paying for everything out of pocket while waiting for this company. They ignored all attempts at contact from the auto body shop, myself, and my chiropractor. After almost a month (yes, 3+ weeks) of trying to get a hold of someone (their claim adjusters don't answer your calls and never return messages), I was told that they didn't have a record of my claim (although I received email confirmation that my claim was received and approved). When I asked for the contact information for the manager and director, they got sketchy and did not want to provide that information to me. It took another lifetime for them to send out an adjuster to the body shop and get me a rental car. I'm still waiting for a call back from the claims adjuster and management... Honestly, do NOT get insurance from this company. Just don't do it. This company doesn't even deserve 1 star. If I could give less than 1, I would.

The most horrible experience when I tried to cancel my policy. Highly disappointed. Agents don't know how that cancellation fee is being calculated. Spent 2 hours with 5 different agents and no one had any idea why $120 is being charged. Next day an agent called me and did some math which made absolutely no logic. No respect for the customer, no explanation. I was with this insurance company for 2.5 yrs but this doesn't matter to them at all. Other Insurance company provided a better policy at a much cheaper rate and no charges on cancellation if I stay with them for 1 month. (With Personal I was for 2.5 yrs...)

No first accident forgiveness, very impersonal when dealing with claims. They send a lot of automated and confusing emails. My deductible was $250.00, when I went to pay it, the actual charge was $562.00 and their customer service had no idea why and the customer service couldn't tell me how much my rate would go up by when my renewal came up since I had an accident.

Difficult to deal with
Auto claim from Oct 2017 still not resolved.
I was rear-ended while sitting at a light. Minor damage but they say it is a write-off and want to pay squat. I'm willing to take what they offer and pay the balance to repair it as my vehicle is in A1 shape. No no no, it is a Mexican standoff and now my claims advisor email is no longer valid.
Vehicle sitting not repaired for over 3 months and still paying premiums for nothing.
Cheap rates, just don't ever make a claim

I recently went through a claim experience with The Personal. It was terrible -- frustrating, disappointing, aggravating, time-consuming. None of the claims adjustors could answer my questions, such as who was at fault (I know I wasn't at fault, but TP got it wrong, like everything else they do) and how long I would be covered for a rental car. (I had to get this info from the car rental agency. The Personal only covers $500 for a rental, no matter how long it will take to fix your car, which in my case was a little over a month. TP also doesn't cover collision coverage on a rental car -- the customer has to pay for that.) Not once in four weeks was I able to reach my assigned adjustor by phone -- I kept getting her answering machine. None of my calls were returned. Customer service is non-existent with this company. Even three weeks after the accident (I was hit head-on by a woman who cut a corner) no one at TP had gotten in contact with the other driver's insurance company!

The Personal doesn't let you choose which body shop to use to repair your car. They choose, and they choose the cheapest shop available. (The body shop kept my car outdoors for a month in winter. They didn't even clean off the two feet of snow that collected on it; I had to do that myself.)

I must admit I chose TP auto insurance because it gave me the lowest price quote. Well, this is one of those instances where you get what you pay for. I have since cancelled my policy with them and went with a more reputable company. Any money I did save up front with TP all went out the window as a result of paying for a rental car for three weeks and a large deductible. Judging by the number of negative reviews, atrocious customer service is the norm rather than the exception with this company.