Belairdirect Auto Insurance Reviews

I recently received a quote that I was somewhat pleased with. I called them back within a couple hours about adding my boyfriend on as an occasional driver and they told me that they would have to cancel my insurance as they deemed him an unsafe driver (had 4 speeding tickets in the last 3 years). I carried on and found insurance elsewhere but noticed that they had not put the first double payment deposit back into my account. I called them about this discrepancy and they told me that they actually insured me for the random number of 20 days (WITHOUT EVER TELLING ME BECAUSE I FOUND OTHER INSURANCE ELSEWHERE AND FEW DAYS LATER). Infact, they told me that I should be considered lucky because I could be charged 13% of my quoted total for the year. Having to pay for a service I did not use (and did not even know I had), is wrong on so many levels. I will never insure with this fake scam of a company ever again, even if they offer the lowest rate. I advise YOU to STAY AWAY from belairdirect.

I had been with Greypower for six years and at 2015 renewal time recieved a letter stating my policy was now with Belair Direct. My renewal premium was lower by $300 so I was happy. One month later my daughter kindly bought me a new car. When I contacted Belair to make the change I was treated like a criminal. They wanted another $200 for an accident that was not my fault and happened 9 years ago! . After 2 hrs on the phone, a conference call with my former insurance company for confirmation that the accident was not my fault and fault was not attached to my driving record and checking with BC insurance (the at fault driver's insurance), they finally agreed not to charge me for that accident. We finalized my policy application, which was approved, I paid the full premium by credit card and confirmed that I would receive a letter detailing the credit for the first policy on my old car. I asked him "are we finished now, is everything good?" The reply was yes. The very next day, the same agent called me saying he had forgotten to include the premium for another accident in which I was parked at a gas station putting air in my tires when another driver backed into me. His insurance covered all repairs, but again I was being penalized for something that was not my fault!! For this they want another $63! Unreal!! I too am looking for a new insurance company! No way would I ever recommend Belair Direct!!!

I've been a customer with Belair (home and auto) for more than 20 years. Never had a home claim. But I've had a few claims on the car. In each case, the other party was at-fault. My PAST experiences were all good but ... Recently, a fellow damaged my car in a parking lot. A church parking lot. He confessed at the rectory. The honourable gentleman decided to put it through insurance (he was also with Belair.)
I got a fool for an adjuster and the others I had to deal with were rude and insulting.
Asked by the insurance rep if my car had damage other than from the accident, I said 'no.' Four year old car, 30,000 km, kept in a private garage, my car was spotless. Customer 'service' rep said dismissively 'yeah, everyone says that.' Has she ever seen my car?
Several days into the process, I was asked if I thought the other guy had been injured! Gee, let me check my medical degree! Furthermore, I wasn't there, I was in the church. Furthermore, he's a Belair client, too. Surely they had his contact info already, why ask me?! Utterly irrational.
Nearly a week later, I was told I should go to the Collision Reporting Centre, which flabbergasted the officer on duty. Hearing the details, he said any other insurance company would not have wasted time on such a thing.
A technician at a repair place (insurance company approved) told me they have a lot of trouble taking care of cases for Belair (and Intact - same company) now that they pad their bottom line by hiring cheap, less qualified adjusters. The adjusters do not listen and, apparently, don't think they need to.
Another insurer informed me that Belair had assigned me some blame for this incident even though Belair's MyProfile page indicates otherwise! Sneaky Belair tells ME one thing while committing deceit and attempting to sabotage me so that I wouldn't change insurers or would have to pay much higher rates. Nice duplicity buddy, but my police report says otherwise. And so does my witness, the Reverend.
And so does my new insurer.
Beware reviews from people who are happy with Belair and have never had a claim. Remember why you have insurance? Consider what happened to me with what must be the simplest of cases.
p.s. I don't pay more with my new insurer (despite Belair's conniving and their trying to raise my rates this year, undoubtedly because I dared to complain to them about the way this claim was handled). Also cancellation fees are a pro-rated percentage of your premium. It cost me $35 (6%) to get rid of Belair. A bargain!

When it was Canadian Direct, you received fair discounts for safe driving, no accidents, loyalty, etc. The cost of insurance was much cheaper and better coverage. Since it has changed to Belair, the rates have gone up and the discounts are much less. Even with the "discounts", it is $300 more than the same coverage as another company. The agent told me that I could get up to a 25% discount if I agreed to use their app that monitors my driving. I have to get their app and keep my cell phone on while driving. There is enough intrusion in modern-day life without my activity being monitored through my phone. That was the final straw for me. I have over 40 years of safe driving, if that doesn't qualify for a discount I don't know what would. Ending my contract with Belair.

I joined Belair during 2016 when they had their big “Accident Forgiveness” campaign. Now, four years later, after my first collision, I find out that accident forgiveness was not added to my policy and no one at any point told me it needed to be added. Then the person on the phone said I could add it with my next car, forgetting that I JUST HAD A COLLISION and am no longer eligible. She made sure to highlight they’re the only Canadian Company offering accident forgiveness, but that doesn’t matter if it can’t actually get it. Once they pay me out for my car I am likely never dealing with them again.

I have been driving 30+ years and other than a windshield, I've never made a claim - ever. I have been with Belair for about 3 years. Walking back to my truck after my son's soccer game this week, I noticed someone had taken out my sideview mirror (2017 Toyota Tundra truck). On Monday I called Belair, they gave me a claim number, told me where to take my truck (they would forward my information) and away we go. The total estimate (after part and labour) was $290 and my deductible was $300 so I emailed the rep from Belair to say I would pay for it all myself. (Now it gets weird). 2 days later they phone me and tell me I have to get a claim number from ICBC and send them (Belair) a copy of a police report. They then say since I don't have extended coverage through ICBC the deductible is $750, but they are willing to pay their $300 deductible as part of that, so I would only have to pay $450. I asked the rep why I would go file a police report, get a new claim number from ICBC, scan it all and send it to them, then pay them $450? My quote (for everything) was $290) His answer was that he had begun to work on my file and that "the wheels were in motion" and that I should "follow through until the end." Otherwise, I'm not acting in good faith. What??? Also, I had to go through ICBC because they did not really cover the "hit and run" of a parked car in the traditional way - they work with ICBC. None and I mean none of what they were saying made sense! This was a 30-minute phone call that bordered on harassment! I will tell this story to everyone I know as this goes well beyond the lines of bizarre!

People, please shop for cheaper insurance quotes, Belair's commercials are a joke. I was a client for many years waiting for 2 at-fault accidents to drop off my record. I was so excited to renew my coverage then at renewal time I received a letter from Belair stating: congratulations, your insurance record is finally clear. But instead of lowering my very high $8000/yr coverage ... Belair was "kind" enough to inform me that they won't be raising my rates at this time. It was like a punch in the face. I immediately called to cancel Belair and got insurance quotes up to 60% cheaper from many other companies. Moral of the story...Please shop around and stay away from Belair Insurance.

So I'm going to be frank here, hoping someone would learn from my experience. I signed up after shopping around, and they offered the best price, so I'll give them that, they offered a great deal! Annually I got quoted for 1560, since I paid the entire amount, I actually paid 1540! GREAT! Now here is when the trouble starts. 1) the person who set me up made a mistake, apparently. He included a loyalty discount because I was with my previous company for 3 years. I informed him I was with RBC for 3 years, then moved to TD for the past year - he informed me, "No worries, I'll consider the higher years" - WOW, AWESOME, or so I thought. (April 10) 2) April 13, I get a call with the following: "Oh, so sorry, we can't include the discount since the more recent company is only 1 year" - I argue, well, your agent, he'll consider the 3 years. But meh, 5% increase, 100$, WHATEVER! 3) I get another call, "Oh, we discovered your mom is also a co-owner, we require to show her proof of insurance, and your letter of experience, if you can prove that your mom has her own insurance, it won't impact your rate". FANTASTIC! Both documents provided. 4) On April 17, I receive an email, "We made multiple attempts to contact you, please call Belair", on Apr 17, Belair successfully reached me, and requested a letter of experience to prove that the 2 claims are under my mom and not myself - that was provided. 5) On May 22, I receive a letter, "You owe us 755$ because we backdated your insurance to include your mom since she is a co-owner, and we felt that she is a high risk". I wasn't even aware that my policy was changed or updated. 6) Talked to a supervisor, who ensured that if I get my mom out of my ownership, then it'll be easier to start a new policy with only my name. So on May 27, went to service Ontario, got the ownership updated, had to replace my tires, do safety test, total of 600$ expense to get her out of my ownership. Jun 4 I get a new ownership, provide it to Belair, and started talking about new policy. The new policy was 300$ more expensive than the original policy, because the system generates new numbers and now I don't qualify for even 1 year loyalty, because my previous policy was only for 1 month... I decided to cancel. Only at that point did customer service decide to get everything resolved. I talked to her for good 3 hours, and I got nowhere! So, on April 17, they sent me "We were trying to reach you", and they reached me, but apparently it was a different department who reached me, customer service vs agent, and I was supposed to still call Belairdirect even though they were able to call me and request the letter of experience which was provided. They also sent me an email requesting to be contacted on Apr 17, and I responded to their agent. The agent failed to check and see that they need to inform me about the backdating. So from April 17 - May 22 there was no contact, and I was under the assumption that I'm paying 1540, and not aware they increased my policy because my mom (co-owner) was included in my policy, and they decided to increase the price without communication. Even though multiple agents confirmed "If mom has her own insurance, it will NOT impact yours". So let's do some math: I paid 1540/ 12 months= 128.33$ a month. New rate (wasn't aware of, nor approved, nor agreed too) was set up on April 13, and I communicated with Belair on Apr 17, and they "forgot" to mention the increase because it's a different department (advice: ask if the call comes, if the person is customer service, or agent, and continue calling to ensure that your policy hasn't changed, and they didn't backdate your policy and overwrote what YOU agreed too), back to math: (1540+755)/2 = 190, so when I canceled, they charged me the 190 + 5$ since the month is 31 day and not 30 days. So I paid them extra 70$ because they added 755 without my knowledge. On top of that, I paid 600$ to get mom out of my ownership, and they gave me a higher rate 1 month after. I should have stuck with 1540+755 with mom on policy, would have been cheaper. My experience with customer service was good - the people tried their best to resolve the issue, BUT the underwriting department doesn't know what the heck they are doing, each person makes their own rules, and each person gives you a different answer, you qualify for 5% royalty, no, you don't , your mom won't impact you if she has her own insurance, no, it will increase your rate by 755. We will communicate with you to inform you about any update, oops, the person forgot to mention this detail. Belair department don't communicate with each other, so if someone calls, you should call again and again and again to make sure all the departments are satisfied. Best part was when customer service agent asked me to log in to my customer service profile online, and I was never aware I had a profile to check. From my wonderful experience detailed above, I will NEVER ever recommend this company to my worst enemy, I swear I've had panic attacks just dealing with them, and update all the documentations that they requested.