Westland Insurance Auto Insurance Reviews

We were with Westland Insurance for almost two years--home and car insurance, though this review will only touch on the car insurance. During the first year, the service was great. It wasn't the cheapest on the market but communication was always prompt and our rep was friendly, helpful, and communicative. They paired us with Aviva and despite their negative reviews, we never had an issue. Then in February 2018, we were switched to SGI, given a new rep, and the problems just snowballed. They had terminated their relationship with Aviva and moved us to SGI. Fine, at least they let us know. But our rates went up. The new insurance documents were also comparatively opaque and it was really difficult to figure out what we were actually paying for. We also found out (when we tried to renew our registration) that SGI is based in Saskatchewan and that it's ridiculously hard to get any sort of customer service in Alberta (more on that in a moment). They also switched us to 6-month renewal instead of annual... for some reason. It was all a giant a headache, but not a deal breaker. Then in May 2018, my partner and I sold our two vehicles and downsized to one slightly newer vehicle... and that's when we realized how bad communication had gotten. Our main issue was that we'd received a letter from SGI saying that we should expect a refund of approx. $850 for the cancellation of my vehicle policy. So it followed that we would probably be receiving two cheques, one for each vehicle. Instead, we received a single refund cheque for just shy of $800. We thought they'd short-changed us and forgotten to remove one of our vehicles from the policy (which is what the opaque documentation seemed to suggest since only my car seemed to have been removed and the new vehicle was listed as an "additional vehicle"). We emailed our rep asking for clarification and couldn't get a clear answer. We tried phoning SGI and just received a very curt response telling us "we don't deal with that, talk to your broker" before hanging up. The nail in the coffin is that we were still trying to get what should be a really simple answer two months later, in July. Our rep never seemed to have a clear answer for us--and that was when she could be bothered to respond. We went weeks between emails. For example, one of our last communications was our rep telling us "I just wanted you to know that I am not ignoring you; I am working on this and hope to have answers by tommorow (Friday)." That was literally the whole email, and yes, the spelling mistake was in there too. We received that on June 21st and on July 6, the day we finally had had enough and we asked for our policy to be cancelled, we still hadn't heard back from her. To be fair, we did finally receive an answer on July 9th, the day we'd requested our policy be terminated. Our rep sent us the cancellation form and chased it with an email telling us that the cheque was for the refund of our two policies together after the addition of the new vehicle. Fair enough, I guess... though it would have been nice to have clear documentation showing that in the first place and I have no idea why it took two months to get that answer. We still cancelled because of their abysmal communication and because we really didn't feel valued by their business. And, as if to prove our point, on the cancellation form, they got our home address wrong. Then they charged us through the nose for cancelling our policy before it was up despite this very clearly being on them and their communication. If this is the trouble we had simply getting a straight answer about our insurance, I can't even imagine how hard it would be to file a claim through them. Absolutely do not recommend.

I have been coming to this location for the last 2 years to renew my car insurance and had received excellent service. But when I visited them this time, I was put off by the agents' attitude. My insurance was to expire that night and I needed to renew. But my car was in the shop and I was told that it will take a week before this is available. I left my insurance paperwork in the car. Thinking I have been going to this location for the last 2 years, all my info will be in their computer system. When I got there at 8:50 (they close at 9:00) and ask to renew my car insurance, the 2 agents were reluctant to help. First, they insisted on charging me $5 for not having the renewal papers, then one said that he had already turned off his computer. He told me to come back tomorrow even though I told him that my insurance is due to expire tonight. The other agent Wendy still has her computer on but they emphasized that they have to charge $5. $5 is really a nominal amount but the fact that I was treated like a bother to give them business during their business hour really infuriated me. If they want to stop doing business at 8:50, then advertise your business hours as such. It is unfortunate that I had to experience such poor customer service which cast a shadow on other agents who had previously exhibited professionalism when processing my renewals. It only takes one sour experience to spoil all the goodwill that was previously built up. I will be looking for a different broker who actually values my business. I would have given them 1 star but I give 2 stars to factor in the services I received from previous agents.

I sold my vehicle as I was moving out of Canada to Australia. I signed the cancellation policy as instructed and returned. I moved out to Australia and was informed a few weeks later they didn’t receive the cancellation. They continued to take money from my account. I sent off another cancellation which they did receive but still would not cancel my insurance, stating “ they wanted proof I left Canada”. I sent them my flight itinerary... not enough. I sent them moving quotes, not enough. I offered marriage certificates showing I was married here in Australia and proof of address.... not enough. They have told me they now want a bill of sale which I cannot provide as it’s packed away ready to be shipped here which will take another 3 months. They will not refund my money they took from my account each month even though they had the cancellation form signed and backdated. Very disappointed that I could take the insurance out with them without signing any paperwork but find it extremely difficult to cancel. Not happy with Westland at all.

Unfortunately, I had a very bad experience with the very unprofessional brokers that I was dealing with. So I called the office to cancel my auto policy. Due to that my car was written off by the third parties insurance the broker advised me to keep it under the parking policy which I switch a month prior to the conversation while the claim was in the process, so he emailed me back stating if I was to cancel today, I would be returned some money. Then I spoke to him on the phone and accepted to keep the policy and I asked him how much money were they going to withdraw on the next payment. He told me: nothing because you have a credit. That was a lie because they tried to withdraw the premium amount from the last policy. So I called the office to express my issue. The broker I was dealing with was not there, so another broker attended me. I switched my policy to parking, so it was wondering why they tried to withdraw the premium from the old policy. She started accusing me of lying that it does matter if your car has been parked, you still have to pay, so I after I could get her to listen to me, I explained to her that I have switched my policy to parking and that they were still withdrawing the premium rate from the old policy. Told her about the conversation with the other broker and she basically called me a lier that he would have never said that. She never cared about my problem or to resolve it, they only care about the money. Because they did try to withdraw money and I didn't get sufficient funds because I was not expecting the withdraw. I was charged an NSF by the bank. Never will I deal with this company again and I advise everyone else to not.