Using flood as an excuse
by Martyupnorth on Jul 31, 2014
2 out of 5 stars
We're leaving TD Insurance after 5 years of continual rate increases (no claims) with the rate increasing 86% during that period and coverage decreased. My wife and I are retired, on a fixed income, and keep our home in tip-top condition. When calling to inquire about the increase(s), we receive an unsatisfactory response. We have no confidence in this organization's home insurance.
Wow is all I can say, I have not dealt with such unprofessionalism and total disregard for the customer.As most people have said, it is a company that is constantly raising their fees and reducing coverage.I made a house insurance claim , the fisrt agent I spoke to was empathetic to our situation and she made us feel like our insurance company cared and was on top of things.Once we were handed over to an adjuster things started to become unreal, there was a total lack of information and disregard to our phone calls and enquiries.We were told TD was very busy with claims arising from the freezing winter and were referred to an third party agency named Crawford and Crawford to handle our claim. The third party company was as bad as TD, they ignored our concerns and communication was very very bad, in the end we felt helpless as no one would get back to us and when they did we were left with little or no information.They also gave conflicting information and down right lied at times to suit their needs.A complaint to TD which is who I pay my rates to and not this other company did not do much,we felt abandoned by our Insurer so we moved our other insurance products to another insurance company because we felt the terrible experience was not commensurate with our loyalty to TD for many years, four months on our claim is approved but we are still to get our cheque since this Crawford and Crawford company does not seem to know what they are doing and have no respect for clients. I am glad to say I am in good hands now.
You would be better off if you buried your money in the back yard then giving it to these people all they do is raise the rates and reduce your coverage. If you want to pay for coverage that doesn't cover anything when you have a claim call these guys!!!
Same experience as alot of others who have commented. Rates consistently increasing with coverage being reduced and then watch out when you want to make a claim. Had a water damage claim from a frozen pipe. Was told I would have a decison on coverage within 2 days. I had to call and follow up constantly. They never contacted me directly. Almost 3 months later, after me following up again, I'm told a denial letter has been issued. Thanks for letting me know! The lady on the phone said it's a pretty simple situation to arise at their decision. I'd hate to see how long a hard situation would take. In the meantime I'm on the hook for the first response team who swoop in and make you sign something (don't worry you're covered). I expect I'll get a big inflated bill that I'll have to pay even though most of the work they did I kept being told was 'for the insurance company so they could get an estimate of the loss'. Totally frustrated with the back and forth between TD and the adjuster they outsourced to. Will be looking to change all my policies to another insurer.
The service has always been excellent - as long as I had no home insurance claim.
We had a major roof leak in our home, roof was 12 years old. Adjuster (who would not return my calls and it took me a full week to get her on the phone) told me my claim was denied due to my own negligence. When I asked her how having a 12 year old roof could be considered negligent (!), she asked me when the last time I had been in the attic to check on my roof, said she checks hers monthly. She was rude, insulting and smug and boy did we fight her. Eventually, our claim was accepted but they made it impossible every step of the way.
If you do have a claim, do everything by email so you have a record of what is said or else they play with you like crazy. Once we started communicating by email (and I had made complaints to superiors), things straightened out, although communication remained poor.
Also, they raised my rates by over 50%. I was told this is what they do in certain neighbourhoods, where they have many clients, they don't want too much risk in case of a flood in the neighbourhood, for example. Or they refuse to provide insurance on certain coverages like, sewer backup or roof leaks.
Terrible company. great service when you call for quotes though.
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Upon my renewal of my home insurance I was informed that any and all insurance regarding my roof regardless of claim type has been cancelled. I bought my house 4 years ago and it is 25 years old. In order to get my insurance reinstated I must either A) prove to them that the shingles are less than 7 years old, or B) re-do the roof and get an engineering inspection report citing the following: attic insulation R-rating, if the soffit is properly vented, photos and receipts for the new roof (shingles or steel), name of certified building engineer and that the framing can withstand the areas potential maximum snow load. Yikes! How am I supposed to do that in the middle of January? A little heads-up please! I get the feeling that once a house gets to being 25+ years old it automatically fails unless the policy owner submits proper receipts, photos and engineer reports on a regular basis. This will cost me over $1000 to do it to their satisfaction. I wonder what would happen if I put in a claim. My roof looks fine and should be good for at least 5 more years from what I see. I'm out...
TD Insurance can't do enough for you as long as you don't need them. They keep their costs down by not paying claims and delaying payment as long as possible. They use part time adjusters who (conflict of interest anyone?) are in the business of fixing stuff. That way, their anointed adjuster/contractor already has a $20K down payment which allows them to undercut any reputable contractor for the work. That cuts your claim down because they now have their prepaid, lowball estimate to use against you!
This is probably only an issue for people who appreciate quality since you already paid to have quality work done on your house. TD Insurance considers all "labour" to be the same, so if you had work done by skilled craftsmen forget it. They will not pay for professional work when there is a home handyman or amateur available. Amount of coverage or "Platinum/Diamond/Gold/Premium" coverage doesn't matter. They will just not pay and you have zero say in it. Remember, they have sucked money from you for years and you have two choices when it comes to settling you claim. You can either accept their lowballing or you can get nothing. Those are your choices.
Don't be misled by the fact that their website has a section called "Customer Service" and under that is "Complaint Resolution". Those phones are not answered by people -- just leave a message. You could elevate your issue to the loftily-titled "Ombudsman" -- if he's not on vacation or away. He was on vacation when I called, so good luck getting hold of him, and good luck feeling you are going to get any consideration from someone whose paycheck comes from TD!
At the end of the day we would have been further ahead with some other company or even no insurance at all. The key to remember is that insurance companies are in the business of NOT paying. Any claim they can avoid paying is considered to be a success and is rewarded.
Like banks, insurance companies "want to loan you an umbrella, but want it back if it rains".
I have been an auto and home insurance client with TD Meloche Monnex for over 30 years. However, despite only 2 home claims being submitted, (1992 and 2008), they have increased my home insurance premiums a whopping 105% from 2011 to my 2014 premium of approximately $1,500. The main reasons provided for the increases is the jump in claims for sewer backup water damage attributed to more frequent and severe climatic incidents such as the flooding in the Alberta and GTA regions this past spring. They have also reduced my sewer backup coverage from $50K to $15K and increased my premium by more than $100. I was told I cannot increase my sewer backup coverage unless I install a sewer backup valve. They also refused to provide me with historical data to substantiate why my postal code area reflects the highest risk factor for backup. There have not been any major events in the area for the past few years. I have received multiple quotes at a significantly lesser overall premium, which include sewer backup coverage over $500k. Beware to current clients and consumers considering this company.
I have been with TD for 13 years and have multiple insurance policies. Despite being claim free my home insurance jumped an astronomical 700. All because the company has had huge payouts this past year. What happened to loyalty and claim free rates? I had a quote just today for 900 less. Advice - shop around and maybe they may realize they are loosing great clients.
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I have purchased all my insurance from TD Meloche Monnex since 1994. During that time I have paid $55,762.86 in premiums and have never had a claim. Last year I was shocked when my home insurance premiums went up by 43.8%. I called to complain and was simply told that overall insurance costs were going up because of recent bad weather, notably the flood in Calgary. I didn’t flood, but I understand that insurance is a concept whereby several people pool their resources to spread the risk. I argued at the time that TD Meloche was obviously insuring too many high risk individuals. I naively accepted the increase in premiums.
Now a year has gone by, and I just found out they want to increase my premiums by an additional 24.2%. This is outrageous, especially considering the fact that TD Bank is making over $1 billion/quarter in profits.
I really didn’t feel like they appreciated my business so I decided to shop around. Wow, am I ever glad I did. Everyone I called was cheaper than TD Meloche. I’m sure you’ll argue that I’m getting less coverage. Let me assure you that I spent at least one hour discussing each quote with the prospective insurers, making sure I was getting equivalent coverage.
I decided to give my business to ScotiaLife Financial. My new policy is 41% cheaper than TD Meloche. How is that possible? I can only conclude that TD is trying to take advantage of people by using the flood as an excuse, or they’re simply incompetent and insuring too many high risk clients. Either way I don’t want to do business with them anymore.
TD has managed to totally piss-off a loyal customer of 20 years.