Wawanesa Home Insurance Reviews

Our town was evacuated in 2017 due to BC wildfires. Off we went, in the stress of worry for our community and some stressful family issues too. We went to friends in Alberta. Our agency called us and offered to have our insurance company contact us. We said yes because I hadn't even been able to take insurance info with me. Within an hour Wawanesa was on my phone asking how I was, and how was my family. They were so kind, acknowledging stress I didn't even know I had - you know how you are in a state where everything you've got is being used to hold it all together, certainly not to worry about how you feel about it. I had no clue about this (or had forgotten) but they told me our policy had mass evacuation coverage so they wanted to get that money to us: $300 per diem for the first week. The guy asked if we had a pet. I said yes. He said You get $25/day for your pet too, for boarding. I said well he isn't boarded, he's with us. You get it anyway, the guy said. They sent a cheque to us via overnight courier. Over the next week+ they called a couple of times to see how we were doing and to tell us if our home wasn't burned we'd still need to toss our fridge and freezer and their contents since the power had been off. Our policy allowed $3,000 for that. If our damage was higher we'd need to make a claim in which case a $500 deductible would apply. And if there was smoke or other damage, just call and they'd get an adjuster out. Several times they assured us that they had our backs. Because our town was evacuated for longer than one week (only by a day or two) we were given the per diem for a second 7-day week. The fridge/freezer cheque came quickly too. This was all coverage we didn't even know we had, and they offered it up. We were eternally grateful our house didn't burn down but this coverage and their reassuring kindness made a huge difference in a traumatic situation. We expected rates to go up because of climate change and they did go up by about 50% over two years. I understand. But this year it has gone up by 65% on top of that same reason, according to the agent. Now I am trying to get it down because I don't want to change companies. I don't mind higher rates for the assurance that claims are handled fairly and kindly. But it's not really affordable now on my fixed income and I may have to go elsewhere. Hence, reading these reviews for Wawanesa and other insurers.