My experience with BCAA
by Previous BCAA customer on Jun 4, 2014
1 out of 5 stars
BCAA was awesome few years ago... when ClaimsPro was not the their 3rd party adjuster company. I don't recall being this frustrated when I had similar claim few years back (flooding that requires laminate flooring to be replaced throughout the house). Their contractor has found our main floor (which is our access to kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom) to be "unsafe" due to accident prone while the main floor and stairs are being replaced but they still find it "liveable". The policy states that they will cover living expense when "unfit for occupancy". Which becomes debatable... after numerous battles with both ClaimsPro and BCAA directly, they concluded that being unsafe is still fit for occupancy. I was advised to use my common sense that if construction site (house) is unsafe, to use my judgement to be cautious... even if I have small kids. They've stated that if I were to fix my damage on my own, I'd be careful not be in any sort of accident. Then I wondered isn't it the reason why we take insurance? So we have a peace of mind in not harming ourselves during claim renovation... hence the clause for 'additional living expense' for when 'unfit for occupancy'? This is really dumb. I'd like to formally complaint to BCAA and BBB for this part of the policy to be clarified. I don't understand the logic.
My wife and I had our apartment damaged by water and were put into a new home for 7 months. Had a 3rd party insurance company (ClaimsPro) involved. BCAA was awful from the very beginning. No one ever contacted us directly, everything went thru ClaimsPro. Took months to get reimbursed. We would have to put down hundreds, even thousands of our own money and wait months to get it back, no matter how often we reached out to them. The customer service was terrible. Deadlines were never met. No matter how many complaints were made with the adjuster or the manager, nothing improved throughout the process. The claim is coming to an end in a couple weeks and I can't be happier to not have to deal with BCAA again.
Being a member of BCAA for many years, you have built trust in their insurance policies. Sure their home insurance premiums were very competitive 3 years ago as I was told by a competitive insurance broker in person. However, every year when I went to the BCAA office for home insurance renewal, the staff would assessed the policy for savings. Not true, the staff always found discrepancies in previous policies and increased the premiums. My last home insurance premium was just increased by $ 200.00. So if you are happy with current premium, renew the policy online and do not go in for an office renewal.
After being a BCAA home insurance customer for nearly 30 years, our home was destroyed in a fire. ( BCAA contracts out it’s adjusting to a 3rd party in our area.). We had full replacement insurance for our contents. Our experience has been poor, especially in the area of getting reimbursed for our contents. Without rhyme or reason, they will pay for some things, and not for others, even if such things are on our schedule. We have submitted detailed purchase details as requested for items (same “like, kind, and quality” as we were instructed), including receipts - only to have many not paid for with no explanation. We often don’t get replies to inquiries for several weeks, and tried contacting the assigned BCAA “examiner” for assistance when we were being stonewalled by the adjuster. No help what so ever. Home restoration - BCAA has not held the restoration company accountable to the timeline they promised (we were given a choice of 3 different restoration companies and told that we had the “choice“ to select one, but that BCAA would only go with the lowest bidder). The restoration company we chose proposed a timeline that would have us back in our house 6 months after the home was destroyed. We weren’t back in for almost 17 months. The insurance company has no problem holding it over your head (as a claimant) that you must keep your purchases to a “reasonable” minimum (we were even coached to look for replacement contents at a garage sale. Yet they are not willing to hold a restoration company accountable to a timeline, even though it is costing the insurer thousands of $$$ in additional living expenses to keep us in rental housing while out of our home. I wish that I had engaged a lawyer from the beginning, but being naive, I thought that BCAA would be truly there to help us and that the adjuster was on our side. In hindsight, I should have engaged a lawyer's assistance immediately. Would not recommend this company at all.
We have experienced the worst customer service from a BCAA representative. Melanie C. was absolutely horrible to deal with while trying to negotiate our home insurance. She was rude, extremely condescending, absolutely lacking in professionalism and decorum. Our story is similar to many; inexcusably let our insurance lapse while away and when it was realized we were told BCAA would no longer be able to carry our insurance. Which is fine, it's their policy to cancel for non payment and really, it's not a big deal, we managed to get insurance immediately for the same cost. However, it was the manner in which it was handled by Ms. C. Being BCAA clients for over 10 years, Ms. C. clearly enjoyed giving the bad news and took the opportunity to belittle us with insults in a condescending tone unnecessary for any situation. I have and will continue to make friends and family aware and suggest they use anyone but BCAA. Sad, as we were so pleased with them and has recommended them over the 10-12 years we were with them. I would suggest this representative either be trained in customer service, take an anger management class or be relieved of her duties.
We have been with BCAA for over 25 years and were shocked at the number of mistakes in our policy declaration when we last renewed. Items that had been removed in previous years mysteriously reappeared (sometimes from 4 years ago) and much of the information was just plain wrong. At one point we thought they were looking at someone else's policy. It was very unsettling when we looked in detail at the info they had for our house. Thankfully we have never had to make a claim. The other troubling thing is the soft credit check that is now mandatory with the excuse that it can save us money. No one has been able to explain to me exactly how that works. I believe they are just selling our data somewhere. They only seem interested in selling you insurance on as many different items as possible. I would never recommend this company to anyone.
Dear potential customer for BCAA. Don't do it!! Do not buy home insurance from these crooks. Our home on the island burned down due to a power failure/surge.
We have complied with all requests for interviews and meetings with adjustors and management and lawyers only to have our claim dismissed with no merit,despite the fact we were insured by BCAA. These people are more than happy to take your money but do not deliver! Steer clear!
I had a sewage backup flood in November - December while away from home for 9 weeks. Christmas weekend December 24 - 25, 2016 I reported the claim. CanStar Restoration arrived and did some damage control but their team missed a significant part of the damage in walls and floors and subfloors. This is being dealt with by BCAA afresh to address the extent of the damage. More on that when I know result but I have spent $1000's to fix the full extent of the damage myself. CLAIMSPRO adjuster Ms A.D. did not give me any information in writing or provide forms, processes, contact information. When I went up the line to her manager, Mr. J.L. I got no help. I was seriously ill so not dealing with the situation effectively. On July 18th, approx., I engaged the assistance of the Vice President of ClaimsPro (found name and number on Google) and by Friday that week, the insurance payout cheque was in my hands. That day I learned via email comment from MS A.D. on July 22, 2017 that there was a BCAA representative assigned to my Claim who would "cut the cheque". Today, July 24, I phoned BCAA for advice on the extensive (missed) damage and was informed that the BCAA rep should have been involved by ClaimsPro, engaging me in the information loop with my (unknown) BCAA claim examiner. Had I known she existed, I'd have met with her and got my questions and concerns dealt with. Instead, several months of serious distress, no communication, nothing in writing, no answers, and serious financial costs associated with waiting several months for a cheque that should have been released in April 2017 latest. With information about what to do about the "missed" sewage damage.
Canadian Veteran permanently disabled with PTSD since 2006, with symptoms that include significant memory and concentration loss. I was late renewing my home insurance in 2010 and again in 2017 which was an oversight due to my medical condition. They sent a registered letter advising me my insurance was cancelled and would not let me make the payment within 30 days of the renewal date to continue with my home insurance plan as it was the second time in 7 years. BCAA is aware of my mental health condition and the reason for missing the renewal date but remained unwilling to let me continue with my insurance coverage or renewal. I did find another company but without the discounts for membership, it is costing me about $300 dollars more a year home insurance.
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I used BCAA home insurance for over 20 years with one claim. The one claim involved faulty toilet tanks that cracked. When this happened BCAAs contractor quickly had this cleaned up and eventually repaired. No complaints there. However my reduced premiums immediately went to full price as I had made a claim despite them being part of a class action suit against the tank manufacturer. I was asked to take time to meet with their law firm and sign papers etc. On the second round of papers signing i asked if my premium payment discounts would be rebated as the company will get funds from this suit as the tank company was taking responsibility for the defect and I was told "No" .
Many years later we purchase rental and rural property which was deemed to high of risk even though we were loyal customers for over 20 yrs. I will never deal with them again. Coast Capitol has been very good and gladly accepted our business.