Be aware of policy review !!
by Unhappy BCAA member on Jul 23, 2015
2 out of 5 stars
I have had BCAA home insurance since 2009.
Perhaps they used the old bait and switch technique getting me in with a low premium and each year increasing the premium for no reason other than them ripping me off.
They are now charging me over 50% more per year than they were in 2009, they have the same old excuses, that I don't believe. I have never had a claim.
My advise to you....stay away from BCAA home insurance, they willl increase your premium each year !!!
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.
I don't normally leave reviews but this company NEEDS to be held accountable for their shady underhanded business. They have ZERO issues being cavalier about your home and your investment and your peace of mind and future. I believe this company is very quickly becoming scam artists. We chose BCAA for our home insurance in 2016. Seemed easy and the price was fair... at first. They kept requesting our signatures on the original paperwork (something we did at least twice) and still claimed they never received, even though we mailed it twice (which is what we were told had to happen as they needed the originals). There was an issue with nonpayment for 1 month, which is fair enough. The only way we were notified was by a registered letter telling us we were going to have our policy cancelled. NO PHONE CALL, NO EMAIL. Fast forward to current date, we phoned to get a copy of our insurance policy and were told there was no policy in place - there were notes on the account but the person who answered the phone did not say anything about it being lapsed, WHICH IT WAS, just wanted to get off the phone ASAP. Phoned back again a week later and got a different person who informed us the policy had lapsed at the beginning of 2018 BECAUSE OF NO SIGNATURES!?!?!?! Again, a supposed registered letter was stated to have been sent. AGAIN, NO PHONE CALL, NO EMAIL followup, just leave you high and dry and do the bare minimum. No home insurance for an entire YEAR due to BCAA. Applied to get reinstated and now we have to jump through hoops. Quoted a yearly price DOUBLE than what we had been paying initially. Told we were declined because according to them it had been cancelled 3 TIMES?!?!?! AT NO POINT WERE WE MADE AWARE OF THIS. Here's the kicker, they only had ONE contact phone number. My partner and I have 2 different phone numbers and they did not even have MY NUMBER ON FILE and I am on the title to the house. I would think this would be baseline information that you NEED in order to provide insurance. This company is not out to provide a service for their customers. They are looking for angles and not taking accountability for the service they need to provide. I hope very soon we demand our government take action on insurance companies like this much like they had to do in Alberta years ago because how we were treated needs to be ILLEGAL.
I had been a customer of BCAA for 25 years. The past 3 years my home insurance has increased immensely. I decided to compare with another company. To my surprise, I could get more coverage for $850.00 less! Wow! Don't let BCAA fool you with their discounts, it's a scam in my eyes. I also received excellent personal service at the new insurance company unlike standing in a line-up feeling like I was just a number. It pays to look at other options!
We have had home insurance with BCAA for 8 years with no claims.
1) They increase premiums so much every year I am now pay almost DOUBLE what our policy started at.
2) I am trying to cancel my insurance with BCAA as we are moving out of province. BCAA is demanding (over the phone) an early cancellation fee and will not send us anything in writing. The rep has only advised us we can pay her over the phone or in person at their office. We have repeatedly asked for something in writing and to speak with a Supervisor and have not received a call.
I will never use BCAA again!
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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.
BCAA has renewed my home insurance without my consent. I told them that I did not consent and I want them to stop. Their answer was "you owe about $40 for the 15 days of coverage". I asked the agent to show me where in the policy gives them authority to renew my insurance without my consent she was unable to give me any explanation or written details. I asked another agent this time they said it is on pg 64. I asked them again to show it to me and they were unable to show any specific paragraph that would give them the right to renew the policy without my consent and that they can force me to pay them. At the end they tried to intimidate me by saying if you pay the $40 they will not put me on the list of cancellation for non payment. I'm going to escalate this issue.
Last year I took out trip interrupt insurance and when I needed to use it, I got no help from BCAA and had to pay out of my pocket. So I now buy my medical and trip insurance elsewhere. You increased my house insurance by $200 and when I checked around, I found you were $200 higher than anyone else. So now I buy my home insurance elsewhere. Seems my membership premium has taken a big jump and I cancelled the RV coverage, but looks like I am still being charged for it. They claim to be a BC company but they have sold out your travel to Priceline, an American company and when I compare against going direct, I find they are the same price or much higher and they still list some items in U.S. Dollars. I bought a new car which has a five (5) year roadside coverage. The list goes on and as I said in the message I never received a reply to, I can’t think of one reason to keep my membership. Someone finally phoned me and the one comment that sticks out is "he wasn't concerned about me renewing my membership"! So after 10 years, I am not renewing.
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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.