My experience with BCAA
by Previous BCAA customer on Jun 4, 2014
1 out of 5 stars
I have been a BCAA member for about a year and purchased their home insurance on the top of my condo insurance. I was away for about three months and my insurance expired in between. I am a first home buyer and I am new to the whole insurance system. I was not aware that insurance cancelled because of non-payment is a huge deal here in Canada. I simply thought this is something I purchase on a voluntary base and if I do not renew or make payment, it just expired. However, I called BCAA yesterday to buy a new home insurance(3 months after my insurance expired). Firstly, they treat me like some sort of criminal, asking me all kinds of personal questions. Then they just told me that they refuse to provide me insurance in the future (He even said, Permanently..) I was shocked by their attitude and how they made a decision based on a few questions.
During my absence, my house was occupied by a very close friend and my boyfriend only, my deductible limit is very high as well and I do not understand how a company could treat a member like this. I am just gonna cancel my membership and "permanently" I am gonna purchase anything from them anymore. (I am not even allowed to in this case..)
Terrible service for Home Insurance. Moved and phoned to change my address, because there is no option to update a policy online. Was put on hold due to "high call volume" and requested a call-back... twice. Never received one. Also submitted an online request form and was told to call (again) or visit the nearest BCAA office (Cambie). Visited the Cambie location and waited 20 minutes only to find out they require a certificate from the city for my (rental) building regarding electrical or they would not provide coverage. Instead of spending more time trying to track down info and follow up with BCAA representatives, I cancelled my policy... and was charged a $30 cancellation fee. Do not buy home insurance here!
Please don't use BCAA for you insurance needs. You can never quit your policy. It's a nightmare process. They will charge you 10% of your total yearly insurance as a cancellation fee. I never had a claim and was a full paying customer for 7 years! Ouch
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!
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.
Secure and Certified
Your information privacy and security is very important to us. We use the same 256-bit encryption and data security levels as all major banks. Our practices are monitored and verified by VeriSign and Digicert.
Independent
InsurEye is not owned by any bank, insurance company, insurance brokerage or any other financial services institution. We collect, validate, and analyze insurance experiences of real consumers.
Insightful
We aspire to equip you with insights, data and knowledge to help in making informed decisions around personal finance, insurance quotes, and other important matters. We are always open for your comments.
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.