Cooperators Home Insurance Reviews

I have had insurance with co-operators for 22 years with no claims.
When a tree branch fell onto my garage roof and damaged it, they sent many people to check it out the same day.
After assessing that the repair would cost $2000.00, I only had to to agree to pay a $1000 deductible and agree to a 20% increase to my rates for 5 years, because i am now a bad risk.
Wow- what a good deal--NOT!

As if we haven't been through enough cooperators is putting Fort McMurrians through round two by being unfair to their clients to save money. Yes I know, hose the client and you save money. Thats how insurers do it.

One good thing that has come out of the natural disaster is we get to see what insurance companies shine when it comes to claims. Unfortunately my "premium" home insurance with cooperators doesn't even come close to what other insurers are doing for their clients with basic coverage.

First off, don't call us we'll call you. Terrible service. You can leave voice mail after voice mail and get no response. For 3 weeks. I know their busy but thats not my problem. They make me pay my premiums on time so they should be there for you.

When they did get back to me I was nickle and dimed so bad I feelt used and taken advantage of.

Loss of Use: I did not have $150 a night to front for a hotel so I had milk off of family and sleep on a sofa for 8 weeks. My policy will pay up to $78,000 for loss of use but since I could not afford to pay for the hotel out of my pocket I'm getting reimbursed $7 a night....yes thats right $7 a night since I stayed with family. I cant even buy them dinner as a thankyou
Smoke damage to contents: Upon returning home my house has severe smoke damage. They offered me 3,900% less than TD's standard no negotiating rate. I feel used, abused and taken advantage of.

Long story short, with 50,000 people making a claim at the same time for the same loss people talk and the truth come out about who is the best and who treats their clients like scum comes out.

TD: comes out on top. They have been more than fair with their customers. If you don't want their cleaners they will pay $82.50/hr which is the going rate for a cleaner. They were also pre-paying for hotel rooms for their clients. Emergency evacuation cheques of $3000-6000 depending on family size were handed out ASAP or as direct deposit. Smoke damaged clothing and bedding is paid out at the drycleaners rate of $400 per bag

AMA: middle of the pack. From what I hear their payouts for loss has been a bit of a struggle but if you put up a few stern fights you will get an ok settlement and have to accept some loss to damaged goods. They wont see my business from what I've heard.

Cooperators: After fighting for 5 weeks they are willing to pay you $15/hr to clean your home (I wish I had TD right about now). Emergency Evacuation cheques were $5000 for a family and it took 7 weeks and a lot of phone calls to get us the money. Apparently they dont have the technology to wire you the money like other insurers. Little late now, I could have used a place to sleep and maybe some food... Smoke damaged clothing and plush toys being paid out at $10 a bag to get drycleaned....good luck with that one. (I wish I had TD)

AVIVA: Well...... If I had aviva I would be crying myself to sleep at night. I thought Cooperators was bad....Yikes. The company is telling people to save receipts and they will decide if they will pay. There is no point in paying for insurance if when you go to make a claim the company has no money to pay. Where did their clients yearly premiums go?

A message to cooperators: I have been a client for 40 years. I pay you $8000 a year in premiums. In the 40 years I have never once made a claim. Now when I need you the most after being evacuated for 5 weeks with the clothes on my back, no shoes, no wallet, no ID, no food, $8 dollars in my pocket and this is how you treat me? Thank you..... really... thank you.

I have been with Cooperators for many years, both with contents and strata policies. The level of service I have experience resulting from a burglary last year has left me looking for another insurance company! Not returning calls/emails, insisting I use both policies and pay both deductibles for the burglary, expecting me to live upstairs in my house while they remove my kitchen and replace the damaged floors (from broken glass) and providing NO process I can follow for this claim have left me frustrated and angry. Never mind the fact that the premiums have gone up 60% in the last four years! Really Cooperators, you can do much better than that!

I was away for four months and I had the impression that my home insurance was to be renewed in February, but I was wrong. I got this renewal letter that threatens to contact my bank (where I had my mortgage)!!! WTF????

Anyhow, I went to the Cooperators' new office at Station Square (Burnaby) and this Asian guy couldn't speak English. I was supposed to guess what he was saying! I am Chinese, but I expect the insurance person to be proficient in English, somewhat.

Then the guy said in broken English, asking for my banking info. I refused to give it, as I would use my credit card to pay for the insurance charge. He said he couldn't proceed with the application - I WALKED AWAY.

Well, after I did my errands, I got home and looked around for another insurance company. Square One has a good reputation - in comparison to reviews for RBC, Canadian Direct AND Cooperators.

And the online home insurance application was so much easier!!! It asks for relevant insurance questions and provides me with the various option - for all relevant coverages.

Also, for what I had covered with Cooperators, Square One charges me at least $100 cheaper!

Perhaps I should thank the annoying, rude, slow speaking Asian guy at Cooperators - so I could get on with Square One.

Is there anyone else out there feeling insulted by the so called home inspection requirement every five years of insurance with this provider?
Tas far as I am concerned this is an invasion of privacy. There is no other insurance provider out there that does this. This is BS as far as I am concerned.

Agent from Co operators came to pre inspect my newly purchased house in Trenton, it had been renovated top to bottom, he was amazed at the fact that everything was new and immediately they asked for more
money to up the value, I was from another province and alone, sent the
extra money in and moved in, 2 weeks later had a giant flood, it seems a large hole was patched in the floor when a beam was removed from the renovation and covered with carpet, agent never came until 5 days later and severe damage was done, I was on my own and had to throw 1250 square feet of new carpet out, lost fireplace, shower and all rooms were with water damage, after I nearly had a stroke cleaning up the agent came and said its not covered and left. No warm and fuzzy feelings there! I had to call and have basement redone and then have a new renovation done, am now $40,000 in the hole, do not ever use Co operators in Trenton, Ontario. I was told just after purchase I had flood insurance by them.!

Very bad experience. Been a loyal customer for more than 10 years. Without getting correct information they just increase the rates on assumptions about additional drivers. It always depends whom you reach over the phone, some brokers are extremely good and some nasty and very rude. I cancelled my policy with them and went with a one with better service and understanding. They don't have a system to make complaints.

After being a loyal Co-Operators customer for 29 years with ZERO claims on my automobiles, our home and our cottage, I had the misfortune of some rainwater entering a window and damaging the walls, etc.
When I called to make a claim, I was sent from person to person, with the end person on holidays! It took nearly 4 days to make a claim and then I had to email pictures of the damage. Within 5 minutes I had an email back indicating they were not covering the damage. WOW! I always felt I was covered for everything, at least that is what my agent said....They never came to inspect the home and following nearly $8000 per year in premiums this is the level of service and loyalty I should expect? Be very careful of this company, their commitment to customers is poor and you will be left leaving their office with false hopes and they will stick it to you when you need them.

We had ZERO claims in over 15 years on our home but they kept phoning saying that they were providing a new service of coming in and inspecting our home to see if we were getting the best coverage. We were harassed repeatedly through phone calls and letters in the mail about setting up this new mandatory inspection to the point that we just cancelled our policy. It was just a cash grab to increase our policy. So now rather than squeezing more money out of us, they get none! Now we're with TD insurance and couldn't be happier!