Home Insurance Reviews
Square One Insurance Home Insurance Reviews
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(102 reviews)
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I've been without any home insurance for 2 years because the prices were too high. Now that I'm renewing my mortgage I need insurance. Square one offered me a competitive quote and allowed me to maximize all deductibles to minimize cost. Living in Vancouver where 90% of my net worth is in the land rather than any structures, it makes sense to minimize coverage and and annual insurance costs.
I have a 2-br rental suite in my home, a week before a new tenant was to move in my basement flooded as the water main broke. There was about 1 foot of water in the whole basement. I called Square One and they immediately sent out belfor a restoration company and a claims manager. They replaced my wood floors, baseboards, walls and carpets. I had purchased rental income coverage and they paid me for the month I lost. Overall, they delivered on the claim and I was extremely happy as it was dealt within a timely manner.
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My tenants experienced water damage from a dishwater leak. The bottom of the kitchen wall needed to be replaced as it was wet despite emergency cleaning. Square One/All Perils Claims told me not to do anything until they decided what was covered. Almost a month later, they denied my claim because of "mould growth" inside the kitchen wall, which somehow they had seen when they visited the suite 4 days after the incident. After 3 weeks had passed, the project escalated as there needed to be mould remediation and the entire wall had to be replaced along with the kitchen cabinets. I also had to prorate rent for my tenants who moved out as the kitchen became unusable during the repairs.
My claim was wrongly denied because Square One/All Perils Claims conducted a flawed and inaccurate assessment. The insurance's contractor did not do any assessment (e.g., no thermal camera to assess water damage, did not open up the walls, did not look behind the kitchen cabinets) but decided somehow there was mould INSIDE the kitchen walls without having seen it. Moreover, the contractor stated that this mould was not from the dishwasher leak but "had been there from other previous leaks." He lied as there was no way to determine this. However, it was not surprising to find mould once the kitchen wall was opened up during the repairs 3 weeks after the incident as these were ideal conditions for mould growth (mould grows after 48 to 72 hours in damp dark spaces). It is my opinion that Square One/All Perils Claims knew the high likelihood of mould growth in this situation and delayed their decision making to make sure that mould would grow in the 3 weeks.
After 4 months of going back and forth, I settled with Square One for half of the project costs. They offered me a settlement "on good faith." My only option was to take them to small claims court, which was not feasible for me as I work full-time on Vancouver Island. I am also so completely worn down by this process, that I needed to settle the matter for my own emotional wellbeing. However, I am greatly dissatisfied with their service, the inefficiencies in handling my claim, and the lack of accurate evidence they provided. I hold Square One and All Perils Claims entirely responsible for the full extent of the damages. My claim was initially denied given a poorly conducted and grossly inaccurate assessment. Insurance must cover all damages, not just part of the damages, especially if damages were aggravated by the length of time taken to deal with the matter. If this had been dealt with in a timely and efficient manner, there would have been no mould growth and my tenants would not have had to move out for an extended period of time. This issue has caused me and my tenants significant stress. I have also spent a considerable amount of my personal time coordinating services to ensure that the repairs were expedited, especially as the 3 weeks following the water damage incident were wasted waiting for their decision.
If you carefully read these reviews, you will see that most of them refer to customers valuing the lower deductibles compared to what is offered by other providers. Reviews also refer to the "great" customer service offered by this company when convincing people to buy their insurance. There are NO reviews of big claims being positively resolved. Although going through insurance providers will likely always be a stressful experience, stay away from this small company who will do whatever it takes not to pay up when it counts.
After an extremely frustrating experience with our previous home insurance provider, I started shopping around and received a quote from Square One. I was very impressed with the quality and efficiency of the service we received from Jas. We were able to get a policy that better met our needs at a very good price.
It's so easy and I could customize my coverage. Took even more coverage from the previous policy and saved $500.00 annually. I realized I was being ripped off by my previous broker. I recommend this hassle free tool to every one. Please note in two occasions my home policy was cancelled due to miscommunications (having no fault of mine). But I was forced to pay extra last two years. With Square One, I really now have a peace of mind. Nevertheless, not sure how would they behave once I need them most. Overall, it looks Square One would be good.
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Now that was a refreshing experience. I completed a few other quotes prior to finding out about Square One and grew a bit frustrated from all the same questions (which you often don't know the answers to) leading to the same expensive premium. Square One got it right sinced they've aligned with modern society - quick, easy and online. :)
I am currently thinking to move away from TD Insurance where I pay over $65 / month for my townhouse insurance policy without sewer backup coverage. So I checked Square One Insurance to see if their price is competitive. The online quoting was simple, easy-to-use though a bit long. It was very helpful that at the end one can go through all additional options such as insuring special home items, earthquake coverage etc. For example I added an extra option to protect my fiancee's ring which might not be covered under my current policy. At the end I landed at $34/month including all extra coverage I wanted. So now I am thinking to switch from TD Insurance but I need to check first if my TD auto insurance rate would go up (I have a bundle of home and auto insurance with them). In any case, the price that I got with Square One Insurance is significantly lower than with my current insurer. It would be interesting to know if anybody had a claim experience with them?
I purchased my online policy in 20 minutes and saved over $140 yearly. I would highly recommend you try out sq1.
I'm a Vancouver renter in the Millennial age bracket with a good job and when I moved in with three roommates to save money, my insurance company of seven years refused to cover me any longer. SquareOne was the only company that would write me a policy! Nicole Neufeld was enormously helpful and the whole process was super-easy.