Car Insurance - Policy Details Changed without highlighting to the customer

KupoHo on 27/08/2015 - 08:43
Last edited 27/08/2015 - 08:44

Hi Guys,

I hope you can help!

My mum's car got broken into yesterday when she went to pick up my son from childcare. They broke the passenger window and took her bag. I rang her insurance company to make a claim and was advised their was a $500 excess. My mum was of the belief she was on the nil excess policy. After speaking to a few agents from their call centre, I was told that last year when her policy renewed, they had changed the excess to $500 as they have scraped the nil excess option a while ago and instead of sending out a letter advising customers the nil excess was no longer an option, they just waited till the annual policy renewal and noted it on there (where the excess portion use to be stated as nil - no specific mention there was a change in her policy). I was just wondering if this is the right process? I work for a utilities company and ANY minor changes are communicated the customer.

I understand it is the policy holder's responsibility to read their renewal policy but if every year that she has renewed it and it is always the same information on that letter, it just seems a bit misleading to just change information on the policy and not highlight it to the customer? COnsidering it is a massive change …as $500 is not a small sum. It is also not what she chose on her policy, so I find it really strange they are taking away what she signed for without telling her explicitly. Not sure what code insurance companies are regulated by?

Also, any suggestion on what phone to replace her stolen one with? It was a Sony Xperia Z1 that she had….she only uses it for calls and taking pix of my son (which are now all lost :(((( )

Thanks in advance guys!

Automotive

Comments

  • nocure on 27/08/2015 - 09:02
    +9

    I understand it is the policy holder's responsibility to read their renewal policy

    You just answered your own question.

  • Cheeper on 27/08/2015 - 09:23

    Just to clarify things… You are saying that on the policy renewal schedule there was NO mention of the change in excess?

    Bad practice to leave handbag on car seat these days anyway… sorry to say.

    Re replacing the phone… Harvey Norman may still have the Vodafone Huawei Y550 for around $90? Best bang for the buck phone out there at the moment. Can unlock through bagman for a couple of $ and will do all Telco bands.

    • KupoHo on 27/08/2015 - 09:45

      Hi xywolap, yes there clearly are things that could have been done differently but too late now….

      Sorry I mean each year she receives that renewal policy it will state what the excess is…and she has had this policy for a while and it has always been "excess nil". Apparently in 2014, they change it to "excess $500" (it is just listed as a line item as per how it is presented every year) but did not note that there was a change to the excess or anything in the policy. I'm just wondering whether that is considered sufficient "notification"?

      I have tried to read their PDS and General Code of Practice and I can't see anything mention specifically whether they need to EXPLICITLY advise you of changes to your policy that the insurance company makes. Was hoping someone might be able to shed some light? >_<

      Thanks for the suggestion of mobile…I'll have a look at the specs….I just need a phone with a good camera for her lol

      • Cheeper on 27/08/2015 - 10:17

        If the policy renewal shows $500 excess then you are stuck with that.
        The renewal shows what you are paying for at the time, no separate advice is needed.
        If there is a change to the conditions during the insured period already paid for then they must advise you before it is implemented.
        Insurance co's do usually advise you of changes to standard policy options on renewal anyway… are you sure there was nothing extra in the paperwork for your renewal?

        The camera in that phone is very good btw.. but like all mobile phone cameras holding it steady is the trick. I don't bother taking a regular camera with me anymore as this one does a fine job imo.

        • KupoHo on 27/08/2015 - 10:48
          +1

          Thanks for the additional info…I just wasn't sure if this is how a change implemented by the insurance company is communicated (as opposed to Utilities) but Spacebace's comment below explains the logic.

          I'm not familiar with the unlocking process but I might go grab her one of those phones today until I sort this out, thank you:)

  • holdenmg on 27/08/2015 - 09:39
    -1

    Hi,
    Try contacting the www.fos.org.au or Phone them on 1300 780 808 for the cost of a local call.
    or [email protected]

    or consider talking with the https://www.accc.gov.au/ about the sufficiency of the notification of the change (to your detriment).

    As far as a new phone goes, look at something that allows a lost or stolen phone to be tracked.
    e.g. http://www.apple.com/au/icloud/find-my-iphone.html?cid=wwa-a…

    • KupoHo on 27/08/2015 - 09:56

      THanks holdenmg. Yeah we should have installed the similar app on her android….

      • Cheeper on 27/08/2015 - 10:20

        Tracking software is available for all mobiles not just $$apple$$ phones.

  • isthisreally_me on 27/08/2015 - 10:06
    +2

    Looks like they did advise you about the change, just not in a manner you would have preferred.
    If the excess was stated on the policy, then you accepted it by paying for the renewal.
    That is why you always read all legal documents.

    • KupoHo on 27/08/2015 - 10:52

      Yeah I know, but my mum does not have the best English and when it always look the same she wouldn't think otherwise lol. Well lesson learned… :(

  • spackbace on 27/08/2015 - 10:18
    +2

    Yeah, it was a new contract she agree'd to, they didn't need to notify of a change as such because there wasn't a change to the original contract. With utilities, it's a permanent contract type of setup, so you need to notify them. The insurance was a 12 month contract, nothing more nothing less.

    • KupoHo on 27/08/2015 - 10:52

      Thanks Spacebace, that makes complete sense…guess we have no argument as such :(

  • Baysew on 27/08/2015 - 10:37

    Sounds like electricity companies. When your contract comes up for renewal they offer you much lower discounts than the original deal. They never highlight the changes, they just make out you are getting a good deal.

    • KupoHo on 27/08/2015 - 10:53

      HAHA! Like most companies really :(

  • spersephone on 27/08/2015 - 16:08

    I had a $400 excess, which was sneakily changed upwards to $600, then $700 without me realising. It was on the second page. I noticed it this year and rang them and demanded it go back to my original agreement. However, their new minimum was $600, which I took begrudgingly and paid the difference in my premium.

  • Peanut money on 27/08/2015 - 22:34

    Hope the premium was reduced from the increase of excess
    Ask as for a once off goodwill gesture as you are a loyal customer if that fails threaten to cancel policy(find cheaper quote) whilst ensuring you speak to customer relations and not to offshore checklist robot impersonators.

    • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 28/08/2015 - 13:00

      Yes I would have thought that if they increased the excess then they should have decreased your premium to suit. That's fair isn't it? I'm no expert but it doesn't seem right that they can change details like this without sending you a letter specifically stating what the changes are.

      • KupoHo on 29/08/2015 - 10:21

        Well I can see it use to be $800 with nil access in 2012 and now it is $900+ with $500 excess…but guessing that goes up also depending on your claims and things?

  • pjcook on 28/08/2015 - 07:41

    Agree bad practice on the Insurance companies behalf….

    If nothing else a good opportunity to shop around for a replacement policy as I can pretty much guarantee a better deal is out there if your Mother has held the current policy for years.'

  • goosegog on 28/08/2015 - 21:07

    I'm no expert here - but it certainly seems like very bad business practice to just change a customers policy without fore warning of what the changes are- especially when it involves such a large change to the original policy. Are you sure there was no prior notification to this renewal? Our insurance company for cars ( Shannons ) ALWAYS notify us for any detail changes to the policies. Also, so do our household insurance policy company, superann. company - in fact ALL companies do. Maybe you should go through any of her unopened post or at least see if you can find the original " offer to renew your insurance " letter - which will have stated the change to the excess terms before she accepted to renew the policy.

    • spersephone on 28/08/2015 - 21:13

      Mine was there, but it was on the next page, and there was nothing highlighted to say "Hey, this is different from previous years".

      • KupoHo on 29/08/2015 - 10:18

        Yeah, i have asked them to send me the renewal letter they sent her….It doesn't specify "this is different from previous years"…
        Similar to spersephone, it was stated on the bottom of the fourth page that "there may be changes to your excess"…must be the same fail company lol

        I've put in the claim for her and was just going to pay the excess….do insurance companies waiver the excess of $500 as a gesture of goodwill? I thought it might be futile doing that…but might give it a go if other ppl have successfully done it..

        • spersephone on 29/08/2015 - 12:59
          +1

          No, they don't waive the excess except where it doesn't apply.

        • goosegog on 30/08/2015 - 17:22

          Lesson to be learnt here. Read the front page where it gives you all the gumph for your new policy - THAT IS WHERE YOU WOULD FIND THE ANOMALIES. The changes will be there - prior to the total they will be charging you for the next year. Unfortunately as your Mum has overlooked this & accepted the new policy, can't see that you can gain anything back.

        • spersephone on 30/08/2015 - 18:40

          @goosegog:
          No, it was definitely not on the front page that this was mentioned for me.

        • goosegog on 01/09/2015 - 18:17

          @spersephone:

          Somewhere in all that paperwork your Mum received, will be a breakdown of the following years costs, along with any changes to the policy. COMPANIES DO TELL YOU - it's illegal not to !! O.K. IT might not have been on the front page , but try going back through ALL the gumph they've sent you, both front & back pages - it will be there ! - just overlooked by your Mum, at the time.
          My only suggestion would be for you to contact the company, stating that your Mum did not understand the new policy, as it was not laid out in easy format for older people to understand ( Play on the age part, Mum might not like it , but it can help )
          Good Luck & let us all know the outcome.

        • spersephone on 01/09/2015 - 18:40

          @goosegog:
          My experience was my own, not my mother's. What I'm saying is that it wasn't on PAGE 1 of the policy. It was actually buried on page 3. It said nothing of it being a change in my policy, it was just a different amount than that I had originally agreed to.

          I'm not the OP, I'm just supporting their statement that it wasn't obvious that it had occurred - and it was done without notice. I don't consider that this was appropriate notice. I do think it would have been better for a covering letter to state that the excess had changed automatically. Alternatively, on the FRONT page it should have made this statement.

        • KupoHo on 05/09/2015 - 22:20

          @spersephone:

          Just wanted to give you guys an update that I rang the insurance company back and spoke to them abt the situation again. I spoke to a really empathetic agent who spoke to his manager and waived the excess for the claim. I'm not sure if it was just cos I had a really nice agent or that have on their notes that I had rang so many times in the span of a week so I was likely going to go to the ombudsman (which would cost them more) but I guess if you feel you have a valid case, you should persist and it might get somewhere :)

        • spersephone on 05/09/2015 - 22:41

          @KupoHo:

          Great news. As a gesture of goodwill, considering they sneakily changed the terms, I think that's a great outcome, but you'll have to be vigilant from now on, and check paperwork each year (as will I)!

  • goosegog on 08/09/2015 - 19:25

    Well done - so pleased it worked out well @ the end of the day. Certainly a lesson to be learned here for all of us.

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