Was shopping for h&c insurance and came across this promotion Aami is running at the moment. Just in case some one is interested. AAMI doesn't have the best rapt post royal commission, but for me, the risk level is acceptable.
The expiry date is for h&c. For cars, the expiry is June 2019, or when they decided to pull it.
It says this promotion is only for existing customer, but I think that can be worked around.
Please see website for existing-new policy pairs that eligible for this promo.
…unlucky you're with AAMI
I'm with them and have made two claims this year - one for car and one for home and never had a single problem? What are the nightmare stories?
From what I hear (comprehensive car insurance):
Poor quality work
Delays in getting estimates approved
No choice of repairer
Impossible to get excess back when found to be not at fault
Claims being rejected despite being clear cut
I cannot vouch for them myself as I have not used AAMI before, but from what I hear, it isn't worth the risk.
I had my windscreen claimed twice without excess no issues.
Last year, car was written off…paid out fully after driving a loan car for 2 weeks….no issues too.
My car was stolen a couple of years ago and they paid out quickly after the 2 week period to see if it showed up. It took ages to get my excess back after the thieves were caught though. They sent the enquiry to Police in the wrong state.
Been with AAMI over 20 years, made 5-6 claims and never an issue. Speedy and efficient.
Had to do a claim through NRMA early this year as at fault driver was with them and OMG never ever dealing with NRMA again.
So many issues with NRMA from quality of work to having to go without car for 2 separate days for quoting and no offer for rental.
Ha dto take my car back as was missing "bits" and panels werent straight
They also took 5 months to refund my hire car expense.
Copy from their email
"This email is in relation to your email dated 1 June 2018 requesting reimbursement of your hire car excess reduction expenses. Firstly, we would like to apologise for the delay in responding to you and we appreciate your patience on this matter.
We can reimburse you for the amount of $222.97. Please provide the following information"
Then took 3 more weeks to hit my account
If you were with AAMI, shouldn't they have done all the running around for you and work would have been done through their repairers since that's who you are with?
At least that's how it worked when I had to make a claim through them about 7 years ago.
If you're having to do all the running around then your insurance company is not doing it's job.
Claimed twice myself with comprehensive car insurance over the years and its been absolutely painless the entire process.
Didn't have an issue with them recently. Assessed and paid out in 10 days at most. (Car Insurance)
Same nightmare stories get told about every insurance company, because whenever a claim is refused the claimant whines to high heaven. Such anecdotal examples are really meaningless, unless accompanied by facts.
Yeah, definitely not worth the risk. They are the worst insurance I have come across when it comes to paying out.
I would avoid at all costs, unless you never intend to make a claim.
what happen?
Had landlord insurance with them. When it came time to paying out they only payed half. I also had to obtain quotes myself and had to pay the repairer myself.
The whole point of having landlord insurance is so that you don't have to do any of this chasing around time wasting crap.
Made a formal complaint but it went nowhere. Every person I've related my negative experience to about AAMI has reciprocated with a similar negative experience.
Landlord insurance is highosoecialised. Best to go with Terri Sheer or EBM based on my real estate experience
Agreed the worse insurance to go for. They go lower on price than RACV and Allianz but not worth the hassle. Same with GIO, Bingle, all under the same umbrella.
So which company would you recommend that is REALLY GOOD?
Sorry, I don't think there are any 'really good' insurance companies - remember they are in the business of making $$$. I have been with RACV and I've had no problems with claims (I actually used to be with RACV before AAMI, but only changed because AAMI were cheaper).
My personal advice is to stay away from anything under the 'suncorp' brand. Having said that there a clearly many individuals here that have had positive experiences with AAMI, so ultimately the decision is yours.
damn…i am with AAMI, any better insurance company you guys can recommend?
Never had an issue with my vehicle insurance with them. Had 2 written off with them. One accident and one hail.
NRMA. Cost slightly more in most cases, but easy to deal with when a claim is needed. Their coverage is generally more comprehensive. Such as vehicle, building and HnC.
Not true. AAMI is slightly better at paying claims than NRMA. Coveragewise, about on par.
@imurgod: I'll add that NRMA in particular pay under market value for cars rather than use industry standard pricing. Since they listed, they're one of the worst claims payers.
Ditto but slightly reversed. Was with AAMI but their premium going higher year after year, so switched to NRMA & they are slightly cheaper and a lot more better service.
Had a claim for a tree that fell on my car thru AAMI, they aren't really helpful. So I had to go to council myself to claim for damages but was denied. Full comprehensive, full of pain with AAMI.
Never had an issue with them getting paid for the claims.
Just my 2c.
Cheers
Yeah I've made several claims over the years and have had zero issues
2 claims over past 5 yrs and no issues
I have had issues for major house repairs (water damage).
- 2 dodgey repair jobs (including trying to make us pay for extras - they broke our toilet removing ti & tried to get us to pay for it, claimed there were leaks in a sliding door before the new floor has puddles & sent photos and they'd need repairing for only "$700 because we've got the bloke here already" - neighbour had taken photos that they'd left the door open, and many more
- 2.5 yrs, inc 9mth with their apparent mates at the Financial Ombudsman.
- kept trying to offer a "settlement" which was les the 1/4 off the final price.
- kept delaying (a mate who worked for one of their competitors said their motto is "delay, delay and hope they go away")
- Kept refusing to put correspondence via email (they'd say one thing on the phone, then deny they'd said it - my missus is a copious note taker, when we'd take them to tak over it & ask for a copy of the recording, then claimed they don't have a copy of the recording).
etc, etc
Several claims for my dad and always a great experience.
Reading other comments, it seems Car Insurance is OK yet Home & Contents seems to be the problematic one.
It's a few years back now but someone smashed into my car. I didn't have comprehensive only third party but since it wasn't my fault AAMI chased them up for the money. Saved me a heap of time and pain getting quotes to repair etc.
Had a claim a couple years ago on a total loss, was insured at agreed value and they paid the claim out no dramas. They did refuse to insure my next car though…
20%
What did AAMI get pinged for in RC?
AAMI are owned by the SUNCORP.
"The royal commission heard on Thursday that AAMI also sent renewal forms and charged insurance premiums to customers whose homes were destroyed and had already experienced lengthy delays in having their homes repaired."
text copied from here https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/not-so-l…
https://www.afr.com/brand/chanticleer/banking-royal-commissi…
Some guy did $7000 damage to my car in an accident and he had AAMI 3rd party insurance, it was fixed in 2 weeks, no questions asked.
3rd party is a very different system to comprehensive and is subject to more direct government involvement.
3rd party property and CTP are quite different too
What? No it isn't. Where did you hear that? I think you're thinking of ctp.
For those Victorians reading at home, Victorians don't need to get CTP, Victorians 'CTP' is the TAC charge on rego.
Third party on the other hand is completely irrelevant to CTP.
I am with AAMI for a long time and never had any issues with them.
I just wanted to add another car insurance with them but their online system is not giving me an option to choose this promotion and it's not applying this discount automatically.
Any clues where to go on their website?
I logged into my online account which shows my other Aami policy. Had the promo displayed just underneath the existing policy.
In my account, this is discount is specific to Content insurance only and I can't see anyways to apply this discount for my car.
true, you might not qualify as per the table shown in the t&c page.
Im not too tech savy . So wondering how this works? Do you enter a code when the renewal third party car insurance letter comes?
Thanks
it's an online thing and supposed to automatically apply to a quote when you fill in your details and tick "have any existing policy". Though check the table in the t&c page as there are only certain existing-new policy pair that eligible for the promo.
How do you actually get this? I did quotes before and after 15 Oct, prices were always the same.
When I did sign up, I had no 20% off applied… Well within my cooling off period, so I wonder if I can get this fixed.
pretty sure if you call them up, they should be able to fix it. just to clarify 20% off applies to a new 2nd active policy.
Just to confirm Tio. In order to get this, I require two different policies with Aami and therefore the second policy will be 20%?
I..e I have comprehensive car insurance, so if I got Home Insurance it would not be 20% off.
if you have comprehensive car, you will get 20% off new home policy.
just give them a call?
or request they call you.
My advice- Had AAMI for 5 years for full comprehensive insurance.
You get the 'loyalty reward' system, where the longer you are with them the 'bigger' the discount on your policy. (silver, Diamond etc..)
BUT, the value of your vehicle drops every year anyways which means your vehicle value and policy should follow, so this is just a marketing gimmick.
But I canceled my policy about 3 weeks ago, due to the following:
- My insurance value went up 15%. I asked why, they said they base the policy on claims in the are where my vehicle is stored over night. So, more claims in the area = high policy REGARDLESS of your car value and "loyalty program".
- I asked to price match against another 3 competitors (budget insurance, progressive and woolworths). They said they do not price match and to check the PDS, as AAMi provides better options. No it does not, PDS is copy and paste as other insurers.
- They did offer a 10% discount instead of price match, it was still $300 more expensive than others.
So I left.
Who did you go with instead?
Budget.
Saved $350, same cover, same excess, same value.
Planning to the same with my aami home insurance, premiums kept going up after 5 years of no claims . What started as $1300 in 2013, eventually became $1850 for 2018
One of the bigger differences with AAMI vs those that you listed (Budget Direct, Woolies etc) is because they're considered a 'lower tier' insurance company.
Lower tier insurance companies like Budget, Woolworths, Coles, GIO, Bingle etc will NOT cover anyone with any form of bad history like a license suspension or multiple claims. They will not cover anyone that's considered high-risk and hence why they're cheaper. Another reason is because they outsource which for some is a deal breaker, for me though I don't care unless I'm given a better price.
'Higher tier' companies are say AAMI or RACV - in these cases, won't price match. They will however at least cover you, regardless of your circumstances, but obviously you're gna cost a lot more.
If you have a clean record, go for the 'lower' tier companies as long as you can deal with outsourced call centres - that's the only difference really.
Making a claim is the same everywhere. It's their jobs to nitpick and make things difficult to minimise the chances of actually paying out.
That makes sense, given I am rating 1 and no claims in 5+ years.
Thank you for the additional information as I was not aware of these.
I am fine with overseas call centres, if all goes well, I won't need to contact them.
At worst case, I use live chat or email
Had cgu for 8 year, three car claims and no issues/ no questions asked.
AAMI is shit. Once blamed me to be in an accident which I was not involved in, didn't bother to reason with me and said " it was decided that I was in the wrong" when I've not been in any accident. Long story short, we got Ombudsman and established that there was a scam going around.
Not having a dig but can you elaborate?
I was with AAMI car insurance.
Scammer also was from AAMI car insurance.
Said I was in a hit and run.
AAMI sided his/her story without consulting us.
We tried to reason with AAMI with our innocence, they didn't budge.
Complained to ombudsman.
Received a sorry mail from AAMI.
I have two motor policies with them. Wonder if I can cancel one and start a new policy with 20% discount?
Two years ago my renewal quote was more than the new quote. I called AAMI asked them to match it and they obliged.
well, it's not that straight forward, as per t&c if you have car, you'll get 20% off home and vice versa. Having existing car policy won't give you 20% off new car policy. But I think with the grey period and what not, try hard enough, you can achieve what you want.
Currently in a claim for massive water damage at our house. They have been nothing short of excellent to this point.
Fingers crossed it stays that way :)
Have heard they're good for modified cars too, no restrictions on modifications, but reviews are mixed online. Maybe someone with a modified car can comment.
Anyone know a good insurer who accepts modifications btw?
Shannon's or Dawes. Nobody wants modified cars. They're viewed as a bad risk.
Dawes are partnered with Allianz who I'm already insured with. May have to go with Shannons
They're not the same as Allianz though. Same as Shannon's, I believe they're owned by AAMI.
What have you got?
@imurgod: Nothing exotic, modified Mitsubishi Lancer 2017. I'm currently with Allianz, it isn't overly modified - just has an axleback exhaust, coilovers, aftermarket headlights and 18" wheels
@koalafied: That's not a difficult one to have insured. The mods aren't over the top.
Go to a Steadfast broker, tell them you want terms from Dawes, Ryno, Blue Zebra, IAL and AIG.
All this is under the assumption that you have a good driving record.
Is there actually a deal here? Whenever I hear about 'discounts' on insurance there's no way to gauge whether they've actually applied a discount. They just said it's already been applied.
How do the premiums compare to other companies?
it's quite easy for this one, you asked for a quote as a complete stranger. then get a same quote and said you are existing customer, you can see the 20% discount in the later case. I did.
I did the same and the "new customer" quote is coming out to be more. I suspect it's because of a no-fault claim … but impossible to know for sure.
yes, I suppose that's how it should works. "new customer" get charged more.
I wouldn't go anywhere near AAMI, personally.
Having previously worked in both the glazing industry and garage door industries, I can tell you AAMI virtually NEVER approved claims for broken windows or garage door repairs / motor replacements etc.
Also, recently I was in a very minor, low-speed car accident (other driver was at fault), so I asked my mechanic to have a look for any hidden damage while he was doing the service.
The first thing has said to me was "I hope you're not with AAMI, as most panel beaters and repairers won't even deal with them anymore, and would rather just not get the customer's business".
The above is also true for many other industries, including the ones I mentioned above.
For anyone considering "taking a risk", it won't be a risk; you are literally wasting your money.
Guys, go to a steadfast broker. Better premiums, better wordings and far better claims handling.
Excuse my ignorance, can you elaborate?
Steadfast have exclusive products directly aimed at this market now. Better cover, better pricing and a broker handles everything for you.
part of the Suncorp group, avoid like the pest
had my car smashed up while parked with offender fully insured. Suncorp refused payout due to them being above the law.
We are with AAMI, came home from work on a Friday afternoon a couple of years ago to find we'd been burgled.
Emailed a spreadsheet of products with serial numbers and copies of receipts where I had them.
Claim was settled on the Sunday and I was out buying new products Monday.
Would have preferred to not have been robbed but the AAMI experience was a really good one after what was a horrible day.
Royal commission into what?
I am with AAMI, Someone hit my car while reversing on Saturday. That person's insurance is also with AAMI. RAng AAMI on Saturday and she has arranged my car for repair today and also she has arranged for free car for me too, So far experienced has been good. I guess it depend on how skillful and experience their Customer Service staff. When I first rang them, the Customer Service asked so many questions and I told him will call back. Second Customer Service staff was very good and experience so all went all,
I have comprehensive car insurance with AAMI, and had made a claim once. Claim process was painless, and my car was repaired within a very reasonable timeframe and to my satisfaction. Because they looked after me very well on that claim, I have stuck with them all these years.
Best of all, each time I called, I am always talking to someone local. I work for a company that is obsessed with cost cutting by offshoring our work. My $$$ will always go to a company that puts Australian jobs first.
Has anyone signed up with AAMI and received this promo?
I have both car and H&C policies with them, just received renewals in the mail. I think they have closed to previous loophole whereby it's always cheaper to create a new policy rather than renew- this is the case for both policies. The renewal is more expensive than last year; however creating a new quote online isn't any cheaper than the renewal quotes. When creating quotes I didn't see prompts on this 20% discount.
you have to signed in when creating a quote as this automatically applied.
Didn't work for me, also they seem to have closed the gap on creating new policies that were cheaper than the renewal notices that was automatically generated come renewal time. I rang up customer service which lowered the price a little. Not great, but still relatively competitive compared to other options (Allianz, BW etc.) so sticking with them for another year.
Insurance is only as good when it comes to paying out. After hearing of so many "nightmare" stories with AAMI, I'd rather pay a bit more for peace of mind.