AIBU to think people shouldn't review an insurance company until they've made a claim??

[bbcessex]

Rant alert!

Well of course they can add a review for how the buying experience was, how easy the online application or app was, etc, etc, but I'm trying to change our home insurance and what is really important to me is: how good were they when you needed to claim?

After all, that is actually the product you're buying.

TrustPilot is full of: "highly recommend, third year in a row we've been with them, haven't made a claim yet but great service" type reviews.

May as well say "they were great a taking my money, no idea if they're actually any good".

arghghgh!

Does anyone know of any websites where people review their claims experience?

I agree.
We had a washing machine leak, and the flooring in our kitchen needs to be replaced. Our insurance company have been really quick off the mark, sent a loss adjuster round within a few days followed by two cheques shortly afterwards.

I am very impressed with their service. It is a well known insurance company BTW.

who is it Tapas? I'm with Axa, who are very very good, but policy price for buildings & contents has gone up to £700 this year!

Aviva

Thanks Tapas, will have a look at them 👍

Liverpool Victoria were excellent when I had a massive claim for buildings and contents

Oh Aviva are fab 💖 - like an emergency rescue service!

We're with NFU and they were really helpful when our freezer broke down and paid out for the spoilt food.

Thanks all.. good to get feedback from people who've actually experienced the service!

M&S were excellent when my (very expensive) mountain bike got stolen. They've always been good for pet insurance too.

Tesco insurance no longer wanted my custom after having to pay out a claim. Direct line whacked up their premium 20% after a family member claimed for the first time since passing their test 50 years ago.
Their service was great but a 20% increase was steep.

Oh, and Columbus were very good when we had to cancel a holiday due to DP illness.

I agree totally. I've never made a claim on any insurance so they might all be rubbish service.

Unfortunately we’re we’re burgled almost 2 weeks ago, car keys and car stolen, car insurance was with Admiral and they were amazing, claim was settled at full market value and in my account within a week. House insurance with Swindon and excellent too, locksmith bill paid in full and no quibble on contents all paid direct into bank.

This reminds me of a thing that went around a few years back showing the reviews of a tornado warning app in the USA, that had a rating of 4.9 out of 5.

Loads of comments about how pretty the app logo was, and how easy it was to load. Then, right at the end, one poor review... "tornado struck our house, no warning recived, wife and 4 kids all killed."

Admiral and NFU are very good. Avoid Hastings like the plague.

We had a flood in our shower which brought the ceiling down in the family room, leaving a hole in a quarter of our ceiling. Assessor from Aviva came out in days and offered us a cheque £1800 to pay for repairs ourselves or use their repairers.
We opted to use their repairers. It took 14 weeks for them to sort it out and the contractor they used was less than honest in his dealings with us.
A few weeks after it was all over I took very unwell with the stress.
I don’t blame the initial insurance company, just the contractor they used.

Currently in the midst of a major claim with a major provider. Alternative accommodation, six months of work etc. It has been utter hell, the insurer has been appalling to deal with. Once my ombudsman complaint is finalised I will review them accurately.

Agree with you totally, I've never made a claim on my house insurance so I can't help with that part, but don't think you should review them until you have! On a side note currently dealing with a car insurance claim with Admiral and they have been fantastic to deal with.

Admiral and NFU are very good. Avoid Hastings like the plague

Admiral, Hastings, Elephant, Diamond and Bell are all the same company.

Lifecraft - that puts my house insurance into context 😱😱😱

Thistimetorrow -'sorry to hear that, I can imagine though - we had a rogue kitchen fitter once and it was stressful & upsetting beyond belief.
.

I'm currently dealing with Aviva on a house insurance claim and trust me when I tell you you do NOT want to deal with those pricks when need to

I made exactly this point on another forum about travel insurance for existing health conditions. Yes it's easy to have a positive impression when you've just parted with £500 for insurance on a weeks holiday. What about when you need to claim?
Much of this is because the insurance company invite people to post reviews as soon as they've taken out the policy. Those or should use their brains and ignore the invitation.

Admiral, Hastings, Elephant, Diamond and Bell are all the same company.

Except there is a vast difference when you want to speak to them and how they deal with things. You can get straight through on the claims line to them all except Hastings where you're looking at an hour wait. I work in civil litigation and about half the proceedings I issue are against Hastings because they just don't respond. Admiral are very fast to respond.

I take all of those trust review sites with a massive pinch of salt anyway to be honest.

We had an absolute nightmare with Safestyle Windows. We had a quote, DH ended up having to literally throw the salesman out to get rid of him and we were harrassed by phone for months afterwards. Getting a call from them moments after DH had a phone call to say his father was passing away in hospital was the final straw.

We left a review on Trust Pilot, and it was removed within 5 minutes. And I was unable to leave another. Funny, that