Insurance advice needed

[cobramania]

Guys, I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Last month I ran into/over some debris on the hwy & smashed the lower bumper/air dam & damaged some parts under the Cobra. My smash repairer says there's about $2500 worth of seen damage, but more under the car may be damaged when he starts pulling parts off. The silver mouth section alone is $800 from FPV.
He took photo's & emailed them & a quote off to my insurer, Shannons, 3 weeks ago. Nether of us have heard anything back, telling us they approve repairs, so he chased them up again today, & they said they have no excuse/reason, but it was booked to have a digital assessment (they'll take a look at the photo's, not the actual car) next week, they couldn't bring it forward & won't do anything more.

Christmas is coming soon & I'd like the car fixed, parts will likely have to come from FPV/Ford factory up to Newcastle (last lot of parts I needed took 2 1/2 weeks).

I couldn't blame anyone for the debris, so had to pay the excess, which I did upfront when I lodged the claim, so they've been sitting on that $650 for 3 weeks now.

Also funnily enough, my insurance is due for renewal next week, do you guys think I should renew the policy or go elsewhere, what would you do?

My smash repairer is actually a really good mate of mine, & he doesn't like any of the Suncorp group of insurance companies, this problem has really got him irate.

What other insurance companies do you guys suggest?
Companies underwritten by the Hollard group, don't seem to want to insure the Cobra, with Cat. back exhaust or at a reasonable agreed value.
Wesfarmers underwritten seem pretty reasonable & will give me a higher agreed value than Shannons currently do. I haven't called Lumleys yet, do they do cars under 10 years old? Coles insurance seem good, but I have to pay extra to protect my no claim bonus?

[penguin2233]

Unfortunately, you are stuck in the rock and a hard place -

Being this close to Christmas, as well as having a couple of Natural Disasters(Hail/Flooding) everything gets pushed back -

Best advice is to follow this up daily - call the assessment center - being a desktop assessment, if you speak to the right people, they should be able to move it along sooner than next week.

in saying all this though, there will be an issue with getting the parts and actually having it repaired by Christmas - it will be the same situation again with the delay in parts, being a Cobra - they are specific, if it were a normal XR or so, parts are easily available and you MIGHT have had it done by then.

Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, I don't think it will be done before 2013...

If you aren't happy with the services from Shannons, Have a look around - but make sure you confirm policy benefits - Choice of rep, Hire car after theft for two weeks - Multi Policy discount, and someone that will give you an AGREED value, not market.

Also, if you arent happy with the agreed value - call Shannons and ask for more - it may increase the amount you pay but you get a better piece of mind. If they don't want to move the amount, ask if you can email photos, or take the car into the branch for a review. Some things cant be changed, most can with speaking to the right people, asking the right questions and being polite! If you yell, scream and throw a tantrum, you wont get anywhere....

And yes - I have worked in Insurance for the last 6 years -

Best of luck, Tim.

[xisled]

Most insurance companies are very similar.

I know from working with a Suncorp company, that they will do it in their own time. The problem with suncorp company, the assesor will be not only doing Shannon’s assessment but every other insurance company assessment that Suncorp own.

Also being a unique car and not having a second quote they will want to make sure everything is correctly priced and not to high.

Also being November December everyone wants to get cars repaired due to work finishing and cars don’t have to be used and can have time to be off the road.

Also didn’t Sydney get a massive storm, this would also cause a delay with the amount of claims.

[Silver Ghia]

Having been with Shannons for some years and had a couple of claims over this time, you need to phone them and ask where its at. Also, the repairer has to look up on the system (cant remember the name of it) to see whether the assessment has been approved, they don't get contacted by Shannons. You might find its already approved. My experience with Shannons is that it only takes a couple of days, unless they have really changed for the worse since early this year.

Also, why pay the excess up front when they haven't yet even assessed the damage? Normally its paid when you pick the car up after the repairs are done, and are satisfied with them.

[cobramania]

Thanks for the info guys.

Silver Ghia, we know exactly where it's at, my repairer spoke to them yesterday morning, it's not approved, they haven't even done the assessment yet, & they say it won't be done till next week.
They didn't have any excuse for taking so long (not even a backup of claims due to other disasters), their reasonably exact words were, "we have no reason or excuse for why it's taken so long, but it still won't be looked at till next week".

I paid the excess up front, because when I called them to make the claim, they asked me to pay there & then over the phone.

[BadMax]

You will find Shannons are and will be moving toward the way the rest of Suncorp deal with claims. Unfortunately Shannons was once known as a niche insurance company that really cared about people and their cars, they are still trading off the past.

Suncorp are loathed in the industry, more so in NSW where arguements continue on a daily basis. I'd be looking toward Lumley Special Vehicles.

Unfortunately, you never really find out how bad your insurer is until you need them.

[GQ_Smooth]

I can only speak from personal experience, having made 2 claim with Shannons over the last 10 years both were handled promptly, and communication was first class. One was a major repair on the Ghia where approval came through as I was leaving the panel beater after the tow truck dropped the car off and the other was a write off on a AU where it was assessed 4 days after I lodged the claim and the agreed value payment came through 2 weeks after the assessment was done.

I cannot speak highly enough of Shannons as a Insurer (based in Melbourne).

[superfly]

I've made a few claims with Shannons over the last few years (both home and 2 cars) and each claim was handled brilliantly. I can't fault their claim process.

But I've never had to pay the excess up front with any of my claims.

I've also claimed with Suncorp (about 15 years ago or so) and at the time I had no issue with their claim process. I would insure with them again if only their prices were better.

[FGII-XR6]

call them every 2 hours for an update they will get sick of you and process it. I have used this method before and it works

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Get your car fixed and dump them and tell them why you dumped them.

I got rid of Shannons ages ago, they are just plain bad and greedy IMO, they used to be great years ago, but no longer, they have changed big time.

Bad service and bad attitude when you enquire about stuff, and staff that have lost touch.

[Fiesta God]

Shannons were a brilliant insurer when they were their own organisation, they were almost like a private club.

They still have many of the staff left over from that time, and so you will still get terrific experiences dealing with them on the phone and in person. And they do more than anyone in sponsoring and promoting the car enthusiast's scene.

But unfortunately the Suncorp takeover has forced them to cut costs, outsource and change some of their culture (most of this has happened since 2009).

Their entire claims process from start to finish is now handled by Suncorp and has nothing to do with "Shannons" per se. Whereas Shannons would previously bend over backwards to do anything they could to help you, you are now just a customer in the long queue of Suncorp affiliated companies.


This is unfortunate and the name still carries a lot of credence in the insurance market, but there are probably better alternatives out there now - particularly LSV and Ryno.

[xisled]

Originally Posted by Fiesta God

Shannons were a brilliant insurer when they were their own organisation, they were almost like a private club.

They still have many of the staff left over from that time, and so you will still get terrific experiences dealing with them on the phone and in person. And they do more than anyone in sponsoring and promoting the car enthusiast's scene.

But unfortunately the Suncorp takeover has forced them to cut costs, outsource and change some of their culture (most of this has happened since 2009).

Their entire claims process from start to finish is now handled by Suncorp and has nothing to do with "Shannons" per se. Whereas Shannons would previously bend over backwards to do anything they could to help you, you are now just a customer in the long queue of Suncorp affiliated companies.


This is unfortunate and the name still carries a lot of credence in the insurance market, but there are probably better alternatives out there now - particularly LSV and Ryno.

They have not outscourced. But what is happening, when you call Shannon's you can be picked up by an operator who also does other brands such as AAMI and Just Car. They do not have a Shannon’s call center any longer; it is a Suncorp call center.

One reason why I left, AAMI was the Suncorp take over.

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by au3xr6

call them every 2 hours for an update they will get sick of you and process it. I have used this method before and it works

Worse thing you can do is call every two hours.

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Get your car fixed and dump them and tell them why you dumped them.

I got rid of Shannons ages ago, they are just plain bad and greedy IMO, they used to be great years ago, but no longer, they have changed big time.

Bad service and bad attitude when you enquire about stuff, and staff that have lost touch.

Ok, not bad advice, but not really necessary. Each to their own I suppose.

We are coming up to the 'silly season', this is when all the people and businesses who have had hits during the year decide to lodge claims. To it makes every claims dept in the country very busy, this on top of disasters (floods, hail, etc).

Trust me, the insurer want to have your claim paid. Sooner the better. Unfortunately this will take longer because people call every two hours so more time is wasted on the phone then actually paying/authorising claims.

My advice is be patient. Your repairer should have submitted the quote online, he should be able to get an ETA on assessements.

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by xisled

They have not outscourced. But what is happening, when you call Shannon's you can be picked up by an operator who also does other brands such as AAMI and Just Car. They do not have a Shannon’s call center any longer; it is a Suncorp call center.

One reason why I left, AAMI was the Suncorp take over.

So this is why I had unco-operative reps when I was querying my relatively high renewal premium last October (the FG went up $100 from last year), when previously they bent over backwards to match other companies. I queried twice to two operators and got much the same response, that the premium in the statement was the best they can do, with a bit of salesmanship talk to try and keep me with Shannons.

So now my classic is with Lumleys, and my FG elsewhere, saving me over $200.

The change must have happened since early this year, when the claim system was the same as for earlier claims I had.

[xisled]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

So this is why I had unco-operative reps when I was querying my relatively high renewal premium last October (the FG went up $100 from last year), when previously they bent over backwards to match other companies. I queried twice to two operators and got much the same response, that the premium in the statement was the best they can do, with a bit of salesmanship talk to try and keep me with Shannons.

So now my classic is with Lumleys, and my FG elsewhere, saving me over $200.

The change must have happened since early this year, when the claim system was the same as for earlier claims I had.

Yep basically. Suncorp like most insurance are not flexible on the premium, unless you pay a huge excess. Basically the only thing that is Shannon’s now is the letter head and the sign out the front, the rest is all Suncorp.

[cobramania]

Some good news, Shannons approved the repairs this afternoon. My repairer says he should have the parts by next Wednesday, apparently there are no restrictions on parts for the Cobra anymore, due to it's age? Must be able to get them from different suppliers now?

They will still be genuine FPV parts, so I'll just wait & see. If he gets the parts next week, the car will be fixed before Christmas.

Still not happy with Shannons though, will see if Lumleys will insure the Cobra I think.