Shove that up your XXXX State Insurance!

[Pancakes]

I've had insurance for ages including a good sized public liability policy. Also for "high risk" cars, rotaries etc and only one claim and that was the other parties fault.

Don't put up with their shit or feel like you have to make phoney calls to get the skinny on a good deal, I expect a discount on the last year (probably not if you have and at fault accident) and some extra goodies. $500 cash for new helmet etc, rental bike if mine is in a shop. If they give me a quote I sometimes saw nup, I'd like to pay less and they blah on then say ok. I dealt with the other guys insurer after the accident and got my gear replaced. I bought it all for a grand (boots 4 years old, cordura suit, helmet and gloves 2 1/2/ years old) and told them it was still in good nick and working fine and wouldn't have needed replacing if I wasn't hit. Got a check for a grand 2 days ago! No devaluation. They did want to know if I replaced the gear and don't know if they would have gone ahead or not if I hadn't and said they get discounts I can't get so didn't like it that they had to give me money not gear but I had already spent $1500 on new get-up from Motomail and told them to cough up. Stick to your guns people. don't take their profile based crap. Been insured and no claims = your a good risk, get a good deal.

In saying that I am going to get a quote off Kiwibike after all the good feedback. If it's the same or less and they sound easy to deal with I think I'd be in. Keep it in the family like.

[motorbyclist]

They did want to know if I replaced the gear and don't know if they would have gone ahead or not if I hadn't and said they get discounts I can't get so didn't like it that they had to give me money not gear but I had already spent $1500 on new get-up from Motomail and told them to cough up.

what?

edit:
no, it makes sense now it's on it's own

[Pancakes]

Yeah sorry, punctuation and a proof read wouldn't have gone astray eh!

[Dakara]

Just insured my new GT250R with State, coughed up for the whole year and after reading this thinking maybe I shouldn't have....

However, they gave me what I consider to be a good deal, as they don't insure riders with a learner license (for 250's anyway) but as I've had mine for 2 years they gave me the policy as if I had a restricted license. I made very sure that if I had to make a claim it wouldn't be refused by them saying "But your on your learners" and they assured me it woulnd't... also all calls are recorded. So paid $310 for the year which is half of what I pay on my car so I'm happy.... for now.

[car]

also all calls are recorded

By you, right? Because I've had experience of this kind of crap before, where all calls are recorded, but recordings become mysteriously unavailable the minute you start asking questions, even though you've got names, numbers, times to quote at them.

[Dakara]

Nope, by them

But they assured me it states very clearly on my policy that I am a "learner rider" on a restricted policy due to having 2 years riding experience, and I have asked them to mail me a copy of this.

What they did was hike my excess up by $300 until I get my restricted, and I have 1 year to sit it else they wont renew my policy.

[darkwolf]

I'm actually with IAG for all my stuff ('course no bike yet) but they've actually lowered my premiums. Now with that in mind IAG _IS_ State. It seems to me that if you want decent coverage to skip state and go IAG.

A few of the people on another forum I spend alot of time on have been stung in similar ways by state. I also know that they have a piss-poor history of paying out in my experience through friends etc. Mainly finding crap-ass reasons not to pay.

[car]

I also know that they have a piss-poor history of paying out in my experience through friends etc. Mainly finding crap-ass reasons not to pay.

We went with Westpac when we hit these green and pleasant shores, because our banking was with Westpac (they made it easiest for me to create a new account from overseas, before I came) and it's a PITA when you're fresh off the boat, establishing your identity etc. with new institutions.

Imagine my surprise, then, when it came to my recent claim (after having my car rear-ended by a bus) and they've been absolutely bloody flawless. I mean, compared to other insurance claims I've made in similar circumstances, they've been fantastic. No complaints at all. Bloomin' marvelous. Paid up, no loss of NCB, car is now sitting on my drive almost fully repaired (awaiting delivery of interior trim) cash deposited in my account for a new bike rack. The other party haven't even responded yet.

[Pancakes]

.................... also all calls are recorded...............

All calls MAY be recorded. They will randomly tape a set number of calls for each agent each month and review them to score the staff for compliance to sales methods etc. Their bonuses and annual payrise will be based on these KPI scores. They aren't making their life harder to make yours easier! In the end it will come down to the wording on your policy, thats the full agreement and is what you signed.

................ Now with that in mind IAG _IS_ State. It seems to me that if you want decent coverage to skip state and go IAG...............

.................... I also know that they have a piss-poor history of paying out in my experience through friends etc. Mainly finding crap-ass reasons not to pay.

There are people at most finance co's who are paid to find reasons NOT to pay out, most get a cut of the amount that would have been paid as a bonus. From anecdotes I've heard from heaps of people and soem panelbeater mates I think States normal mode might be to knock you back the first time and see if you question it?

................Imagine my surprise, then, when it came to my recent claim (after having my car rear-ended by a bus) and they've been absolutely bloody flawless. I mean, compared to other insurance claims I've made in similar circumstances, they've been fantastic. No complaints at all. Bloomin' marvelous. Paid up, no loss of NCB, car is now sitting on my drive almost fully repaired (awaiting delivery of interior trim) cash deposited in my account for a new bike rack. The other party haven't even responded yet.

Yeah thats worth more than a few bucks in the pocket eh?! $5 for nothing or $7 / wk for awesome service?

[Number One]

"All calls MAY be recorded. They will randomly tape a set number of calls for each agent each month and review them to score the staff for compliance to sales methods etc. Their bonuses and annual payrise will be based on these KPI scores. They aren't making their life harder to make yours easier! In the end it will come down to the wording on your policy, thats the full agreement and is what you signed"

Hi - this is all true except for the bit about they only 'randomly record' calls. Anyone dealing with money, insurance that kind of matter has to be able to produce full audit trails. Actually they record everything. Every phone (or channel) in the system. They can track when a person gets up to go for a pee or if they have just hung up on their 20 last callers.

They have people whose job it is to pick so many calls randomly to 'listen to and critique' against a set criteria. You know...did you say thanks for calling? Can I help you with anything else sir? T or coffee sirrrrr? blah blah blah...people don't give a shit!

The sad thing is these people know it too and it pains them to say this crap but with only 10 calls in what might be 400 a month you have to say it every damn time - even with the people that aren't being complete assholes to you as soo many people are via phone, waynekerrss!

When you call companies that have call centres you are being recorded - even when you are on hold and are hanging up that call is being listended to and btw if the little shit on the phone swears at you before it cuts off it will get recorded and they will (if you hear it or they pick it up as the random call) get in trouble.

Having trouble with calls disappearing? Harden up and lay it on the line with a supervisor, or a manager OR the call centre manager...if they told you they couldn't 'find it' they were probably a CSR parading as a 'Supervisor' who thought oh crap wasn't I talking to you yesterday?

[DMNTD:Me]

A few of the people on another forum I spend alot of time on have been stung in similar ways by state. I also know that they have a piss-poor history of paying out in my experience through friends etc. Mainly finding crap-ass reasons not to pay.

Grrrrrrrrrrr foookn grrrrrrr meow!
State is to date the worst company I've every had insurance with...bar none!
When I binned my Superduke("old" one) they treated me like a freaking criminal,instantly put me under investigation!
Investigator tuned up at my house and integrated me for an hour and a half,in the end I told him that what I got up to in the late '80's was none of his business and that it time for him to go.
He also spoke to my partner..."as a matter of course". WTF????
I phoned State...made assertive yet constructive demands and finally got someone that could answer a question with some authority and put him to task.
Payment made within 24hours...I'm no longer with State and we've since pulled all of our Household/vehicle insurances and left them to their BS.

Ahhhhhhh...sorry 'bout that but I do feel much better now

[fireliv]

FUCK STATE INSURANCE (the first company on my list of places that I will not deal with)

When phjoenix was hit by a stolen car they were fucken useless. They couldnt decide whether the helmet was covered or not, in the end deciding no it wasnt after I was told by 3 different people it was and to get it assessed, they took ages with the bike, in the end deciding to write it off. Had to collect it from Turners car auctions when we decided to buy it back (only thing wrong with it was broken farings that we fixed second hand) which was in the hutt (we lived in welly city) and then turners were under the impression the bike was theres to sell and were not going to give us the key because state hadnt sorted it out. I laid formal complaints and went throughh the "complaints process" to no avail. Shifted all my insurance from them the day we got the bike back and will never look back.

Good luck with anyone who is with them, the premiums might be low but wait till something goes wrong and see why they are so low... cos they dont care

[motorbyclist]

Imagine my surprise, then, when it came to my recent claim (after having my car rear-ended by a bus) and they've been absolutely bloody flawless. I mean, compared to other insurance claims I've made in similar circumstances, they've been fantastic. No complaints at all. Bloomin' marvelous. Paid up, no loss of NCB, car is now sitting on my drive almost fully repaired (awaiting delivery of interior trim) cash deposited in my account for a new bike rack. The other party haven't even responded yet.

that's because a bus has insurance, and being rear-ended meant that state knew they were going to get their money back from the other insurer

[car]

that's because a bus has insurance, and being rear-ended meant that state knew they were going to get their money back from the other insurer

Westpac, dude. Westpac. My spidey-senses are telling me to avoid State.



Yes, I know that they're fairly sure they'll squeeze the money out of the the bus company, but that hasn't stopped other evil bastard scum insurance companies from making my life considerably more difficult than it has to be. My point was that they've been reasonable, which is noteworthy behaviourn for an insurance company, in my experience.

It was a City of York (UK) Council van that wrote off my RVF, when the driver jumped a red light while on council business and T-boned me in front of about a hundred people. Both parties insured up the wazoo, witnesses, police in attendance. Open and shut, you'd think.

My own insurance company were the only people who didn't play ball, in the most extreme cases by repeatedly threatening me with prosecution because they claimed I hadn't told them about the accident, when in fact I'd called them even before the ambulance arrived. They threatened me about once every two weeks for the first couple of months.

So, if you're heading out UK way any time soon, folks, stay the hell away from Cofields Insurance: they's bastards.

[Pancakes]

[..........Hi - this is all true except for the bit about they only 'randomly record' calls. Anyone dealing with money, insurance that kind of matter has to be able to produce full audit trails. Actually they record everything. Every phone (or channel) in the system. They can track when a person gets up to go for a pee or if they have just hung up on their 20 last callers. ...................The sad thing is these people know it too and it pains them to say this crap but with only 10 calls in what might be 400 a month you have to say it every damn time - even with the people that aren't being complete assholes to you as soo many people are via phone, waynekerrss!

When you call companies that have call centres you are being recorded - even when you are on hold and are hanging up that call is being listended to and btw if the little shit on the phone swears at you before it cuts off it will get recorded and they will (if you hear it or they pick it up as the random call) get in trouble.

Having trouble with calls disappearing? Harden up and lay it on the line with a supervisor, or a manager OR the call centre manager...if they told you they couldn't 'find it' they were probably a CSR parading as a 'Supervisor' who thought oh crap wasn't I talking to you yesterday?

Hi I work across several teams in NZ's biggest non-bank financer and in all of the teams, fraud, auto, personal etc the calls ARE randomly recorded. The harddrive storage and amount if inputs needed to record 400+ channels of live audio at a decent resolution is not worth having! One of my best mates does IT and programming for a majority of finance companies systems in NZ, he also gets a good insight to the softphone systems used and he says they're not all recorded either. Also my uncle sells phone wiring and softphone systems and his sytems don't record all calls either. I know when I'm trying to get a voice file of a fraudster that has called several times it can be a misson. If it's not one of the KPI assesment calls we normally have to call the fraudsters cell phone or a number with a voicemail message to record that.

I'm not aware of laws that require audit trails of calls but I'm not in the legal compliance team, do work with them tho and it's never come up. The call logs you might be thinking of just show the call path. The number the person called from, if the call was transferred, the duration and there are normally boxes the staff can tick to tag that account showing if there was any interest in certain products or not. It's more like a spreadsheet than a tape.

The staff in our call centre are not worked hard by any means and woult take over 1100 call per month. I bet they wish it was 400! Thats maybe 2 hours work! Some busy teams take 1800+ calls / month.

Yeah if they swear at you they do get in trouble and probably half the time the "Manager" your talking to is not, it's just a team-mate or something but that (in our company anyway) is noted in the customers notes too so we can see who has done what, no accurate notes, no matter what actually happened is the most important thing. There are often notes on agressive customers accounts that make great reads!
If your told the right information but don't beleive the CSR your talking to, they might not pull a manager out a meeting just for you when you'll be happy with another voice confirming the info for you. So long as it is correct there shouldn't be a problem.

that's because a bus has insurance, and being rear-ended meant that state knew they were going to get their money back from the other insurer

They normally just pay it themselves. ie, Your hit by someone insured by company "A", your with "B" and make a claim with them. "B" just pays and next time one of their customers is at fault and hits someone with company "A" they just cough up. It's called having knock-forknock agreements in the industry and since there are only really 3 insurance parent companies in NZ they'd only be paying themselves anyway.