Economical Insurance Auto Insurance Reviews

I have been covered under insurance for my car for 2 years I received an email in January which I didn't see. Normally papers are sent in the mail for renewal so I was waiting for that. It got closer to the time when my insurance renews and I contacted my broker who then sent the email I failed to see. In the email, it states they will not renew my insurance and the reason being is done to my driving abstract which they went on to explain what is on my abstract. But the funny thing is for the past 2 years the amount of time I have been with this company I have obtained the same driving record that now 2 years later is a problem. But was not an issue when they first took my own as a client. To me, this makes absolutely no sense this is my last year with these infractions on my record and now it's a problem and there not willing to help.

I prefer to pay instalments by VISA and Economical’s phone instructions seem straightforward - until they lose your payment! Having received their letter threatening policy cancellation, I paid by VISA again and contacted our broker, since it’s impossible to reach anyone at Economical. Thankfully, according to our broker, Economical ‘found’ our nearly $700 instalment and credited back to our VISA before the next statement was due. That was in October. In mid-January GM Financial sent us a letter notifying us that Economical had informed them that the insurance on our leased vehicle (my daily car) was CANCELLED as of Jan. 10th! Economical had not informed us or our broker of this important news! If Economical had cancelled insurance on the leased vehicle, logic dictated that it must be cancelled on the 4 other vehicles on the same policy, right?! It took several days to get written assurance from our broker that our vehicles were all covered and even longer for GM Financial to receive confirmation about the leased vehicle. I don’t know whether Economical’s error has impacted our credit rating. Our broker rightly assumes we will want to switch coverage to a different company this year.

Long story short, they told body shop to start the work and then halfway through, they denied the claim. Now I'm stuck with a 20K bill which I can't afford. I have no choice but to have my car taken away by the sheriff and lose it. Now my credit with BMW is destroyed and my credit score will be tanking. I never missed a payment, any claims, an excellent driver. When I told friends about my experience, they also mentioned that they've been played around by Economical as well for 100% at fault no accident. This insurance company is a huge crook. I had another friend who told me she was under investigation. They came to her house for her to prove she lived there. Inspected her belongings and clothing etc. This company literally has to sniff through your underwear to insure you are not committing any insurance fraud and you are living where you say you are. I thought this was a joke but a disgusting and true story. Insurance companies need to be investigated!

I switched over to Economical because my wife's company got a discount. Apparently, it only lasts a year because when I got my renewal (Home and Auto), it increased by almost $1000 annually! We have perfect records and absolutely nothing changed. Potentially an issue is where I live (Brampton/Mississauga) but I've never in 20+ years of driving had an increase like this without a reason. I was told by other insurers that Economical took on A LOT of high-risk drivers and guess who's paying for it... EVERY ONE of their policyholders. My broker was also useless saying it was happening all over Ontario but I was able to get another policy elsewhere for the same premium!

Economical is much more expensive than the previous company I was with. I was forced to go with them when my broker no longer represented the other company. It's very ironic because their rates are not economical at all. Why go with them?

I moved out of the province and cancelled my policy. They continued to withdraw monthly fees. When I inquired, they said they would return my funds in two weeks and that the amount will be less than half of the amount that was withdrawn, as I was subject to a cancellation fee. They would not explain how the amount was determined. Good thing there is other insurers.

Was hit from behind and pushed into vehicle ahead. At a full stop at a traffic light. Wanted car repaired but believe they wanted parts to sell so claim to repair rejected. It cost us money that we would not have had to pay if the company had just paid for repairs. The car had minimal mileage and excellent condition prior to the accident. Very frustrated. The client’s wishes of no concern. Paid out more than the cost of repairs would have been. Suggest looking for a different insurer.

I was in a collision which the third party was responsible for the damages, it took 3 months to get an appointment with the garage they suggested, the garage was a disaster in regards to customer services (completely unprofessional when contacted for an ETA), once the vehicle was returned to me it was filthy, dust everywhere in the vehicle from the repairs they had done, they not only returned my vehicle with a missing piece but the windshield was still not fixed (damaged during the side collision which affected the frame of the vehicle and cracked the base of the windshield), when contacted they refused to repair the broken windshield and suggested I open a new claim as if it was from a different collision this was suggested by a manager... The customer service is marked as 1 star due to the lack of professionalism from the handler that was assigned to my file, they refuse to admit that they made a mistake when inspecting my vehicle and are not only refusing to add the windshield to the claim they are "assuming" it was caused by a different collision, logically if there was a different collision the body of the vehicle would be damaged and a different collision would have been reported, which is not the case. The lack of solutions provided, lack of additional research and not following up with the customer has made this review what it is. This company does not have a good reputation and if they continue to provide a poor service with the retention of customers and referrals will diminish greatly.

Had a single-car accident in a different city, two days after the accident Economical took out payment. Three days later pulled my rental. Then questioned my address showed much proof one week later no car rental, no decision. I had to take a bus to the home city. Economical wanted receipt for a bus not to reimburse but to prove I went to home city. Still no help.

Nobody likes insurance companies, but Economical is in a class of their own. We had a single-car accident that they refused to pay out or even cover car rental ($45,000 car value). You have to book a phone call a few days in advance via email. When you finally get to speak to a representative, they are evasive, manipulative and dishonest. They had us running around picking up the police report for them and filling out excessive and redundant paperwork, anything to discourage the claim from moving forward. They even threatened that our claim would "go on the back burner" if we didn't comply with their demands quickly enough. They raised our rates by $1000 per year and messed up the details on the paperwork for our policy. Economical is a predatory insurance company that illustrates why car insurance should be a publicly held institution. You pay in, but you cannot collect.