Wawanesa Home Insurance Reviews

Wawanesa has been absolutely terrible to deal with. I made a claim in May 2023 and it is still unresolved as of November 2023. They refuse to give me back what I had in the first place. I have been dealing with different departments for the last 6 months. I finally ended up dealing with their Ombudsman which proved not helpful at all. I have had my house insurance with them for 11 years and got absolute zero satisfaction when I tried to make a claim.

What a surprise... After being a customer for nearly 20 years, claims-free, never late with payments, I received my house insurance renewal policy that went up by 128.45% year over year. I contacted my broker to see if there was a mistake and the answer I received was "this is the new amount". No reason or rationale provided. I filed a complaint with the Wawanesa ombudsman but to no avail. I was told that an increase in rates does not constitute a complaint. I was informed that my concern will be forwarded to a supervisor. I called my broker again this week for an update (Wawanesa does not deal/talk to their customers one has to go through the broker) but they had the same answer for me. Now, this is no longer about the $ - it is about the principle. I will switch the insurance provider and will warn customers not to deal with this company. I will see if a media outlet will take this on as well. Poor, poor customer service. I regret that I paid in all of those years!

Wawanesa is hands down the worst insurance company I have ever had the displeasure to deal with. I have had them for my home and auto for over 15yrs. I have had to sue them twice now to get them to follow-through on their obligations. I should have learned the first time, i know. First experience was a damaged window from a hail storm. It took them a year (no exaggeration) to send their adjuster back to look at it - then denied the claim. We sued, they settled in mediation. This time around, there isn't enough room to tell the whole story. House fire in my neighbors townhouse spread to my unit, which was just the start to the fun. After 2 months of no communication from my adjuster at all, and being thousands of dollars in debt paying for a hotel, while I waited in limbo, they finally started talking to me, but would take a 1 month or more between contacts. I was in debt $15K before they cut me my first cheque. Then the terrible contractor they hired flooded the entire house after 4 months of waiting for them to do any repairs, by freezing a pipe. Contractor wouldn't do anything until the insurnace company stepped in, so it took them 3 days to finally do anything while the basement basted in water and freezing temperatures. They opened a NEW claim and charged me another deductible. Took them nearly a year to fix all the mess. I finally sign off on what I think is a fully repaired house, to find flooding and seepage in the basement within a month, where I had never had it before. INSANE. So I call, and they tell me its unrelated and it will be a new claim, and probably won't be covered. They send a contractor to look and says the same thing. I hear nothing from them for more than a month and I'm forced to now have my lawyer send them a threatening letter. They finally respond and tell me they are denying the claim. So I get my own contractor in to fix the mess and low and behold, we find the dirty secrets. The insurance companies contractor had taken no permits out. They left all of the original lumber in the wall. They must have known there was an additional water issue, but rather than disclosing it or fixing it, they used electrical tape and taped a piece of poly over a crack in the foundation, i suppose hoping it would solve the problem. Completely disgusting. They continue to deny the claim, and in fact refuse to release a cheque for my missing and damaged contents until I'm willing to sign their proof-of-loss form, that clearly states that I will have no further claim to damages. Suit #2 now filed. I wouldn't wish these clowns on my worst enemy.

This April we installed new kitchen faucets, unfortunately they were too easy to operate and we woke to a flooded 1st floor and basement after our cat hit the handle and it had run all nighr. We called our broker and they confirmed we were covered so we made a claim. Adjusters came with a contractor who said the whole kitchen needed replaced along with the hardwood floor. Adjusters said it would most likely be paid out and we'd hear from them in a week. A month goes by with nothing from Wawanesa, we call and call and finally they arrange to meet and take a statement. Claim I'll get a copy to review, lies. A week later we get a letter saying they deny coverage based on an inclusion in my policy which excludes damages by pets and they cancelled the policy. I read the policy and this inclusion they denied us on wasn't in my policy so I contacted the broker for another copy to confirm, it was exactly the same. Now my lawyer is handling it. They have sent him a 50 page policy they claim is our policy but we never saw this version! We will be taking them to court, this is fraud. They old bait and switch. Avoid Wawanesa like the plague, they are crooks.

I've been a customer well over 15 yrs. I had a house fire this past April.
The lack of guidance, information and resolution has been eye opening.
It took me over 15 yrs to attain everything in my home and my Adjuster expects me to purchase first then submit receipts... In addition to that Ive lost income due to this fire as well. On top of that i need to prepare for the additional utilities cost for when they finally start the rebuild. Yes that's right the 8-12 week estimated time is now September but it'll be more like December. The Insurance is not on my side and all other parties involved are paid by my Insurance. I am at the point of seeking legal advise and seriously considering a public Adjuster.

I have never in my lifetime had a home insureance claim! Never! We live in Airdrie, AB which is the base camp for the army when the flooding happened in Calgary in 2013 because it is a much higher elevation and we don't flood. Does this matter to them? NO! our rates increase by 20%. Last month we had HAIL, did I have a claim? NO! However, I just received a letter saying my insurance is going up another 50%!!! This before they even pay a dime out! Insurance companies disgust me and so does our government for not protecting the public from these thieves! They put agencies in place and when you call they tell you to talk to your insurance company reps! Failures on all fronts.

I had two claims in same year in 2013, still not settled in 2014 year after first claim, insurance contractor lowballed estimates for some items then added high 20% overhead plus 20% administration costs to total and stated that line total before overhead and administration is what you get 80% of for cash settlement, thus 80% of 60% of contractor estimate, then reduced by additional 5% for gst which I could submit receipts for after work done in reasonable amount of time. It worked out to about less than half of contractor estimate after deductible.

Trying to get a contractor to do restoration but most do not want to do since insurance slow at paying them when work done. I am tempted to go through dispute resolution but more time and not worth the headaches. Roof estimate close enough since only 10% off for overhead and 10%% for administration, so 80% of 80% is better than 80% of 60% for basement restoration.

There story is that we can not profit from our insurance claim, but I told them fair compensation for work and tools used and no future liability is worth them saving 20% but they want to save 40% plus, so they can profit by having us do work for next to nothing after all materials paid but I cannot get fairly compensated for my time and use of tools and assuming personal liability for restoration??

The new replacement cost of items destroyed or semi destroyed meant nothing since they reduced items values for depreciation and then give us 75% of lower amount not new replacement cost for cash settlement, we could provide receipts later if we spent more but with no basement restored why buy anything not too mention they would not commit a time or money limit for storage costs, jut "submits receipts for our consideration" which means we will probably not pay for it or just a small portion of it, but no firm numbers and time constraints??

Cheap not always best?? Do your research and seek out companies that are fair but still reasonable in premiums etc. Would I recommend Wawanesa? What do you think LOL?