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Belairdirect Auto Insurance Reviews

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(527 reviews)
Belairdirect
1.8 out of 5 stars:

Hidden monthly interest

by Helen Tsang on Jul 8, 2021
2 out of 5 stars

We requested a quote and they were one of the lowest in the industry but the agent conveniently neglected to warn us of an annual interest rate of 3.39% on monthly payments. We were 2 payments in and checked the billing online to notice the additional interest fee but they refused to reimburse us. We were able to pay off the rest of the term in full and save ourselves the additional fee. Agent on the line claimed monthly interest was industry standard. We don't recall ever having to pay interest for monthly payments but we are rid of it now and got some points on our credit card for the one-time payment too.

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My Belair claim experience

by Scott on Jan 19, 2019
2 out of 5 stars

I had my 2007 Mazdaspeed 6 insured with Belair, I loved that car. A small parking lot fender bender and they decided it wasn't economical to repair. Ok, I can deal with that, I'm a grown man, time for a change! Just had to deal with the claim... Called and started it off fine, arranged to get it towed the next day but no one showed up... After I finally got in contact with the towing company, two weeks later, it came to light that Belair had given them the wrong phone number for me, but also the wrong address by about 500km! The people working the phones in about 6 how call centers were very helpful as they bounced my call to the closest one to me. They got my car towed away the same day. A month and a half after the accident I finally got paid off for the car and could start looking for something new to drive. I never knew that dealing with insurance would be such a stressor and pain. If I ever come back to Belair, it will have been my last choice.

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Sleazy and mediocre service

by Tadous on Dec 6, 2018
2 out of 5 stars

I too had been with Belair for several years and was shocked when I received my renewal which was more than $200 a year more than what I had paid the previous year, in spite of having had no accidents and no claims. The agent explained that this had nothing to do with the calculation of my new premium. I found this absurd and was told that the price hike was due to increased costs and inflation, blah blah blah. I decided to go with a group insurer here in Québec that offered me a similar plan at a much lower price with warm, intelligent people providing the service. The sleaziest bit was a month after I cancelled, 122$ was debited out of my account because of the ''valeur à neuf'' insurance I had agreed to when getting my plan. The agent told me I could cancel it at any time. He didn't tell me that by cancelling early I would be forced to pay the remaining amount on the contract. I had no idea it was a contract. I thought it was just part of my insurance policy. I am a very understanding person, but this company pissed me off.

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Good then, then backstabbed

by Joel on Aug 1, 2018
2 out of 5 stars

I have had good experiences with BelairDirect in the past when I got into my first accident. Recently, however, my opinion of them changed drastically. I had changed bank accounts where payments were coming out of & let them know of it. For some reason, they could not take the $ out of the new account. After talking to an agent at BelairDirect & trying to figure out if it was something on their end, I had to call my bank. The bank had stated there were no blocks etc on my account. Funny enough I have other pre-authorized payments come out of the same account. I call Belair Direct back to confirm that the bank found nothing wrong with my account. In the end, BelairDirect decided to cancel my policy even though I had updated my information with them. After paying BelairDirect x amount of $ to bring my balance to zero, I had to then look for another insurance company. Here is where it gets stranger. With the crash proof policy, I was under the assumption that it would not affect my insurance in any way. Was so very wrong. Between that, a silly winter ticket ($85 fine) & their inability to take $ out of the new account I had to be classified as a "high risk" driver & find a policy which reflects that. I was screwed over at least twice. Even though I had facts on my side, no one wanted to listen. Avoid BelairDirect like the plague.

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Mixed msged, bad underwriting

by Haifa on Jun 8, 2018
2.5 out of 5 stars

So I'm going to be frank here, hoping someone would learn from my experience. I signed up after shopping around, and they offered the best price, so I'll give them that, they offered a great deal! Annually I got quoted for 1560, since I paid the entire amount, I actually paid 1540! GREAT! Now here is when the trouble starts. 1) the person who set me up made a mistake, apparently. He included a loyalty discount because I was with my previous company for 3 years. I informed him I was with RBC for 3 years, then moved to TD for the past year - he informed me, "No worries, I'll consider the higher years" - WOW, AWESOME, or so I thought. (April 10) 2) April 13, I get a call with the following: "Oh, so sorry, we can't include the discount since the more recent company is only 1 year" - I argue, well, your agent, he'll consider the 3 years. But meh, 5% increase, 100$, WHATEVER! 3) I get another call, "Oh, we discovered your mom is also a co-owner, we require to show her proof of insurance, and your letter of experience, if you can prove that your mom has her own insurance, it won't impact your rate". FANTASTIC! Both documents provided. 4) On April 17, I receive an email, "We made multiple attempts to contact you, please call Belair", on Apr 17, Belair successfully reached me, and requested a letter of experience to prove that the 2 claims are under my mom and not myself - that was provided. 5) On May 22, I receive a letter, "You owe us 755$ because we backdated your insurance to include your mom since she is a co-owner, and we felt that she is a high risk". I wasn't even aware that my policy was changed or updated. 6) Talked to a supervisor, who ensured that if I get my mom out of my ownership, then it'll be easier to start a new policy with only my name. So on May 27, went to service Ontario, got the ownership updated, had to replace my tires, do safety test, total of 600$ expense to get her out of my ownership. Jun 4 I get a new ownership, provide it to Belair, and started talking about new policy. The new policy was 300$ more expensive than the original policy, because the system generates new numbers and now I don't qualify for even 1 year loyalty, because my previous policy was only for 1 month... I decided to cancel. Only at that point did customer service decide to get everything resolved. I talked to her for good 3 hours, and I got nowhere! So, on April 17, they sent me "We were trying to reach you", and they reached me, but apparently it was a different department who reached me, customer service vs agent, and I was supposed to still call Belairdirect even though they were able to call me and request the letter of experience which was provided. They also sent me an email requesting to be contacted on Apr 17, and I responded to their agent. The agent failed to check and see that they need to inform me about the backdating. So from April 17 - May 22 there was no contact, and I was under the assumption that I'm paying 1540, and not aware they increased my policy because my mom (co-owner) was included in my policy, and they decided to increase the price without communication. Even though multiple agents confirmed "If mom has her own insurance, it will NOT impact yours". So let's do some math: I paid 1540/ 12 months= 128.33$ a month. New rate (wasn't aware of, nor approved, nor agreed too) was set up on April 13, and I communicated with Belair on Apr 17, and they "forgot" to mention the increase because it's a different department (advice: ask if the call comes, if the person is customer service, or agent, and continue calling to ensure that your policy hasn't changed, and they didn't backdate your policy and overwrote what YOU agreed too), back to math: (1540+755)/2 = 190, so when I canceled, they charged me the 190 + 5$ since the month is 31 day and not 30 days. So I paid them extra 70$ because they added 755 without my knowledge. On top of that, I paid 600$ to get mom out of my ownership, and they gave me a higher rate 1 month after. I should have stuck with 1540+755 with mom on policy, would have been cheaper. My experience with customer service was good - the people tried their best to resolve the issue, BUT the underwriting department doesn't know what the heck they are doing, each person makes their own rules, and each person gives you a different answer, you qualify for 5% royalty, no, you don't , your mom won't impact you if she has her own insurance, no, it will increase your rate by 755. We will communicate with you to inform you about any update, oops, the person forgot to mention this detail. Belair department don't communicate with each other, so if someone calls, you should call again and again and again to make sure all the departments are satisfied. Best part was when customer service agent asked me to log in to my customer service profile online, and I was never aware I had a profile to check. From my wonderful experience detailed above, I will NEVER ever recommend this company to my worst enemy, I swear I've had panic attacks just dealing with them, and update all the documentations that they requested.

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BelAir Increased premiums

by Carmom on Sep 22, 2017
2 out of 5 stars

Upon renewal my policy went from 69$ to over 90$ /mo.
I have no accident or claims history. Was with CDI since new vehicle was bought. Car was 23k, now less than 5k, why are my premiums higher than when it was brand new, and I was younger, less experienced? I have no demerits.
The agent told me premiums have increased for all drivers becauae of an increase in claims in "my category" last year? What category is that? The one where responsible drivers dont have any claims? Nonsense. I believe this is a result if their acquiring CDI and not having automatic consent to pull my credit bureau upon renewal. My credit history has no bearing on my driving. Ive always paid my insurance.
I requested to have a full accounting of exactly why my insurance increased to $90/mo.
The agent said she would see what she could do about that, no guarantee of return call, email or written explanation.
I will not be renewing with Belair.

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Cancelled w/out warning

by Nic on Aug 31, 2017
2 out of 5 stars

After 4 years of insurance with no claims or cancellations, through a miscommunication of wire payments between banks, I missed 2 payments. Let me express that this was 2 payments in 4 years (to put this is perspective, out of 48 payments I missed 2 - or 4% delinquency). Meanwhile, my home insurance, which was being paid out of my new bank was paid no problem. The only warning I received from Belair was registered mail (not signed for) that I received while on vacation. No phone call, follow-up email, nothing. My insurance was cancelled while I continued to drive for up to a week. I cannot believe the lack of customer support or service, and fully believe this is reckless on their part. While I accept I was disorganised with the payment, more should have been done to collect the missed payment and contact me to see if there was a problem - this could have been rectified IMMEDIATELY. I am mostly upset that I drove my family uninsured, I will never use this service again and would rather pay more elsewhere for better service.

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Drove it There, Towed it Home.

by sarahsmiles on Jul 11, 2017
2 out of 5 stars

Not Impressed. Belairdirect goes out of their way to market themselves toward students and those who are on tight budgets via promotions like their student discount however their service reflects nothing of the sort. I was in an accident that was not my fault and after being treated like a criminal by the ASSURED Mississauga representative my insurance company sent me to the Belairdirect test and repair centre for a more “polished” experience, they said. It was awesome that when I got to the centre the staff was great at kissing my ass and pretending like they cared about my negative experience. It is unfortunate that none of those niceties could fix my car. Instead, it sat at their office for more than three weeks before they decided to touch it, suddenly; miraculously, the car would not turn on. My trusty insurance company then proceeded to call me to let me know that they were not responsible for my car not starting and wanted to charge me upwards of $1,000 worth of “non-accident related damage.” When I responded with questions – the brain dead staff resembled something of a broken record player repeating, “you are responsible to cover this damage as it is not accident related, your total is…” (pretty cold for a company that markets towards people with low income). When I explained that this was not a possibility for me at that time, they agreed to tow my car home. I find it hilarious that I drove my car there to be fixed and now it is being towed back in WORSE condition than when it started. Cherry on top: They took the rental back and had misplaced my car. I had to walk to work at 5 am for over a week without a vehicle while making car payments for a car I couldn’t even fix or use because the insurance company continued to make broken promises of when they would be contacting me to bring my car home. My car was finally returned to me over a week left with parts they damaged sitting on and staining my passenger side seat. What is the point of paying for insurance if they lose and break the very thing you are trying to insure. biggest scam i have ever been involved in in my entire life. If the goal was for me to walk away without a shred of faith in humanity, the company did their job of not caring! Silver lining: thank you to Belairdirect for making me realize I can make it through life without my car and it is worth every second I save not dealing with their garbage.

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STAY AWAY

by Nasim on Nov 2, 2015
2 out of 5 stars

I was involved in an accident where I was evidently not at fault. Sent them photos to prove it as well. Not only they condemned me to being partially at fault and destroyed my clean driving records, but after 10 years of being their royal costumer, they totally disregarded their "no premium change after first at fault accident" and increased my premium by 2.5 times.

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STAY AWAY

by Nasim on Nov 2, 2015
2 out of 5 stars

I was involved in an accident where I was evidently not at fault. Sent them photos to prove it as well. Not only they condemned me to being partially at fault and destroyed my clean driving records, but after 10 years of being their royal costumer, they totally disregarded their "no premium change after first at fault accident" and increased my premium by 2.5 times.

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