Avoid Gore Mutual at All Costs – Worst Insurance Experience Ever
by Jason Mooney on Nov 28, 2024
1 out of 5 stars
They’re absolutely terrible. The worst company I have ever witnessed. Ok, so where to start... I’m 20 years old and I’m from Jersey (natural-born American citizen) and I recently moved to Ontario to be with my fiance (natural-born Canadian citizen). I needed to get my car registered ASAP so I wound up looking for the cheapest auto insurance I could, seeing as my fiancé and I already had a lot to pay for and things were/are tight. I go through a broker who shows me a list of quotes, with Gore being the cheapest at $185. I went with it, sent the broker all my info (including all of my New Jersey information) and my application was processed and approved. There was never an issue until the weeks/months following. My broker gives me temporary slips over email so I can get my car registered and drive legally while I wait for my official documents. (Keep in mind that yes, I do have an Ontario driver’s license). And boy do I wait. And wait. And wait. The temporary slips are good for a month, in which I should receive my documents in the mail within that time. But I never did. I emailed the broker who told me she didn’t know what was going on and would email me a new set of temporary slips while I waited (again). The next month goes by and my broker tells me that my rate went up and neither she nor I was ever informed! It was around the end of August of 2019. My fiancé and I then come to find out that the rate went up from $185 a month to $309! It’s completely unaffordable for us. All because they “didn’t want to honour my Jersey license”. They knew about it. They processed and approved my application with my Jersey license and my Ontario license and yet, somehow it was an issue? So, within the two months of waiting, this is what I get dropped on me. My partner and I called Gore themselves a few times, but each time, they shot us down saying that we couldn’t talk to them and that we have to talk to our broker. But our broker was lost as well, seeing as she had no idea what was going on either. So... no communication from Gore to neither me nor the broker. Needless to say, we cancelled on the spot. We were told that there would be no cancellation fee and that we were cancelled a pro-rata rather than a short rate. They were playing at being compassionate. I would’ve accepted had I not seen a tiny little detail. They were trying to charge us $139 for God knows what and attempted to make us pay the first month of September (this month) on August 28th. We cancelled our policy on the 23rd of August. So, they tried to take an early payment for a cancelled policy and to make it worse, it was at a rate that was not agreed upon initially. So now, they want us to pay $448, yet in reality, I should be only paying for the two months that I was insured. So around $370 or their pro-rata amount $309. Not the extra $139 I’d never seen or heard about. And besides... if my insurance was fully legal and official, why wasn’t I making any payments during July and August? Did they expect me to pay the $185/309 along with the two months all in one pop in September? Then I would’ve paid close to $700 which is nowhere near affordable! TL;DR Went with Gore because they were affordable initially. Because of scarce communication and constantly being screwed over(raised rate without notice, no emails or calls, and not giving me any official documentation), I cancelled. Now they want money they aren’t owed and are trying to scam me. This company is borderline fraudulent. STAY AWAY!
I was involved in an accident in 2009. A third party sued me even though damages were only a crack in the plastic rear bumper (clearly a scam). Gore Mutual denied to represent me and claimed "material misrepresentation". I was overwhelmed at the time and have been self-representing for 10 years until I attended a pre-trial a few months ago. I decided to hire a lawyer to set aside my noting in default and prepare a defence statement. I am having to pay 7,500. I have suffered from depression and stress and have lost money un-rightfully over the years. Gore Mutual never detailed their basis for their material misrepresentation claim. I was 20 years old and dealing with a lot at the time to handle the situation and a large amount of mail being sent. Do not ever do business with them. You will have too much trouble if involved in an accident.
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Don't even want to give 1 rating - should be absolute zero rating! A tire blew on my vehicle and sent me into the ditch. Substantial damage to my vehicle. It has been 3 weeks and still don't have an answer on whether the car is to be fixed or written off. I have been calling, emailing and still no answers. The adjuster has been to look at the vehicle 4 times, but still no answers. They are still getting their premiums for a vehicle I can't drive. Oh - but they have informed me that they are cancelling my policy - I'm now considered high risk. This is the one and only claim in over 10 years I have been with them. Awesome - take my money for 10 years then give me the royal run around when I have a claim. My parents have been with them for over 28 years. They are obviously going somewhere else for their insurance!
A friend who is a senior citizen and long-time client of Gore recently had her vehicle in a rural parking lot when a powerful wind suddenly occurred and literally blew a large hay wagon out of the field and into the rear fender of her vehicle. The rear tail light lens was damaged as well as minor damage to the tailgate of the vehicle. The vehicle was a hardtop Jeep and the top had a single vertical crack approx 4” in length. Overall the damage was very minor! She notified her agent and was told to take the vehicle to a specific auto body repair shop. Much to her dismay, she was advised a few days later that her Jeep was declared a write-off. She was advised to bring in her ownership and sign the vehicle transfer portion and her claim would be processed. She was heartbroken. She had purchased the vehicle new and had done regular maintenance and kept it in immaculate condition. It also had unbelievably low mileage on it. She offered to have the top repaired at her own expense rather than the replacement quoted by the body shop. Her request was denied. She then asked to withdraw the claim and do all the repairs at her own expense. She was advised that because the vehicle had been written off that it was no longer insurable by any company. Feeling defeated, she signed over the vehicle. I heard her story between her tears as she truly was devastated. It appears to me that she was bullied into giving up her vehicle. I find it hard to believe that her vehicle ended up in a wrecking yard crushing machine or as a parts vehicle. Not only was there a complete lack of compassion on the insurer’s part, it leaves one wondering who was the lucky person who ended up with that Jeep and furthermore, who ended up profiting from this whole situation? The insurer and/or the body shop? Certainly not my friend. Not an upstanding company. I would like to see an investigation into possible fraudulent activity by the parties involved.
We have had small business insurance through Gore Mutual over the past several years. We had the unfortunate situation arise where we filed a claim. The claim was denied and when we questioned why we were lied to by the adjuster. We were told by the adjuster that "case law" was used in part to determine the outcome. When we asked for the back-up references to case law we were advised by the adjuster's supervisor that this was in fact not the case that they did not refer to case law. The adjuster made a "mistake". They then provided us copy of the paragraph from our policy as reference to why our claim was denied and to date have been unable to justify how it relates to our situation. Our conclusion is that we bought a policy that we were told would meet our needs and in the end when a situation arose Gore Mutual refused to back our insurance policy. We paid $50K out of pocket. It has been tremendously stressful and very expensive dealing with Gore. We are in the process of filing a lawsuit. We hope that in publishing this review it will help other small business to seek coverage at a professional and ethical organization. Please be wary if you are already dealing with this company.
I had three separate claims with gore and NONE of them were paid. I had a hit and run that I found out who hit me, and two separate thefts of tools that were listed on the policy. They refused all three claims saying that if i wanted reimbursed for the damages i should sue the parties that caused the loss. DUH!! I bought insurance so I would be protected without using our useless legal system!! Also they doubled my truck policy when they found out i was working in another province. STAY AWAY!!!!
Zero Stars. "Gore" will turn on you in case of an accident. I was involved in a hit and run collision which I proved to "Gore" by obtaining officer notes. They completely ignored me by not responding to me and would not take my calls after they determined I was 100 per cent at fault. I took every step necessary to get the adjuster to look at my claim. No luck. I jumped through hoops to get the decision over turned using the help of Police. It has been 1 year since my accident. "Gore" will not protect you. Stay away from this company at all cost. You are better off donating your money to charity because you sure will not get covered in case of an accident. Today, I have learned I am involved in litigation due to outstanding storage bill that "Gore" will not cover even though I was not at fault. I will be contacting local media in regards this matter to shine the light on "Gore's" practices. To the paid actors that leave 5 star reviews. Stop it. Lies stink. Don't believe me? Public records are available for anyone to see. By providing this review I hope it's not to late for you. Feel free to contact me If you have any questions.
I recently switched banks and gave notice of this to Gore a little late so I expected to be charged and NSF. Fine. Then they tried to take the insurance money out of the old account again (8 days later). I got hit with more NSF fees because of their error. To top it off, they charged me NSF fees on top of my policy! After corresponding with 3 different representatives from the insurance company, not one of them admitted to their fault. First they blamed me for not giving a weeks notice (which I did when the second attempt to remove funds was made) then the second representative blamed the bank after acknowledging that they DID receive my new account information in time. It truly shows they do not care about their clients, nor do they take the time to understand what I was trying to explain to them. Safe to say we are cancelling our insurance and going with a new company. Terrible insurance company!
I have had a great experience with Gore these past three years. They took me on as a new customer in 2012. At the renewal at 2014 I received a substantial discount and was given top rating at this 2015 review. Thanks!
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My experiences with Gore Mutual this year—on both my own policy and my wife’s—have been nothing short of a nightmare. I have dealt with many companies, but this has been, by far, one of the most frustrating and stressful.
1. Unfair Practices and Lack of Transparency
A single missed payment due to a banking error led to the abrupt cancellation of my policy. When I reached out to resolve this, I was met with a flat “no,” without any explanation or willingness to consider my situation. The lack of transparency in their decision-making process is unacceptable and leaves customers in the dark.
2. Poor Customer Service
Throughout my interactions, their representatives were rude, dismissive, and unwilling to assist or clarify. Reasonable requests for dialogue or explanations were brushed aside, making me feel like my concerns didn’t matter at all.
3. Negative Comparisons to Competitors
Ironically, Gore Mutual’s rates were almost double those of their competitors when we initially signed with them. This makes their lack of service and inflexibility even harder to justify. In hindsight, it’s clear we should have shopped around before signing anything. I strongly urge anyone considering Gore Mutual to compare prices with other providers—you’ll likely find much better options with better service at a far lower cost.
4. Financial and Emotional Hardship
The abrupt cancellation of my policy caused immense stress and left me scrambling to secure new insurance at a significantly higher cost. Their rigid and uncompromising approach has added unnecessary financial and emotional strain to my life.
5. Warning to Future Customers
If you are considering Gore Mutual, I strongly urge you to look elsewhere. This company does not value its customers, does not communicate effectively, and will not act reasonably even in extenuating circumstances.
Unfortunately, due to their complete unwillingness to address or resolve these issues, I have no choice but to escalate this matter to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA). Their handling of these situations demonstrates a blatant disregard for customer welfare and industry accountability.
Save yourself the frustration and stress—choose a provider that actually cares about their clients. And above all, price shop before signing anything with Gore Mutual. Their rates are high, and their service is not worth the premium.