Water damage claim.
by Shammy on Jan 20, 2020
5 out of 5 stars
I recently had a significant claim at my home. Intact were on site within 24 hours and had organized a contractor shortly thereafter. I chose to go with their rely contractor who was quick and efficient in getting things back to normal. What originally looked like 6 weeks of repairs was finished in just under 4 weeks. I gave the subcontractor open access (they worked 7 days a week) and the finished job is really good. The adjuster was also very helpful. A great experience all around.
I have had two claims with Intact. First was when my car was broken into and all of my music gear was stolen. The cost was substantial with a $3200 guitar, $2200 amplifier, $1000 microphone and a lot more for accessories. My auto insurance (comprehensive) had to take care of the smashed rear window, but minus the deductible, Intact cut a check for the rest, asking only for quotes for replacement. For most, I was able to provide receipts and those values were covered. For my guitar, I showed online prices in Canada from music shops and that was covered as well, all with the amount for sales tax and GST. The adjuster was polite, stayed in contact and the whole process was over with very quickly. The 2nd was a water damage claim. When replacing my carpets, I was installing new carpet rack strips where the old ones were but had to put the nails in the concrete sun-floor about an inch from the holes left by the old ones. On the LAST strip, the nail hit a water line, sending a stream of water up like a fountain. In my condo, the water shut off valve was hard to get to, with my hand too big to reach between the wall stud and another pipe between the opening and the valve. By the time I forced my hand through by dislocating three fingers at the top knuckle, my hall was under inches of water and the two suites below me were just disaster areas. I have done everything from building condos from the foundation up to roofing, flooring/tiling, carpentry, drywall, electrical and owner's side plumbing. What I found when the subflooring was chipped away to repair the water line was that it was left free-floating when the sun floor was poured and was only less than a 1/4 of an inch under the floor. The nails for carpet tack strips are 5/16" long, with just the tip puncturing the line. How the original installers never hit the line is beyond me, but at that exact spot, it crossed the line where the strips are and was raised just enough in that spot to create that flukey situation. I described this scenario because Intact could have been total assholes, looking for negligence to skirt their involvement. Instead, they went to bat for me. They sent crews and an adjuster immediately, said they would cover the costs of food, hotel, pay me for any work I did, cut me a $1000 check for the condo's $10k deductible I had to pay a thousand of, reimbursed me for the ruined carpet and underlay I just installed and compensated me and my son for each hour we had to move things around and get the house back to normal. They even calculated an amount for my inconvenience that covered my $1000 deductible. All funds were paid quickly and they kept my file open until everything was settled just in case there were any further out of pocket costs. The crews and plumber were paid directly as well. So, in both experiences, I have very little to complain about. One minor disagreement on value, but a far cry from getting ripped off by them. Remember, out of millions of consumers, only a few with bad experiences are usually motivated to post their experiences, usually out of spite. If everyone with good experiences posted, the few with complaints would be lost in the shuffle. My previous insurance company was terrible and their lack of value to me led to the switch to Intact, where I have been very pleased by their rates (in comparison of course), customer service and their follow-through during both claims. My second claim adjuster was brand new to the business and offering her a little patience didn't hurt while she consulted her way through the job and in the end, she did fantastically. The first was just pro all the way through.
We had a pipe burst in our bathroom and called Intact immediately. This was on a Saturday. They said they would send an emergency team that evening to assess damage and help with cleanup. No one came Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. On Tuesday a contractor finally showed up to take measurements and then no one came back until Thursday. They still didn't start work for several days and even then, only put on some heaters and took down half of the drywall and floor (leaving me to do the rest). When Intact got back to me about the contractor's estimate, they basically gave me the option of paying $2000 out of pocket to have the room put back by the contractor, or I could take a $2200 cheque to do the job myself. This was based on an estimate of over $9000 for the work. I went over and over with the adjuster that I shouldn't have to be out of pocket to simply put my bathroom back to how it was, but I received no help and terse answers to every question I had. No flexibility was shown, nor any sort of empathy or concern. When I said that no one could redo an entire bathroom (including buying a new shower and vanity, and all drywall, insulation, flooring etc.) I was told, "You're right, but you still have to pay."
April 3 2017 we had a water leak. Intact had a contractor at my house the day after to look at damage. Day 3 we had emergency work done. TWO months later and we have had no resolution what so ever. Not one person is in communication with the other. The contractor says one thing the insurance company says the exact opposite. We are still stuck with this insurance company. Customer service has been awful and are not helpful at all. This company passes the buck from one to another. I feel this will be an all summer fight for what we pay for. Avoid at all costs. Go elsewhere for insurance it is not worth the hassle and stress this company puts its paying customers through. They make no extra effort into helping.
Have dealt with my broker for many years. I had house & car insurance with Intact for a few. Rates kept going up and Aug 2016 had a flat roof drain blocked with debris and heavy rain caused a back-up of water with fell into my kitchen ceiling & dining room wall. Intact was quick to open the claim but no-one came for several days. They, through the evaluator, sent the worst contractor possible. The painting had to be done 3 times in a couple areas but the final repair was only a passable quality- not what Intact claims. The job which would normally be 2-3 weeks maximum was done in 11-12 weeks - wow. Now my renewal is up and my house insurance cost was $1362 last year and has skyrocketed to $1822 this year - increase of 34%. The total damage to the house was $9123, but because there was hardwood floor water damage also and there was no room in the house to store the furniture, so I accepted a cheque of over $2200 and the contractor was paid the balance. I did not have the subcontractor re-do the floor & refinish. Thank God I didn't have the incompetent sub complete the floor refinish. Intact hires the cheapest worst contractors to save money for themselves but jacks the renewal price after. Intact never again - do not go with them either for a house or car insurance. They "seem" okay until there is a claim but then - pow
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We had water damage in our basement and with all the bad publicity many insurance companies get weren't sure if we could get it satisfactorily resolved.
We found to our delight Intact was more than fair. Way to go Matthew who showed up at our door within 1 hour of our call and had our claim resolved within 24 hours!
Please note that our original contact was with another agent who went on vacation but handed the file to Matthew who did a great job for us!
My claim has been ongoing for 4 years. The agents assigned to the claim repeatedly lied and delayed in an attempt to stall the claim. The contractors they hired to do the repairs never completed an estimate and again delayed. When we finally had someone in, they didn't complete the repairs and Intact has left us with an unfinished house and refused to pay a settlement so we could hire our own contractors.
They've literally made my life a living nightmare.
Let's start with the initial contact to start the claim. They answered the call quickly and the home robbery claim was started, so I thought. After a day I phoned back with the police report number when I was told no claim number existed. Claim process started... again. Now the claim has started and their reliable, pre-approved contractor cannot replace the door (destroyed during the robbery) for 6 weeks. Fine, I got my own contractor and had the door replaced in 2 days.
Back to the claim. I was assigned an adjuster from an outside company. She is professional and polite. We both have hit a brick wall with the claim. They just will not update either of us.I don't know where the claim is or when it will be settled.
Update to follow!!!!!
INTACT commercials - your claims process starts when they get your phone call - but that does not mean they will help you or pay people. It just means they type it in the computer. Then you deal with the adjuster which is trying an experience from HELL! I had the absolute worst experience with this company and my neighbour across the street did too! Our basement flooded due to a water main break. We had top of the line coverage. Adjuster got mad at me and smashed my front door! Put a claim in for that and finally got paid one year later. Adjuster told me he did not like me, and promised to give me a hard time. He sent threatening letters that they were considering denying my claim. He offered me 1/7 the actual cost to repair the damage 2 months of the flood. I had already spent double hiring myown contractors to start repairs, not wanting to wait for the insurance company to take action. I had tenants.The fighting over coverage went on for nearly 6 months and finally I got a cheque for double what he first offered. I said this is not enough to cover all the invoices I submitted and complained to Intact Ombudsman. They did nothing. Then I reported unfair insurance practices, bad faith, to FSCO = Financial Services Commission of Ontario. This forced the matter into ARBITRATION! I recommend this to anyone not satisfied with money the insurance company is trying to get you to accept. Take the money they offer but do NOT sign a final release. Tell them you disagree with their calculation of your loss total. At arbitration, I got to present all the invoices for the actual repairs of the damage (not the adjuster's guesstimate) + lost rent. The whole process took about 9 months, but I finally got nearly everthing I asked for. INTACT gave my neighbour across the street a hard time. After his semi detached home was involved in a fire, it took twice as long for Intact to repair his house compared to the equally affected neighbour nest door. Fire was in January and the neighbour with CAA insurance was back in his house by August. The other neighbour with Intact is still waiting for drywall work to be completed. Estimated re-occupation could be 1 1/2 - 2 years because the approval during the claims process goes at a snails pace at Intact. INTACT SUCKS! Maybe their rate could be cheaper, but the attempts to deny coverage and delays in the claims process do not make it worth the savings! Go for a insurance company with a good reputation for claims processing - even if they charge more. I don't know how some insurance adjusters can look themselves in the mirror each morning after doing such horrible things to claimants - I know they get a bonus for paying out less. It's dirty money. I don't want to profit from other people's misery! SHAME on YOU INTACT Insurance Adjuster!
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I had a sink water supply line burst on October 5th, 2019. Despite being home at the time and catching it fairly quickly, the water ran down through the main floor below and then into the basement. After dealing with the emergency, walls were opened up and dried for about a week. We continued living in our home (family of 4) with only 1 working bathroom until Dec 1st when we moved out to a local hotel for 7 weeks. I had a local restoration company deal with the emergency and demo and then I took the "payout" option to hire my own contractors to put everything back together. I was very happy with Intact and my claims representative was fantastic. I recommend patience initially as it takes time for everything to get sorted out. Once things got going, it went very smoothly. I also recommend paying a bit extra in your policy to have "Claims Advantage" which protects your first claim from increases. Glad we had that!