Talk to a machine
by IzzyW on Sep 30, 2013
1 out of 5 stars
I decided to go with TD 2 years ago. Find out that my premium has doubled in 2 years. Live in Winnipeg. Sorry what happened in Calgary and Toronto, TD. My $50,000 sewer backup is now $5,000. Over $1200 a year plus taxes for a 1220 sq. ft. house. $1000 deductible to boot. Been claims free for 16 years now. Can do a heck of a lot better than this elsewhere.
We had a premium insurance package with TD that was represented to us as full coverage. We had endorsement packages added to cover any gaps - it was sold to us as peace of mind, worry-free insurance. We had a water supply issue with our home, which was a leak on our side of the demarcation point with the city. It looked like we would have to have the entire water supply line replaced and inspected. This involved tearing up our concrete driveway and walkway. After the tear up and line repair, there would be a waiting period of several months before the driveway could be repaired. We got quotes on the work and contacted TD who said they would cover the tear-out, and the repairs to the driveway, but not the plumbing. The TD representative said we would have no trouble reopening the claim at a later date to have the driveway repairs covered. At the time of the tear-out, we convinced the contractor to just do the tear-out at the curb stop valve, because we thought the leak might be there and this would greatly reduce the scope of the work. The leak was there and the full waterline did not need to be replaced, so only a small portion of our driveway was impacted. This reduced both the tear-out cost and the future driveway repair costs. The cost for both portions of the work was now about half of the original estimate. The driveway repair was scheduled at the end of the season, but the final scheduling was done quickly to accommodate the contractors' year-end commitments. We contacted TD insurance, but the preparation work was being done as we were reopening the claim. In view of this, we compromised on the repair to control the costs for the insurance company. To minimize costs, we repaired a smaller portion of the driveway than we would have done if paying ourselves, although this would result in a colour matching issue. We tried to reopen our claim but the representative who had done the initial work had left the company. We exchanged emails with the new representative, but he didn't understand the history of the claim or the technical aspects of the nature of the work. They didn't seem to have notes in our file about what had been agreed to and placed the onus on us to provide supporting emails. We provided what we had, but much of the agreement with the original representative was over the phone. The new representative said our claim was now denied, even though the final cost was about half of the original estimate. His emails had false assumptions that supported not paying the claim. When we responded to correct these errors, he would send back another email with more excuses about why they would not honour their original agreement. He denied that the prior representative had assured coverage of the work, despite the fact he had done this on multiple occasions. We tried to contact the new representative by phone to engage in a richer dialogue than had been afforded through emails, but he wouldn't take our calls. His voicemail message indicated he would return our call that business day, but this did not happen. We finally gave up and paid for the repairs ourselves to avoid further stress and loss of sleep. We believe they broke the law by making an assurance to us that affected our course of action and position, potentially impacting our property value, only to later deny the claim. They also misrepresented their policy, since we obviously didn't have worry-free coverage. They do have recourse for denied claims, but this multi-tiered process seems principally designed to frustrate the customer to the point of capitulation. We would not be upset with TD Insurance if they had been honest with us from the outset of our claim so that we could have had the work done the way we wanted. They basically lied to us on multiple occasions and provided markedly inferior customer service. We will be engaging another provider for all of our future insurance needs. We were customers for 20 years but didn't have a lot of experience with how TD handles claims. After witnessing this aspect of their service, we strongly recommend not choosing TD Insurance as your provider.
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I bought the house 2 years ago in 2016. I am first time home buyer and don't know much about these insurances. I went on vacation for 3 weeks for when I came back and entered my house, it was all ice because of flood due to the water pipes burst in the house (second floor under washroom). I called insurance and told the complete story and they sent the appraiser the next day but didn't arrange any other accommodation for me. I had to pay all that expense from my pocket. In the end, they put it on me that it was my mistake that I didn't hand over keys to someone to take care of the house or I should have put surveillance cameras to check the house or I should have closed the water tab and drained all the water. I didn't know these things because this was the first time I was going on vacation. So finally I got a call this Friday that they declined my insurance claim, so now I am in debt of almost $15k to $20K.
We had a basement flood after a pipe burst. They were quick to respond, seemed fair in their coverage, and the representative we dealt with was very personable and helped us smooth out any little bumps (like speeding up the contractor now and then!).
I recently reviewed the insurance on 3 properties and they all have increased on average 15% per year over the last 5 years. This increase is not in line with inflation and when questioned I am given the same response that they made a calculating error in their policies causing an disproportionate increase in claims. Furthermore my coverage is decreasing and limits are being set which no longer provide adequate insurance. My sewer backup limit has dropped to $15K from $61K and my premium for this coverage increased $12. Being familiar with the cost of claims I am well aware that $15K will likely only cover the cost of tearing a basement apart and drying it up but leave nothing for restoration or contents. I called to ask why my policy was amended and now under-insured and was told that all policies are now capped at $15K for sewer backup unless I purchase additional insurance. All 3 properties are rated by TDMM as a category 3 risk for sewer backup however the cost to increase coverage from 15K to 50K varies from $35 - $78 per year. They could not answer why the cost for the additional $35K of coverage would vary for properties in the same city, geographical region and risk group.
They also informed me it is my responsibility to know my insurance needs and they can change rates and coverage at any time.
In short I no longer trust TDMM as they are not looking out for me and helping me manage my risk but only care about their risk and their bottom line. If you are not an insurance expert I would stay away from TDMM as their policies are not designed to help you in your time of need.
BTW 10 years insured and never a claim.
We had a flood and they settled without any problem
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I had any excellent experience when my hot water heater broke in 2006 and my basement was flooded. This year it has been a horrible process after having electronics stolen.
The adjuster was unbelievably rude. She didn't ask me any questions at all just went with the report that I gave earlier. She wasn't even aware of what had been stolen or the circumstances.
It was impossibly to get hold of her and she never returned any of my calls. I called her manager and her manager never returned my calls.
Many, many weeks and still no decision about paying my claim!!
I have had to go to the ombudsman!