belair direct boooooo!

long story short girlfriend and I bought a car yesterday. had planned insurance with belair direct. she called (it under her name because its cheaper) got a guy who barely spoke english and talked down to her the entire time. He refused to give us insurance in our home town which we will be moving to in a few months and where we are most of the time anyways. Forcing the vehicle to be registered in toronto because we have an apartment down here, the car will be often left back home to save on parking for months we dont need it. The quote was $1200 more then the one got online and he said that was just the way it was the quote online was just a guide. He also said we both had to pay as if I was secondary and primary driver (ie higher rate) because we were both under 25 and I have the curse of being a male driver. She explained that she was reccommended by other students and was under the impression we were treated fairly. She asked him to save her information and she would get back to him. He essentially got snippy and told her that she would never find another better deal and hung up.

So to sum things up we called TD Insurance after looking at ther online quote. GOt a very pleasant woman and with no hassles at all were insured with TD in 20 minutes. At a rate that beat TD's online quote and beat both Belair Directs online quote by $200 and the phone quote by $1500

I know many of you have a good experience with them and all the more power too you. This is just a warning as to my experience and to those students out there may want to consider elsewhere. The student discount is a sham if you live in an area back home thats cheaper then the area you go to school in or vice versa. The guy actually admitted they go with the one that makes them more money.

Either that or I got some crazy random guy who doesnt even work there

Like any call centre, I'm sure the quality of agents varies greatly, and it is random chance which one you get any time you call.

The agent didn't 'admit' anything to you. He quoted the company rating rules, which are filed and approved by the provincial regulator. It's not a company secret.

So now you've lied to TD about where the vehicle is driven, and who is driving it? I hope they will be there for you when it counts, but it sure don't seem like you deserve it.

I would have just hung up and called back.

I've talked with two agents there before. One was average, the other was very courteous and helpful.

If you're in the other town most of the time anyways, and you have a house there, why even bother telling them that you will be moving there soon, just give them your address there.

I just signed up with them 2 weeks ago.

In regards to the call centre: YES, some people you deal with are HORRIBLE and give you hassle about EVERY LITTLE DETAIL and some know what they're doing and are very efficient and seem to strive to offer you the best deal possible.

THe first two times I called belair direct I got 2 lousy guys who were giving me a hassle about every little thing...so I simply said i'd get back to them and hung up...

3rd time was the charm!! i got this incredible lady who used to go to my university and she knew everything off the top of her head (including shortcuts) on how to get me insured with all the discounts I needed!

I would highly suggest calling back until you get someone you feel is friendly. If you're interested I could pass along the extension number for the lady I dealt with. ALSO NOTE that their call centres are all over the place (one of the first guys I dealt with was calling me back from Kingston or something (whatever 613 area code is)) but the lady i dealt with was situated in toronto.

So that goes for ANYONE. if you want a friendly belair direct insurance expert PM me and i'll pass along her name and extension.


Cheers,
-J

Out of curiousity how much was the yearly insurance rate? And for what car?

CAA and TD quoted me roughly the same amount, CAA actually reduced it when we went to sign and we got their roadside assistance program (reduces insurance cost aswell)

2000 Honda CRV
1999 Honda Prelude

3 drivers, me being the youngest and 2 tickets (no points but still tickets) all together for a year $4000 flat.

RBC quoted me 12000 per a year for just my car and me as the driver lol, insane, cost of insurance is almost the cost of the car per a year.

Insurance, what a scam, no wonder everyones scamming insurance companies, if they dont take our money, we wont take theirs! (which is ours) lol

Wow my parents pay much less.
Though our cars our older.

'97 MB C280
'94 Grand Am
'89 Caddy Fleetwood

$300 a month for all 3 cars, 3 drivers (parents and I and I'm < 25)

Originally Posted by ratface

Like any call centre, I'm sure the quality of agents varies greatly, and it is random chance which one you get any time you call.

The agent didn't 'admit' anything to you. He quoted the company rating rules, which are filed and approved by the provincial regulator. It's not a company secret.

So now you've lied to TD about where the vehicle is driven, and who is driving it? I hope they will be there for you when it counts, but it sure don't seem like you deserve it.

I guess I should have explained..
She gave TD the exact same information declaring herself to be a student and it was not an inssue, im guessing as to the fact that they dont bother with a student discount. You dont lie to your insurance company it can only come back to bite you in the ass. The car is owned by her and she is the primary driver. We will share it and one of us has to drive it.

also yes he did admit company policy but usually you dont say "we go with the location that gives us more money" really they guy should be fired... alternatively he could have given the technical explanation because I bet in their company policy book has something very different in it then what he said.

it was a 93 2dr accord lx by the way. $2800 ish with Belair Direct on phone, $1450ish with TD, CAA 1900ish and $3900ish with RBC. for 2 20 year old drivers.