Life Insurance Recommendations

I am currently with AMP life and always pay annually in full. Last week I received a letter saying I owe them money but when I called they couldn't explain why and how. Promised me to get someone to call back but never happened. Now just got a letter saying my insurance has been cancelled.

So… Can someone please recommend an insurance company that is easy to deal with and knows what they are doing. Thanks

Comments

  • +3

    Pretty much any insurance company… except AMP Life by the sounds of it.

    Seems very odd that they cannot explain how you were overdue.

    I would shop around - there is never one 'best' option that fits everyone.

    Alan.

  • +4

    I would get onto this as soon as possible.
    Cancellation of a policy for non payment can stay on your record and may actually affect your ability to get future cover.
    Sounds like you have done nothing wrong.
    While it is fresh in your mind make a note of when you called and what you discussed. All calls will have been recorded so there will be proof if you need it that you have made an effort to rectify this.

    You can make a complaint to the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman - it’s free and there is an 0800 number you can call for advice.
    Link here: https://www.ifso.nz/

    I know this doesn’t answer your original question of who you should change to but I think you want to get this resolved so it’s off your record.

    Good luck!

    • Thank you for the reminder. I never thought of this part. Will definitely follow up.

  • +1

    Quite agree with bigcheese. You need to get it sorted with AMP. I once had car insurance cancelled because I added a modification to my car. From then on I had trouble for years getting any insurance until I ticked over into the next age band. One of the first questions they ask is "Have you had insurance cancelled/refused in the past?" If you decide "Oh well wasn't my fault I'll just say No." That will get you in even more trouble if they check and find out that actually you have. Doesn't seem to matter that it wasn't your fault. You lied and said you have had no cancellations when you have. Insurers talk to each other. You'll find yourself on more blacklists or worse at payout time you will get nothing when they find out you have had undisclosed cancelled insurance in the past.

    • Thank you for sharing your experience. I just can't believe they are so incapable of getting things right.

  • Sent you a pm

  • +1

    Definitely follow it up. My experience with Westpac Life has been awful. I would not recommend them. They dont answer questions, dont know what my cover should be, switched me out of the cover I had with no communication. It appears the Life and Culture 2018 review means nothing. Very difficult to deal with.
    https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/regulation-and-supervision/thematic…
    https://www.fma.govt.nz/assets/Reports/Life-Insurer-Conduct-…
    or go to the media- there is a good money reporter who works for stuff who has a bit of knowledge on this.
    This seems to be the way to get stuff done when organisations will not communicate these days.
    Make them accountable.

    • Thank you. Yes I was with ASB before. It seemed like all they wanted was just to sign you up to meet their sales target but no after sale service.

  • We are with Fidelty life and they have been amazing.

  • Get a good insurance broker. They can be amazing. AMP have been wonderful with me (income protection payout and life insurance).

    Ian at wallaceInsurance.co.nz was who helped me.

    • I thoroughly endorse this comment - insurance brokers can make a huge difference, both in getting you a lower premium (or better coverage), and in dealing with claims.

      It is tempting to think that you can 'do it yourself' and get a better price, and that might be true if your situation is really simple (just car insurance, agreed value etc, but watch out for differences in what policies actually cover), but for anything more complicated and important (such as life cover, income protection, disability cover etc) I would suggest using a broker.

      Alan.

    • I always find it unprofessional when a website isn't even redirecting you to the right page properly. It just goes to their domain host instead of their site and a simple redirection of wallaceinsurance.co.nz -> www.wallaceinsurance.co.nz would fix the issue. Makes me kinda skeptical how decent they are.

      • Whilst I totally agree with your comment, it still makes me uncomfortable entering a domain name, and getting taken to a host.

        I suspect I lost that battle about twenty-five years ago though :-)

        • I mean, a website is pretty much your storefront. This is where you drive traffic for your visitors/customers and if you can't even get this right, then how professional are you really with the service you're trying to sell?

          Like, imagine you're trying to do some shopping and you go to some dodgy website you've never heard of, that uses HTTP instead of HTTPS, has ads everywhere and website looks like it was made from the 90's, would you really trust putting in your credit card detail during the checkout?

          • @NovaAlpha: Okay…. not sure you understood what I was saying?

  • Go with insurance broker. Just signed up yesterday with Fidelity. Got much lower rate compared to what I am paying right now. Got life insurance & trauma cover.

    Udita at https://www.penguinfinance.co.nz/.

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